Instructional planning ensures teachers are able to design lessons on an appropriate level for student learning. Teachers must be able to provide students
with multiple resources to help them develop an understanding of the material. Instructional planning encompasses the teacher’s ability to assess learning data, differentiate instruction, and meet the standards which allow for the best learning opportunities for the students.
Student Learning Data
Teachers can use student learning data to help guide their lesson planning. By assessing what students understand before a lesson, teachers can develop lessons to best fit the needs of their students. Ways to complete an assessment of student knowledge include pre-tests, KWL charts, and writing prompts; these can be used again at the end of a unit to see how well students understood the material. When I was student teaching at Cave Spring high school, I had my student complete a short Pre-test before I carried out my lesson on evolution. The assessment helped me design the unit on what the students already knew and what they wanted to learn. Throughout the unit, I had students complete various activities to help reinforce the content. For the post-assessment, students completed the the same test, and I was able to gauge the student’s progress by comparing the pre-tests to the post-tests.
Differentiation of Lessons
Differentiating instruction helps teachers make the most effective lessons by meeting the student’s various academic levels. Lessons must be appropriate for the student’s age and academic level. I use Bloom’s Taxonomy to help guide my lessons from more basic knowledge to higher level thinking to make sure students have a solid foundation of knowledge on which to build. At the beginning of the year, I like to talk to students about how they feel they learn best. I use a survey to help my students and myself identify their multiple intelligences. The survey also incorporates a graphing section and can easily be intertwined in a lesson about scientific investigation. This helps me include multiple intelligences in my lessons.
Curriculum Standards
Instructional planning also ensures that teachers are meeting their state’s curriculum standards. For me, these standards come from the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs). 
The SOLs are used to guide instruction and make sure students are getting the age-appropriate content. The SOLs highlight the necessary components of each unit that students must learn to master the content; they also help to pace lessons so teachers can spend the appropriate amount of time of each unit. In my lesson plan, I include the SOLs that will be covered during the class; this is helpful to make sure I cover all the material necessary for an SOL. The virus unit I completed during my student teaching covered an mix of different SOLs and listing them assists me in making sure I am meeting all the standards.