The four-step lesson plan

Lesson planning covers how to break a subject into skills. This is the other half: the shape of the conversation you have with the learner while you deliver it. It is a coaching process rather than a script, and the whole thing runs on one principle —

Don't tell — ask. Your role is to unlock the pupil's thinking, not to replace it.

Four steps, four questions each.

1. Reflecting and setting the goal

• What is the goal for today's lesson?
• What does the pupil want to achieve today?
• Why is this important for the pupil?
• How will the pupil know they've improved?

Why it matters: clear goals give direction and purpose to learning. A goal the learner has stated in their own words is one they will keep working towards when you stop prompting; a goal you announced is one they will abandon the moment it gets difficult. Phrase it SMART once they have named it, and start from their reflection on the last lesson rather than from your own notes.

That last question — how will they know they have improved — is the one that usually gets missed, and it is what makes the debrief possible two hours later.

2. Exploring knowledge and experience

• What does the pupil already know?
• What experience can the pupil use today?
• What has the pupil tried before?
• What does the pupil think might happen, and why?

Why it matters: building on what the pupil knows helps them make stronger decisions. This is also where you avoid the two classic wastes of lesson time — teaching something they already have, and building on something they do not. Open questions here often reveal that the learner can start several layers up the lesson structure cake, or that a subject you assumed was solid needs revisiting first.

"What do you think might happen, and why?" is worth asking even about something entirely new. A prediction, right or wrong, gives you their mental model to work with.

3. Understanding and supporting skill gaps

• What might be difficult for the pupil?
• What skills or knowledge does the pupil need to develop?
• What support would help the pupil most?
• What does the pupil need to do to improve?

Why it matters: finding gaps and giving support builds confidence and ability. Note that the step is not only about the skill gap — one of the four questions asks what support would help most. Deciding together how much help they get, and then visibly reducing it, is the responsibility handover the SC1 competencies are looking for.

If a fault surfaces during this phase, FISH is the tool for working through it without derailing the lesson.

4. Outcomes and reflection

• What went well today?
• What could the pupil do differently next time?
• What has the pupil learned?
• What is the pupil's next step?

Why it matters: reflection turns experience into progress. A drive that is not reflected on is just mileage. Start with what went well — not as a softener, but because a learner who is braced for criticism reflects dishonestly.

Closing the sheet

Two things to capture at the end, both of which take seconds and both of which give you your opening for the next lesson:

• Confidence. Ask the learner to place themselves: very confident, confident, OK, nervous, very nervous. If you want something you can track, use a 0–10 rating and the SEDSS conversation instead.
• What to focus on next time. In the learner's words, written down.

Five habits that make it work

The sheet closes with five reminders, and they are what separate this from an interrogation: listen first, stay neutral, be specific, allow silence, and celebrate progress. Each one is unpacked in ask, don't tell.

The whole thing in four words

Plan it. Teach it. Check it. Support it.

Plan around the learner rather than the subject. Teach by asking rather than telling. Check that the learning has actually landed — the learner can explain it, not just repeat it. Support at the level they agreed, and less of it each time.