‘The idea behind a perfect lesson plan is to leave clear instructions to another teacher and successfully teach your class without your presence.’
Teaching without a doubt is one of the most creative and awesome professions a person can have in a lifetime. Not a single day of boredom, as every day is always as unique as the next. Whether one teaches young children, teenagers, or adults the time spent with them will be truly memorable.
In addition, you will always have something to talk about while socializing with other teachers and friends. Of course, there are times when teachers wished they were the students rather than the teacher and fooling around with friends in the classroom while the teacher is focused on the lesson plan with the aims and objectives planted on the desk. Planning is one of the most important factors of being a successful teacher.
Writing the lesson plan may not be fun but it will ensure that the students will enjoy the time spent in the classroom and spend less time speaking to one another about irrelevant nonsense. To have a successful lesson it is important to break up the materials into several sections. Make sure to choose activities that will be suitable for each part of the lesson. In addition, it is important for the teacher to know approximately how much time to spend on each part of the activity.
Finally, teachers must remember that while working with students things may not always go as anticipated therefore should not stress about it, as plans are made to be flexible hence different classes will respond to material differently. A good teacher should keep in mind that if students struggle at certain points that means more time will be dedicated to instructions or drilling before moving on to practice activities.
PURPOSE OF WRITING A LESSON PLAN
The true purpose of writing a lesson plan is to make sure somebody will be able to pick up where you left off and teach as though you were teaching. Therefore, instructions must always be clear with all the details from the book to be used, listening exercises, and extra resources or materials.
Moreover, examples of what to ask students are always needed as it is sometimes difficult to think on the spot suitable questions for the topic and to use suitable vocabulary the students are familiar with. Lesson plans must also mention group activities and the number of students to participate in each group, for example, a class of 11 will have 2 groups of 4 and one group of 3.
Another important factor for lesson plans is to decrease the number of time wasted to search for links or examples while already in class, thus increasing productivity time for the students.
All in all, with the appropriate lesson plan the students will enjoy fun educational activities throughout the lesson.
How to write a perfect lesson plan?
Five points must always be included:
1. Warm Up – This activity should not last longer than five minutes to stimulate your students to start thinking about what to expect in the lesson. It will also give them time to settle down and start focusing. During the warm-up, you can also review materials from the previous lesson or start asking questions to awaken the students and get them active. You can even start with a fun quiz and lead them into the lesson.
2. Introduction – This is the point where the teacher will do most of the talking to present the tasks for the day and get the students interested. It is very important that the introduction of the topic is very clear as to get students involved and begin talking or use choral repetition to begin interaction with the class. Depending on how much new vocabulary will be used or the level of difficulty for the new task, an introduction could last in most cases between 10 – 15 minutes.
3. Practice – By this time the students will be ready to start practicing the task either individually or in pairs. For example, if the lesson was about past simple, short dialogues about what they did last weekend, worksheets or class activities can be appropriate at this stage. This stage may take about ten to fifteen minutes including going over the answers along with some demonstrations.
4. Production – This is the longest activity students will have to produce their own material. Try to give students a chance to make their own sentences or write a small paragraph. During this time longer activities by the use of technology in the classroom can be applied to make the lesson interactive and fun. This part of the lesson should take up the rest of the classroom time leaving a few minutes for clarifications if needed.
5. Review – This is the last part of the lesson and should only be used if students finish early, recap for the end of the class as a review, or use it as a warm-up for the following lesson. Extra worksheets should always be available for the students that finish their tasks early to keep them busy until the bell rings!
Conclusion
ConclusionFor some teachers, writing lesson plans can be a long and time-consuming task, but once you have them, you can easily change them according to the needs of your students and the level of the class. Try using similar trends with technology and online tools to make you an expert on interactive lessons, (use the link for online tools blog here) that will be educational and fun for the entire class. Finally, be sure to include all references and resource materials that will be needed throughout the entire class period.
Andrie Steliou
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