Last week’s combined class was very interesting, and it taught me the importance of preparing a lesson plan. Though I never believed teaching to be an easy task, I had not considered that the key to a successful class lies in how the teacher prepares the lesson. Teachers must examine the manner in which they introduce new material to students. Good teachers teach with the goal of instilling a deep understanding of the material in their students. Understanding means more than simply being able to recite information; rather, a quality understanding of the concepts means that the students can analyze, form opinions, ask questions, and make applications with what they have learned. In order to achieve such an understanding in their students, teachers must first decide the general objective of the lesson and develop essential questions, which encourage students to connect the many different ideas included in the lesson. Then, they must work backwards to determine the skills they hope their students will gain, and how they will present the information in order to achieve this.