Dear Auntie,
You helped me with a question about pairwork.
Can you tell me what I need to think about when planning lessons?
I'm the bloke who's about to start his TEFL Cert. :(
Thanks
Jim
What do I need to think about when planning a lesson?
Moderator: Joe
What do I need to think about when planning a lesson?
Dear Jim,
When planning lessons there are various things to consider. Here are some of the main elements:
Aims or objectives (some people use these terms interchangeably and some consider them to have different meaning; refering to global or specific aims). This is the most important part of the plan. You need to be clear about what you expect the students to be able to do at the end of the lesson. Each stage of your lesson should have an aim too.
You need to integrate different activities. Some examples are warmers or activating activities. This is to attune the students to the use of English. There should be a language or skills focus too. You can see my previous answer on ESA for more ideas.
Consider timing when planning. You don't want to spend too much time on a warmer to find there is no time left for your main activity.
Think about how you organise each section of the lesson. Will you be doing whole class work, pairwork, individual work? You need a variety of these in each lesson.
You need to anticipate any problems students may have with each section of your lesson. You also need to think about how you will resolve these problems.
You also need to consider what came before the lesson and if possible what will come after. You want your lesson to fit into the syllabus. This isn't always possible when doing teaching practice. If you consider it, it will show you are thinking about the overall learning objectives.
The above are intended as guidelines. When you start your course, the tutors will let you know what they are expecting. Different people look for different things and it's best to know what the people grading your lessons are looking for.
When planning lessons there are various things to consider. Here are some of the main elements:
Aims or objectives (some people use these terms interchangeably and some consider them to have different meaning; refering to global or specific aims). This is the most important part of the plan. You need to be clear about what you expect the students to be able to do at the end of the lesson. Each stage of your lesson should have an aim too.
You need to integrate different activities. Some examples are warmers or activating activities. This is to attune the students to the use of English. There should be a language or skills focus too. You can see my previous answer on ESA for more ideas.
Consider timing when planning. You don't want to spend too much time on a warmer to find there is no time left for your main activity.
Think about how you organise each section of the lesson. Will you be doing whole class work, pairwork, individual work? You need a variety of these in each lesson.
You need to anticipate any problems students may have with each section of your lesson. You also need to think about how you will resolve these problems.
You also need to consider what came before the lesson and if possible what will come after. You want your lesson to fit into the syllabus. This isn't always possible when doing teaching practice. If you consider it, it will show you are thinking about the overall learning objectives.
The above are intended as guidelines. When you start your course, the tutors will let you know what they are expecting. Different people look for different things and it's best to know what the people grading your lessons are looking for.
Lucy is the author of Lucy Pollard's Guide to Teaching English