Designing Teaching

Most people teach the way they talk — they start wherever feels natural and hope it comes together. Sometimes it does. Usually it doesn’t.

Teaching can be designed. And designed teaching is dramatically more effective than improvised teaching. This isn’t about being rigid or scripted. It’s about having a structure that makes learning happen, instead of leaving it to chance.

Five elements. Each one is a question you answer before you teach.

1. Learning Objectives

What will the learner be able to DO when you’re done?

Not “understand” or “appreciate” or “be familiar with.” Those are fuzzy and unmeasurable. What specific, observable thing will they be able to do that they couldn’t do before?

“After this, you’ll be able to identify the three root causes of a stuck project and apply a specific fix for each one.”

That’s a learning objective. You can test it. You can see whether it happened. Compare that to “After this, you’ll have a deeper appreciation for project management.” Nobody can tell if that happened or not. Including the learner.

Start with the end. What does the learner walk away being able to do?

2. Prerequisites

What does the learner need to know BEFORE your teaching will make sense?

This is where the expert curse bites hardest. You assume knowledge the learner doesn’t have. You build on a foundation that isn’t there. Then you’re confused when they can’t follow along.

Be explicit about what they need coming in. If they don’t have it, either teach that first or point them to where they can get it. Skipping prerequisites is the single most common reason teaching fails.

3. Sequence

What order builds understanding most effectively?

Not the order you learned it in. Not the order that seems logical to an expert. The order that works for someone who doesn’t know any of it yet.

Usually this means starting with something concrete and immediate — something they can see, touch, or try. Then building toward the abstract. Theory after experience, not before.

The right sequence makes learning feel natural. The wrong sequence makes the same material feel impossible. Same content, different order, completely different result.

4. Methods

How will you teach it?

Lecture? Demonstration? Guided practice? Discussion? Problem-solving? Each method works for different types of learning.

Skills need practice — you can’t lecture someone into competence. Concepts need explanation and examples. Judgment needs case studies and real-world scenarios.

Match the method to what you’re teaching. A lot of bad teaching comes from using one method for everything. Lecturing about something that requires hands-on practice. Doing hands-on exercises for something that needs conceptual grounding first.

5. Assessment

How will you know if they got it?

Not “did they say they got it.” People say they understand when they don’t, constantly. You need a way to verify.

Can they do the thing? Can they explain it back in their own words? Can they apply it to a situation they haven’t seen before? Can they teach it to someone else?

The best assessment is simple: put them in a situation that requires what you taught and see what happens. If it works, they learned it. If it doesn’t, you have more teaching to do.

Today’s Practice

Pick one thing you know well enough to teach. Something from your mastery list from Lesson 35.

Now design the teaching. Write it out.

Objective: After this, the learner will be able to ___. Be specific and observable.

Prerequisites: The learner needs to already know ___. List everything you’re assuming.

Sequence: First ___, then ___, then ___. The order that builds understanding.

Methods: I’ll teach this through ___. Match the method to the material.

Assessment: I’ll know they got it when ___. Something you can see or test.

This doesn’t need to be perfect. You’re practicing design, not producing a finished curriculum. The point is to shift from “I’ll just explain it” to “I’ll build conditions where learning happens.”

That shift changes everything about how effective your teaching becomes.