Teaching How-to: Chapter 3.2: Mapping Out Your Lessons

Welcome

Welcome your students into the classroom! This is a great time to practice using names and build rapport; as students come in and settle down in the minutes before class, ask how they’re doing or how things are going outside of class. Using opportunities like this to connect is an important part of community-building. See Ch. 3.3, “Leading a Class Session,” for more about welcoming students into conversation (beyond just saying hello). 

Announcements

Use the first few minutes of class to make announcements about upcoming assignments, assessments, due dates, and other class updates. A reminder at the end of class can also be useful, especially if any students arrived late. It’s also critical to ensure that any information you share is available online, either via the Learning Management System (LMS) or via email.

Review

Start by revisiting the end of the last class. Did you achieve your goals? What did students learn? You might deliver a quick recap, ask students to reflect in writing, or have them collaborate to generate a shared list of key points. See Ch. 1.2, “Student-Centered Learning,”  and Ch. 3.1, “Preparing for Class: Principles and Frameworks,”  for more about this kind of review, and Ch. 4.1, “Metacognition,”  for more about student reflection. 

Reviewing past activities or class content is also an opportunity to solicit questions about recent assignments, quizzes, or tests. If you choose to do this, be aware of how much time you’ve allotted for later parts of the session. Let students know how much time you’ve set aside to discuss this in class, and once you hit the time limit, ask them to talk to you after the session, via email, or in office hours.

Connect and Prepare

Clearly state the objectives for the session and connect them to both the previous class and the broader goals of the course. You can introduce these connections yourself or have students make them through freewriting or small-group discussion. Give students a brief overview of the day’s agenda, highlighting new content and planned activities.

Present the core material for the session, but remember—it doesn’t need to be a full lecture. A concise explanation, quick demonstration, or review of key readings may be all that’s needed to provide context. Real, deep learning rarely occurs when students are passive, so aim to minimize long lectures and use activities to keep students actively engaged. 

In courses where a significant portion of class time is devoted to presenting new material, use this segment to encourage interaction. Break up lectures with brief activities or intersperse questions to encourage discussion and participation. Short, active moments like these help sustain students’ attention and create a more dynamic learning experience. 

Finally, consider what foundational knowledge students need to participate in the next part of the session. Review Bloom’s Taxonomy from Ch. 3.1, “Preparing for Class: Principles and Frameworks,” for ideas about how to structure learning progressively, moving from foundational understanding to higher-order thinking. 

At some point, the focus of learning should shift from you to your students. This doesn’t mean relinquishing control, but rather guiding discussions and activities in a way that empowers students to take the lead. Your role is to steer the session without dominating it, maintaining the balance of offering direction while allowing student autonomy.

The level and type of engagement will depend on the class format. In a discussion-based session, encourage students to lead the conversation about a reading and interact with one another rather than directing responses solely to you. In a problem-solving or recitation session, students might pair up to work through a derivation or solve a problem collaboratively. In a lab, they may divide into groups to take on different components of an experiment, working together to complete tasks and analyze results. Regardless of format, the goal is to create meaningful opportunities for students to participate, collaborate, and apply their learning.

Ensure you allocate enough time to introduce any activities you plan to include, clearly explaining their purpose, providing instructions, and addressing questions. See Ch. 4.2, “Everyday Active Learning,”  for ideas, and review UDL to ensure accessibility for all students. 

After a long discussion or activity, students might lose focus on the overall goals of the session. Pause for a brief summary (either by you or a student) of the key takeaways, then clarify how it all ties into the larger course objectives.

Summarize and Reflect

Reassemble the class and briefly summarize their work. This is an opportunity for reflection and metacognition. What did students learn? What were their key takeaways? Were there any points of confusion? What do you, as the instructor, hope they gained from the activity?

Connect

Bridge the session’s lessons to the broader objectives of the course, students’ lives outside class, and the world beyond Yale. While this may be more straightforward in some disciplines than others, making these connections is important for student learning and retention. For more on this approach, see UDL. You can also integrate this step at the start of class as motivation for the session. 

Give students an idea of what to expect in the next session and how it builds on the day’s material. Distribute any necessary materials, and remind them of upcoming deadlines or assignments. You may also want to point them toward relevant resources—such as office hours (with details on time, location, and discussion topics), review sessions, or academic support programs like the Writing Center, Academic Strategies Program, or tutoring services.

This is also an ideal time to return graded work. Doing so at the end of class allows students to review feedback privately and process it without being distracted during the session. If students have questions and want to discuss their work with you, they can stay after class while thoughts are fresh. If your grading policy requires a 24-hour waiting period before discussing grades, remind them; and if a student is concerned about their performance in class, take a few moments to provide additional context and suggest resources for improvement. 

Your work continues even after class is over. Allocate at least five minutes for tidying up (wiping boards, logging off computers) and another five to ten minutes for student questions. Adding in this buffer time between the end of class and your next activity makes you more approachable and accessible. If there are no questions, use this time to reflect on the session and unwind.

Reflect on what worked well, what was challenging, and what could be improved. These reflections can help you identify questions or problems to bring up in the next teaching team meeting. A simple Start-Stop-Continue exercise can be helpful: identify one thing you want to start doing, one thing to stop doing, and one thing to continue doing based on how the session went. For more on this exercise and self-evaluations, see Ch. 5.3, “Feedback and Evaluations”.

If you’re unable to stay for ten minutes after class, let students know how else to reach you, for example, over email or office hours. Communicating your availability fosters trust and clarifies that you’re leaving for another commitment, not avoiding their questions.