I have used two different styles of lesson plans, depending on my role as a teacher.

As the instructor of record for a four-hour-a-week language class at the American English Institute, I created very detailed lesson plans with fine-grained scheduling, materials listed, etc. Here is an example of such a plan:

D4 Winter 2018 Week 7 Day 2 lesson plan

In addition to helping me make sure I was well prepared to manage the two hours of face time in this Discussion Skills class, this kind of lesson planning also helped me think through the logic and flow of my lessons. As I articulate in my teaching philosophy, I believe it’s important to create a supportive class environment by starting with warm-up activities that scaffold later deep work, and to vary the kinds of activities throughout the lesson.

As a teaching assistant in charge of discussion sections, my lesson plans have been a little more skeletal, primarily because I value the interaction and fluid nature of discussions and am wary of over-planning. My plans generally contain information about content to look over, skills to develop, and points to be sure not to forget. An example of this style of lesson plan is this one from a course titled Introduction to Bilingualism:

LING 297 Week 2 discussion section plan

Here again I plan to start with a warm-up to encourage discussion, and strategically design the warm-up to be used as a demonstration of course content during the more substantive portion of the lesson. I also use a mix of open-ended discussion time with more structured activities designed around content.