Lesson Plan Review: An Approval Process Teachers Do Not Hate
A lesson plan review process with an eight-question checklist, a four-step approval flow, and two-line feedback teachers can act on before Monday.
Ask a head of department about lesson plan review and you get a tired look. Forty plans arrive on Friday afternoon. Half are last year's with the date changed. The comments written back on Sunday are read by nobody. Ask a teacher and you get the same look from the other side: a form to fill, a box to tick, a judgement to survive.
Lesson plan review does not have to be this. Done well, it is the one place a school can see, before the lesson, that the plan fits the class. This post gives you a checklist, a four-step process, and a way to write feedback a teacher will actually use.
What lesson plan review is for
Three things, and only three.
- Consistency. Three teachers of Grade 7 science should be teaching the same objectives in the same term, even if their lessons look different.
- Fit. Does the plan match the class that is actually in the room? This is the check that catches most problems and the one most forms skip.
- Support. A newer teacher gets a second pair of eyes before the lesson, when it can still help.
What it is not for: judging the teacher. The moment a review becomes a mark on a person, teachers write plans for the reviewer instead of for the class. The plan gets longer and the lesson gets worse.
Why lesson plan approval usually fails
- The deadline is wrong. Friday for Monday means the reviewer reads on the weekend and the teacher cannot change anything.
- There are no criteria. "Approved" means "I did not notice a problem". Each reviewer notices different things.
- Everything is read at the same depth. A plan from a teacher in her fifteenth year and a plan from a teacher in her first get the same twenty minutes, or the same two.
- Feedback is a paragraph. Paragraphs are skimmed. Two specific lines are read.
A lesson plan checklist with eight questions
Agree the checklist in a department meeting. Publish it. Every review uses the same list, and every teacher knows it before writing. Here is the one we recommend as a start.
| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| 1. Does the plan name the class and what this class needs? | First lines of the plan |
| 2. Are the objectives from the scheme of work for this term? | Objectives against the scheme |
| 3. Can a student tell, from the success criteria, whether they did it? | Success criteria |
| 4. Does the starter connect to the previous lesson? | Starter |
| 5. Is there a task for the group named as needing support? | Main activities |
| 6. Is there a check for understanding before the end? | Last ten minutes |
| 7. Do the timings add up to the lesson length? | Activity timings |
| 8. Does the plan follow the school AI and safeguarding rules? | Sources and materials |
Questions 1, 2, 7 and 8 are mechanical. A program can check them. Questions 3 to 6 need a colleague who knows the subject. Split the list that way and the reviewer's time goes where it matters.
The four-step process
- Submit by Wednesday for the following week. This gives two working days for a change.
- Mechanical check first. The four mechanical questions run on submission. A plan that fails goes straight back to the teacher with the failed question named, before anyone senior reads it.
- Read with the checklist. The reviewer reads for questions 3 to 6 only, at a depth that fits the teacher: a full read for new staff, a light read for experienced staff with one full read a term.
- Two lines of feedback. One thing that is strong, one thing to change, each pointing to a line of the plan. Approved, or back with those two lines.
A lesson plan review done this way takes a head of department under ten minutes a plan, and a teacher can act on it before Monday.
An example: a Grade 5 science department
Three Grade 5 teachers submit plans for a lesson on the parts of a plant. The mechanical check sends one back: the timings add up to 65 minutes for a 50-minute lesson. The teacher fixes it in five minutes and resubmits.
The head of department reads the other two for questions 3 to 6. Plan A has a strong practical but no task for the three students the class description names as needing a word bank. Feedback: "The practical in part 3 is clear and safe. Add the word bank for the named group before the labelling task (part 3, line 2)." Plan B passes. Total review time for the department: twenty minutes, on Wednesday, not Sunday.
If your department has not agreed a plan shape yet, start with the seven-part lesson plan template. If the problem is wider than one department, the review feeds curriculum mapping at no extra cost.
Lesson plan feedback that gets used
Feedback on a plan is used when it is specific, short, early and about the lesson.
- Specific: name the part and the line.
- Short: two lines. If you have more, choose the two that matter most.
- Early: before the lesson, with time to change it.
- About the lesson: "the starter does not link to last lesson", not "you tend to rush starters".
Keep the review on the plan and the attention on the learners. We write about the difference in lesson observation tools vs learning evidence.
How TeachBuddy AI helps
In TeachBuddy AI the mechanical half of the review runs on submission. Teachers join a school with an invitation code and submit lessons through My School. Each submission goes through a policy check and the school's review checklist before a head of department opens it, and the plan already records what it was built from: the class profile, the scheme or textbook pages, the objectives. The school hub keeps submitted plans and resources in a school library, and a leader can ask Buddy "who has not submitted this week" instead of chasing by email.
The human half stays human. A colleague reads for fit and writes two lines. We don't observe teachers. We listen to learners. The review is about the plan; the evidence of learning comes from the lesson reflection and from the students' own work.
Frequently asked questions
What should a lesson plan checklist include?
The class and its needs, objectives from the scheme, success criteria students can use, a starter that links back, a task for the supported group, a check for understanding, timings that add up, and the school's AI and safeguarding rules.
Who should approve lesson plans?
A head of department or subject lead who knows the subject and the scheme. Mechanical checks can run automatically first, so the person reads only for fit and quality.
How do you give lesson plan feedback?
Two lines, before the lesson: one strength and one change, each pointing to a part of the plan. Keep it about the lesson, not the teacher.
If your school wants lesson plan review to take minutes on a Wednesday instead of a Sunday, talk to us about your school.
Hammad advises school leaders and education organisations on AI strategy, growth and community. He writes about how schools adopt AI without losing sight of learners.