Session plan template

Fill in before every session (~5 minutes) · Serves Domain 2: session structure · The Week-3 observation starts by reading your most recent plan.

The exit ticket is chosen here, before the session. A ticket chosen afterwards drifts toward “whatever we did.” A ticket chosen now is the session’s destination — and writing the misconception target below is what makes the session diagnostic rather than generic (Module 5).

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The template (copy this block)

SESSION PLAN — Bridge Math Tutoring (fictional)
Tutor (initials): ____  Site/school: ________  Date: __________
Group (student initials): ____ ____ ____ ____

WEEK'S SKILL: (one line, e.g., "solve ax + b = c")
MISCONCEPTION TARGET: (M1 one-side ops / M2 sign on move / M3 distributing /
                      M4 dividing some terms / M5 equals-sign-as-answer)
      → from last tickets (initials + evidence): ________________

EXIT TICKET (chosen BEFORE the session):
  Bank item # ____ (or custom): _______________________________
  Why this item: ______________________________

WARM-UP (5')   Problem: ____________________
               (reactivates last ticket's skill)
REVIEW (5')    Common error from last ticket, said to the group:
               ____________________
GUIDED PRACTICE (12')  Problem(s): ________________
               My planned probing question at the target spot:
               ____________________
               Ladder plan if stuck: L1 __________ L2 __________
INDEPENDENT TRY (5')   Problem: ____________ (similar; I stay silent)
EXIT TICKET (3')       As chosen above. Collect even if incomplete.

AFTER: record initials + tags in tracker TODAY (D2). Any student
below mastery on the same skill twice in a row → flag coordinator.

Worked example (fictional, filled in)

SESSION PLAN — Bridge Math Tutoring (fictional)
Tutor (initials): N.K.   Site: Lakeside Middle   Date: 2026-11-04
Group (initials): A.O.  J.M.  L.R.

WEEK'S SKILL: solve 2-step equations with distribution
MISCONCEPTION TARGET: M3 distributing incorrectly
      → from last tickets: A.O. (wrote 2x − 4 for 2(x − 4), Tue)

EXIT TICKET: Bank item #12 — 3(x − 2) + 1 = 13   (targets M3 + SOLVE)
  Why this item: same distribute-first step as A.O.'s Tuesday error,
  harder numbers; checks whether Monday's fix transferred.

WARM-UP (5'):    2(x + 3) = 10        ← last week's ticket skill
REVIEW (5'):     "The 2 multiplies BOTH terms — Tuesday we saw the
                  +4 escape" (from the actual Tuesday ticket)
GUIDED PRACTICE: 2(x − 4) + 3 = 11
   Probing question at the spot: "What did the 2 multiply — say both."
   Ladder: L1 "What does the 2 hit inside the parentheses?"
           L2 "The 2 multiplies everything inside — what's 2 × −4?"
INDEPENDENT TRY: 3(x + 2) − 5 = 16    (same shape; I don't talk)
EXIT TICKET:     #12 as above.

Rules that make the template work

1. Plan light. Two problems per block, not four. Over-planning is how guided practice swallows the hour (T5 annotation 6).
2. Write the probing question down. Under pressure you will produce the question you practiced, not the one you believe in. Write it (Module 3).
3. The misconception target has a source. “M3, from A.O. Tuesday” — not a hunch. If you can’t name the evidence, the review block is a guess (D3).
4. After the session, the plan gets one line of truth: what actually ran, what the tickets said. Thirty seconds. This line is what your coaching conversation opens with.