Organizing lesson plans is creating the mental, creative and pedagogical space to teach in a way that feels alive.
After years of teaching in middle schools, building my own planning systems, and designing an edtech platform for teachers, I’ve learned that lesson planning only works when it supports your way of teaching, not the other way around.
Below is the approach I now use, based on experience, mistakes, experimentation, and a desire to fight the routine that kills curiosity (in us and in students).
1. Start with macro-milestones (even if you know you’ll break them)
One of the most powerful planning habits is mapping the school year with large, approximate checkpoints.
You won’t hit them perfectly. You aren’t supposed to.
Their value is orientation, not strict obedience.
These milestones help you answer essential questions early on:
- How much time does each topic deserve?
- Where will your class need more depth or more speed?
- Which weeks should you protect for revision, projects or recovery?
With macro-milestones, you avoid discovering in April that you’re still stuck on Chapter 3.
2. Study the textbook: know its strengths and weaknesses
Even if you didn’t choose the textbook, you should know it inside out before the year begins.
Ask yourself:
- What does the book explain clearly?
- Where is it incomplete, confusing or biased?
- Where will you need to integrate better material?
Doing this early means you already know the future “pain points” of your course.
You eliminate surprises and teach with intentionality.
3. Decide what you’ll do differently this year
Every year, choose one or two non-conventional elements to introduce.
These could be:
- a thematic unit
- a flipped classroom experiment
- a creative project
- a structured debate
- a surprising introduction to a complex topic
Prepare these special elements in advance.
They add movement and evolution to your teaching.
4. Plan an impactful first lesson
If it’s a new class, the first lesson sets the tone for the entire year.
Make it:
- different from what students expect
- structured but surprising
- a clear signal of the teaching experience they can expect
Start strong.
A first lesson that stands out earns you curiosity and attention that can last months.
5. Fix the common preparation pitfalls
Before I built my system, I struggled with:
- files scattered everywhere
- improvising too much
- leaning heavily on the textbook due to lack of time
- preparing lessons late, especially on weekends
- doing everything passively instead of intentionally
Once the workflow breaks, lesson planning becomes survival.
6. Use short, focused work bursts (Pomodoro method)
The Pomodoro technique transformed how I prepare lessons.
Twenty-five minutes is often enough to draft a full lesson if you know your objectives.
Two supporting habits amplify this:
- Avoid weekend preparation — the quality drops dramatically.
- Create a dedicated study/work zone at home — a physical anchor for focused preparation.
With the right environment and timing, preparation becomes faster and less stressful.
7. Being prepared unlocks freedom in class
Here’s the hidden truth:
Good preparation doesn’t make lessons rigid, but more flexible.
When your structure is clear, you gain freedom to:
- follow student-generated digressions
- insert micro-projects
- explore unexpected questions
- connect topics across disciplines
- adapt to the energy of the room
Unprepared teachers must stick to the textbook.
Prepared teachers can wander, and wandering is often where real learning happens.
8. Bring in anti-mimetic thinking: the 10% rule
Dedicate 10% of your lessons to material that contradicts the standard narrative.
Inspired by René Girard’s anti-mimetic thinking, this teaches students that reality isn’t monolithic.
This 10% can include:
- authors with unpopular or alternative interpretations
- disputed scientific theories
- historical controversies
- philosophical provocation
- critical perspectives on “accepted truths”
Students - yes, even 11yo — feel empowered when they realize:
Knowledge evolves.
Critical thinking grows from tension, not consensus.
9. The 3 most common lesson planning mistakes
From firsthand experience:
Mistake 1 — Following the textbook page by page
It avoids effort but kills creativity.
Mistake 2 — Doing everything “your own way” with no structure
It feels free but becomes chaotic.
Mistake 3 — Always preparing at the last minute
It transforms teaching into firefighting.
A solid planning system prevents all three.
10. Build a single home for your teaching
Teachers need one place where everything lives:
- future lessons
- past lessons
- files
- to-dos
- adjustments and notes
- reusable content
This insight shaped the design philosophy behind the tool I’m building:
not more complexity, less fragmentation.
One home for teaching means:
- more clarity
- faster preparation
- less stress
- deeper intentionality
