Several generalizations are made from a review of research findings on teachers' instructional planning methods. Teachers do not, as a rule, follow the advocated model of identifying student outcomes before considering activities or means of instruction. Rather, they focus on content to be taught and the activities in which they will engage the students. Teachers plan these elements around an instructional task. Tasks serve as mental images or scripts which are conceptualized in an abbreviated fashion, which helps to reduce the information processing load of teachers. Once teachers begin lessons for groups of students, they are reluctant to change those lessons, even when instruction and learning are progressing poorly. During interactive teaching, teachers' primary concerns focus on maintaining a flow of activities. There is evidence that teachers work to make the classroom activities very predictable, thus reducing the complexity of the classroom. Maintaining order in the classroom is a major concern of teachers while making decisions both before they teach and while they are interacting with students. Teacher educators need to be aware of the validity of the decision making practices of experienced teachers. Theoretical models can be presented to preservice teachers, but a more balanced view of teacher planning and decision making should be presented. (JD)