What are the advantages and disadvantages of an annual plan? Why start with resources in designing units?
When you set a long term goal it is best to set short term goals that will lead you down the path to success. The same is with planning lessons for your students. Each grade has goals the students are to reach at the end of that year. In order to make sure your students achieve them, this will require short term and long term planning.
If a teacher only focuses on the short term, they may find that they haven't progressed at a pace that will touch on all the goals they are required to teach. Then they are put in the place where they have to cram information into lessons, students are not successful in learning in this way. By having an annual plan, a teacher can plan not only the lessons, but also the pace. Granted things may come up that can throw the pace of the class off track, but having an annual plan in place can make the teacher more prepared to respond to those occasions.
Annual planning also allows a teacher to forecast opportunities for integration and expansion. A teacher that plans for the tear can see the opportunities that might become available for guest speakers, field trips, or experiential learning opportunities. I think of ideas like having parents that can come in and share their culture or experiences that may fit into the lessons. If you have an annual plan, you can ask the parent well in advance to come in because you know well in advance when you are teaching that lesson. Many parents would love the opportunity to participate more in classrooms, by being able to give them more notice about events and lessons they can make arrangements to become more active. That cannot happen if you are not certain what you are teaching when.
Annual planning also allows a teacher to plan on introducing units and lessons in a logical way. There are times when textbooks do not build on the previous chapter. The logical progression of learning is to build on what the student already knows. Annual planning will ensure that concepts are introduced to students in a way that they will be most successful.
The reason to start with resources when planning a unit seems obvious. You need to know what is at your disposal in order to plan lessons. Teachers can see where they may have deficits in resources so they have time to find the resources to fill in those gaps. Also, resources can give inspiration for great lesson ideas. It is imperative to know the resources you have available to you and how you are going to use them in your unit planning.
