Design the learning, then the activity

This is a sample essay for the journal layout, not a column already published elsewhere. The point is ordinary and worth repeating: an activity is not a lesson until you can say what a learner might understand at the end that they did not understand at the start.

Teachers are often praised for pace. Pace matters when it protects thinking time. It does not matter when it is a sequence of tasks no one could fail in an interesting way. Before adding a game, a slide, or a group, write the evidence you would accept. If the evidence is “they looked busy”, design again.

The practical move is small. Take tomorrow's lesson and delete one activity that does not produce that evidence. Use the minutes to look at the work. The lesson will feel quieter. It will also be easier to talk about with a colleague, which is one definition of professional teaching.