Planning Our Lessons Properly (Unit 6)

 I think lesson planning can be one of the most difficult and time consuming aspects of teaching, especially for new teachers. 

     I have had the privilege of teaching in many different situations, from university lectures, to science labs, to teaching children and young adults in informal environments and even some on-line teaching.  The one common element to all of these is that they require some kind of lesson plan.  All need some organization to ensure that all the information is understood and the objective and goals are met. 

     ESL lesson plans fall somewhere in the middle. They need structure, organization and flow to ensure the goals and objectives are met, but they also need to be engaging and authentic. Brown and Lee  (2015) further describe objectives as terminal objectives (overall objectives) and enabling objectives (objectives of activities throughout the lesson). We need to incorporate a wide variety of activities so we are not boring our learners with the same types of activities over and over again. And we need to have some fun and laughs too. 

     As new ESL teacher it will be very important to ensure that we plan all the details, know what we are trying to teach (goals and objectives), but also expect what pitfalls we may have, be adaptable (tangents can be good learning moments), and make sure we reflect on what can be improved. An experience teacher told me that when she first started she had every minute detail written out, down to exactly what she was going to say, and then rehearsed it.  A good idea when you are first starting, to ensure you are comfortable with the material.  However, after many years of teaching, her lesson plans are now often six lines on a piece of paper.   With experience, it does become much easier! 

      Once we have established our objectives, we can now create the skeleton of the plan. The first activities should always be a review, or quick assessment of what the students know and to introduce what the lesson will be about.  Then the lesson needs to give some new information.  This can be the basis for the next few activities in the lesson. Activities should reinforce and build, but use different kinds of activities.  The class usually ends with an activity that brings it all together, and maybe challenges the students, or assess what they have learned.

      When the skeleton of the lesson has been established, the actual activities can be filled in, and adapted to the enabling objectives. There is a huge resource of activities on many websites, in textbooks, and from our PLN, as well as our imagination. Brown and Lee (2015, pp. 226) list a large table of all types of activities. But beware that many activities must be modified or adapted to fit our needs, and may have errors or confusing aspects. Activities must also be chosen that fit your particular class and situation.  Activities for a large in person class will be different than for online teaching, or tutoring. And also know your students, and what works for them. 

      One very important aspect to lesson planning is to prepare materials and technology.  Materials must be practical and accessible (easy to read and see). Teachers also have to work within budgets, so you may not be able to print everything! Technology can be what you are using for presentations, or what you will teach to the students. I have been caught many times with technology that doesn't work. The same applies to ESL classes if you are using a computer for a video, an overhead projector, a cell phone app, etc. Students are not impressed if you are trying to demonstrate how to use a program, when you can't use it yourself! 

    Timing is everything, and this is certainly something that has a learning curve. Even experienced teachers have difficulties estimating time for activities, because it depends a great deal upon the class.  An experienced teacher can have two classes at the same level, but abilities can vary greatly overall, and within different types of activities. So what takes one class 90 minutes can take the other class two hours. So we must be prepared with extra activities, and to be adaptable. 

     There are so many things to consider when planning a lesson, so no wonder it seems scary. So ask for help from experienced teachers, practice, review and reflect for improvement, and don't be hard on yourself! 

Brown, D. & Lee, H. (2015)  Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language 
       pedagogy(4^thed. revised) Chapter 10 Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education