In this article, the author draws on his observations of secondary school student teachers to emphasize the importance of a lesson plan in being able to explain exactly why students need to learn a particular lesson, even in higher education. While college students are less likely to ask this question, the author believes that the best teachers, even at the college level, are the ones who volunteer this information to their students unasked. He also believes that having a lesson plan can help post-secondary teachers see the rationale for the day's work more clearly, and can remind them to offer that rationale to students. This leads, in turn, to greater transparency in the classroom, allowing both student and teacher to know the reasons for the major decisions about a course.