How to Build a Shared Lesson Template for Your Department

A shared template creates consistency without removing autonomy. It means every teacher in the department uses the same structure (objective, activities, assessment, differentiation), but the content and delivery are their own.

The biggest beneficiaries are new teachers and substitutes. A new teacher joining your department gets a ready-made planning structure instead of starting from scratch. A substitute can teach from any department plan because the format is familiar.

Required sections: objective (with observable verb), timed activity sequence, differentiation notes, and formative assessment. These are non-negotiable because they represent minimum planning quality.

Optional sections: materials list, standards alignment, homework, and extensions. These vary by teacher preference and lesson type. Making them optional prevents the template from becoming a burden.

What to leave out: decorative formatting, lengthy rationale, and anything that doesn't directly help you teach. The template should take 5 minutes to fill in, not 30.

LessonCraft generates plans with a consistent structure that departments can adopt as their shared format. Teachers enter their own topics and constraints, and the output follows the same section structure — making collaboration and peer review natural.