Lesson planning used to suck. I’ll be honest. I used to spend so much time planning lessons. I thought if I just made it prettier or more structured, it would land better with students.

Spoiler: it didn’t.

And that became painfully clear when I launched a project called Mazertag—which totally flopped.

It was polished. It was structured. But it had nothing to do with my students.
No connection to their interests. No real-world hook. No spark.

That’s when I realized:
A good lesson doesn’t start with a worksheet or even a project idea.
It starts with a reality check.

👉 Watch here: Watch on YouTube
🎧 Listen here: In your Favorite Podcast App

What’s the Reality Check?

When I plan a lesson now—whether it’s a warm-up, anchor task, or project milestone—I ask three questions:

1️⃣ Is it real?
Would someone actually do this outside of math class?
Ex: Modeling a rocket launch = real. Solving 20 random equations = not real.

2️⃣ Is it relevant?
Does it connect to my students’ identities, interests, or goals?

3️⃣ Is it rigorous?
Does it meet the full intent of the standard—not just the surface-level skills?

It doesn’t have to be perfect every day—but over the course of a unit, I aim to check all three boxes.

A Quick Example: Graphing Quadratics Lesson Planning

Instead of:
“Graph y = -x² + 4x – 3. Identify the vertex.”

Try:
“Jazmin launches a paper rocket from her desk in the hallway. Can she hit the target?”

That small shift? Makes a huge difference in engagement and retention.

Save Time Lesson Planning with CRAFT + AI

I also pair the Reality Check with my CRAFT Prompt Framework to build or revise prompts using AI. I’ll literally paste a word problem into ChatGPT with:

“Rewrite this to make it relevant for a 15-year-old in the Midwest who loves sports and social media.”

Boom—lesson updated. Students hooked.

Try This Week:

1️⃣ Grab a lesson from last year that felt “meh”
2️⃣ Run it through the Reality Check
3️⃣ Tweak one part: make it more real, more relevant, or more rigorous
4️⃣ DM me “REALITY” if you want feedback—I’ll walk through it with you!

Want More Support?

Inside the Modern Math Teacher Membership, you’ll get access to:

• Reality Check-aligned projects

• Real-world warm-ups

• Anchor task templates

• And a full support community for feedback and co-planning

📥  Get full Access to the Reality Check training and resources with Early access to Modern Math Teacher Membership

Let’s make your planning smarter, more aligned, and more connected—together.

And as always, keep it real. ✨