TEFL Lesson Planning
Lesson planning is one of the most important but controversial aspects of teaching. Some teachers and educationist are of the opinion that it is very important to make a detail plan of what they are teaching. They spend hours and hours making a daily or weekly plan. Others are of the opinion that it is simply a method devised by the administration to keep the teachers in lengthy but useless paperwork.
I personally think that a good plan is like a good movie or a piece of music. If a good movie or music is made keeping in mind all the important aspects like rhythm , tempo, beat etc it will always hold the attention of the viewer or the listener. In the same way a good, well organized lesson plan will keep the students interested in what they are doing. An ill prepared lesson plan will not only fail to achieve its aim but will also create discipline problem in the class.
A lesson plan is a frame work of a lesson. It is a teacher?s bible which guides her through the different phases of teaching. It is also important to have a lesson plan so that the teacher has a written prove what she has done not only for her own reference but also for the school management if she is asked how much course material she has covered during a specific period. Lesson plan also help a teacher to keep tract how much she has covered and what she has to do. A lesson is also useful in case a teacher is unable to deliver her| his lesson for any reason the substitute teacher can continue the class activities smoothly.
WHY IS PLANNING IMPORTANT? 1)Planning is important because it keeps the teacher focused. A teacher needs to know what is it they want their students to be able to do by the end of the lesson. 2)Planning helps the teacher to predict possible problems and find their solution before hand. 3)Planning helps you to Make sure that the lesson is balanced and appropriate for the class. 4)Planning keeps the teacher organized. 5)Builds a teacher?s confidence. 6)Helps a teacher to conduct her lesson in logical order. 7)Lesson the chance of confusion and disarray. 8)As the materials required for a particular lesson is specified so it gives a teacher a chance to collect the materials and use them as required.
WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING? A lesson plan can be in any form, for an experienced teacher writing a few lines regarding her lesson would be enough but for an inexperienced teacher it is better that she/ he has a proper format to help her understand the aims and objectives of the lesson and smooth delivery of her/ his lesson .
AIMS: should be according to the level of the students. It should neither be very easy nor very difficult. In order to find out what your students are going to achieve by the end of the lesson keep the following points in mind. -What do the students already know? -What do the students need to know? -What did you do with the students in the previous classes? -How well do the class work together? -How motivated are the students?
VARIETY: an important way of getting and keeping the students engaged and interested.
FLEXIBLITY: expect the unexpected! Things don?t always go to plan in most lessons. Experienced teachers have the ability to cope when things go wrong. It?s useful when planning to build in some extra and alternative tasks and exercises. Also teachers need to be aware of what is happening in the classroom. Students may raise an interesting point and discussion could provide unexpected opportunities for language work and practice. In these cases it can be appropriate to branch away from the plan.
PLANNING AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LESSON:
What should go into an English language lesson? Every lesson and class is different. The content depends on what the teacher wants to achieve in the lesson. However it is possible to make some generalizations. Students who are interested in, involve in and enjoy what they are studying tend to make better progress and learn faster.
When planning an English lesson it is useful therefore to keep the following three elements in mind ? Engage ? Study ? Activate
Engage This means getting the students interested in the class. Engage students is important for the learning purpose.
Study Every lesson usually needs to have some kind of language focus. The study element of a lesson could be a focus on any aspect of the language, such as grammar or vocabulary and pronunciation .A study stage could also cover revision and extension of previous taught material.
Activate Telling students about the language is not really enough to help them learn it. In order to be able to use the language properly and to communicate effectively they need to have a chance to produce it. In an activate stage the students are given tasks which require them to use not only the language they are studying that day, but also other language that they have learnt.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/planning1.shtml T.E.F.L. course material.
Author: Nilofar Naqui
Date of post: 2006-08-30
