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In a classroom as well as with a one on one setting the planning of a lesson is not only important but crucial. The opposite can be said as well and can only truly be found out if you begin to teach and do not have a lesson plan. First and foremost even if you are an extremely creative person and able to think on the spot the odds are you will eventually run out of ideas or have one of those days which throws you off. When you find your self in this position you will be wishing you had a lesson plan to refer to. Having a good lesson plan will keep you the teacher from feeling anxiety about what to do next and what is your goal. The less stress you can have when teaching the better which will allow you to focus more on your students and less on yourself. As was stated in the course a lesson plan acts in three main parts and all of which are needed. The lesson plan is an aid, a working document, and a record. Showing up for class knowing what your objectives are and how you are going to pursue them is very confidence building and will also instill confidence in your students. No one likes to learn anything from someone who seems like they don't know what they are doing or that they don't care enough to prepare for teaching you. Having a lesson really ensures that this type of environment does not take place. Not only is it important to have a lesson but one of the points continually stressed in the course was the point of flexibility. Having a lesson doesn't mean you need to get through everything you have planned and being in tune with your students will help you gage whether you should remain on one task or language point for a longer point of time or if you can move on. Keeping a record of what your lessons have looked like in the past and how they went will only help you better prepare for the future. One way in which this is important is it will keep you from using the same methods over and over again which is another thing students despise and facilitates boredom very quickly. The lesson should be exciting and keeping the students wondering what the next class will hold and at the same time provide continuity so the students can feel that they are getting a solid grasp on what is taking place. The exciting part comes also from creating a hunger for what is being taught. Not every subject is your favorite in school and the same will take place in learning a new language. Some grammar will be more exciting than others and talking about certain topics will interest some students and not others. Although you as the teacher through a good lesson plan can create a structure that peaks their interest. A good lesson can be much like the writing of a good story which has a climax that you are building up to and its gripping all along the way. Lastly the order in which your lesson is planned is also important. As stated in the course it would be extremely difficult and not very productive to start your students with an activate stage. This would be the equivalent of starting in the middle of a story, going to the end, and then to the beginning. The benefits and importance of planning a lesson and how you plan a lesson will be seen immediately in you as the teacher as well as in the students.
