⟩ How have the Common Core State Standards guided your lesson preparation? Or, how have your state or local standards guided your lesson preparation?
The standards are certainly a starting point, a focus point. In my college classes, we started our plans with the standard, and then developed a student objective that would demonstrate mastery. Next, we determined how to focus students, do a quick review to tie the material to something already learned and how to engage the students with the new material. We always assessed each lesson in some way, formally or informally. Having posted standards helped students monitor their own learning, too.