Planning a lesson can be hard work. It may even take longer than teaching the lesson itself when you’re still a novice teacher. For example, my first ever week of teaching took me around 3 hours of preparation each day for just 5-7 hours of class.
Imagine having to work 9-10 hour days just to touch your dreams. How long could you last? My answer – not very long.
If you had to consistently work gruelling 10 hour days as a teacher you would burn out pretty soon… you would resent your decision to become a teacher and more importantly, your students would resent you for not giving them your all.
Students are pretty savvy at knowing when their teacher lacks passion. Don’t fall into the passionless pit of ESL teachers that just go to school to collect their flawless envelope full of cash. I despise those people – they don’t enjoy teaching, they don’t prepare for class, and as I hinted at… they don’t appreciate their students and the situation.
As a teacher you have a responsibility to your students to improve your own practice. So to help you get there, here are a few things that I think are important when planning lessons. They will come naturally to you once you’ve cleared the first few hurdles, but that first hurdle can appear miles high.
My top tips (in no real order):
1: Prepare something!
I know it’s really obvious, but seriously, the number of people I have seen walk into class expecting to be able to wing it and fail….. Even for a free-talking class I would suggest preparing something, that way if conversation starts to fail you at least have some points of interest to fall back on. Things like an article or advertising material depending on level. There are even some great questioning series that can create some interesting discussion, e.g. “What would you do if…”.
2: Know your audience
This can’t really be done successfully until you have at least taken that particular class, but initially you should go over previous notes from teachers regarding material covered. Once you have taken the class a few times you get to learn their interests, how they enjoy learning, which activities they enjoy, the social structure, etc. It’s safe to say that a popular activity in one class won’t necessarily succeed in another class.
3: Ice-breakers and warmers
Just like writing, you need structure. You can’t just walk into class and say “Right, textbook page 73, read”. You need an introduction – I mean an introduction that goes beyond pleasantries and the roll. Beginner level children’s classes may enjoy something like a quick word game, adults may like to talk about their day or something they have planned (especially if you’re focus for the day is “I will…”).
4: Time-management
Less is more. The problem many novice teachers encounter is trying to cram way too much into a lesson and not even getting halfway through their plan. You’re much better off covering the new material halfway through class and doing supplementary activities to reinforce the points and usage than trying to cover an entire chapter and only getting to page 3. The students will be dazed and confused and are likely to forget most of the day since there is no closure or conclusion to the lesson.
5: Specific objectives
Have a goal for the lesson. You really need to have a target to aim for that will be the learning outcome for the day.
6: Reflection
Before you begin planning you should reflect on previous lessons with the class either from your own practice or from reading notes from other teachers. This will enable you to revisit any areas that are causing problems for the class or use activities that have proven successful in the class previously. Likewise, write notes during and at the end of the lesson to help yourself and other teachers in the future – What was successful? What failed? Does the class need more instruction on the area? Are there any lessons that could follow-on from where you finished?
7: Variety
Don’t rely on the same things all the time. Mix up your activities, mix up your delivery, mix up your structure. Predictable teachers can become boring so keep it fresh and lively. Your practice will not only be more enjoyable to you but your students will appreciate you more.
8: Checklist
List the materials you need to take to class. The moment you walk through that door you shouldn’t be leaving because you forgot the scissors…. or worse still, your chalk.
9: Whole-Part-Whole
It’s an oldy but a goody.
Whole class presentation ? group or individual work ? whole class conclusion.
10: Shut up!
You’re not a lecturer… let the students breathe and maybe even speak.
If you have any other must-adds for this list, please send them in to us and we’ll make some updates.
Similar Posts:
- What Do Students Really Want?
- Accent Training for the Teacher?
- Class Activities: Dictation with Speaking
