Planing a Lesson.
A key aspect of effective teaching is having a plan for what will happen
in the classroom each day. Creating such a plan involves setting
realistic goals, deciding how to incorporate course textbooks and other
required materials, and developing activities that will promote
learning.
An example lesson plan and lesson planning worksheet, available as pdf
files, provide step-by-step guidance for lesson development.
Survival Tips for New Teachers.
Effective teaching depends on preparation. Here are
eight things to do at the beginning of the semester to help yourself
have a rewarding and enjoyable teaching experience.
Find out what the department expects you to teach and what materials you are expected to use. Review the curriculum or textbook to get a roadmap of the semester as a whole.
Method:
Find out what teaching approach you are expected to use. Are you expected to stick closely to the textbook, or to bring in outside materials to supplement? Is your teaching practice expected to be more learner centered or more teacher centered? Are you expected to teach grammar overtly, or just explain it as it comes up in various contexts?
Students:
Find out what level your students will be. If they are “second year” or “intermediate,” ask what that means.
Plan:
Outline a plan for the semester, even if the department has given you a plan. Know when and how you will introduce new material and when and how you will review.
Orientation:
Find out what facilities are available for students and where they are: language lab, computer lab, library.
Relationships:
Learn the names of your students as
soon as you can. Use their names when talking with them and when giving
language examples in class. Attending to your students as individuals
will help you assess their progress more effectively.
Expectations:
Ask how much and what kind of homework
is usually given to students at the level you are teaching. Find out
what expectations the department has for frequency and type of testing.
Guidance:
Ask your supervisor or another experienced
instructor to serve as your mentor. A mentor can review your plan for
the semester before classes start to be sure you’re on the right track,
and can meet with you on a regular basis throughout the semester to
answer questions and give you support when you need it.
Set Lessons Goals
- Identify a topic for the lesson. The topic is not a goal, but it will help you develop your goals. The topic may be determined largely by your curriculum and textbook, and may be part of a larger thematic unit such as Travel or Leisure Activities.
- Identify specific linguistic content, such as vocabulary and points of grammar or language use, to be introduced or reviewed. These are usually prescribed by the course textbook or course curriculum.
- Identify specific communication tasks to be completed by students. To be authentic, the tasks should allow, but not require, students to use the vocabulary, grammar, and strategies presented in the lesson. The focus of the tasks should be topical, not grammatical.
- Identify specific learning strategies to be introduced or reviewed in connection with the lesson. See Motivating Learners for more on learning strategies.
- Create goal statements for the linguistic content, communication tasks, and learning strategies that state what you will do and what students will do during the lesson.
Structure the Lesson
Preparation
As the class begins, give students a broad
outline of the day’s goals and activities so they know what to expect.
Help them focus by eliciting their existing knowledge of the day’s
topics.
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Use discussion or homework review to elicit knowledge related to the grammar and language use points to be covered
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Use comparison with the native language to elicit strategies that students may already be using
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Use discussion of what students do and/or like to do to
elicit their knowledge of the topic they will address in communication
activities
Move from preparation into presentation of the
linguistic and topical content of the lesson and relevant learning
strategies. Present the strategy first if it will help students absorb
the lesson content.
Presentation provides the language input that
gives students the foundation for their knowledge of the language. Input
comes from the instructor and from course textbooks. Language textbooks
designed for students in U.S. universities usually provide input only
in the form of examples; explanations and instructions are written in
English.
In this part of the lesson, the focus shifts from
the instructor as presenter to the students as completers of a
designated task. Students work in pairs or small groups on a topic-based
task with a specific outcome.
In their work together, students move from
structured output to communicative output, in which the main purpose is
to complete the communication task. Language becomes a tool, rather than
an end in itself. Learners have to use any or all of the language that
they know along with varied communication strategies.
Evaluation
When all students have completed the
communication practice task, reconvene the class as a group to recap the
lesson. Ask students to give examples of how they used the linguistic
content and learning or communication strategies to carry out the
communication task.
Evaluation is useful for four reasons:
- It reinforces the material that was presented earlier in the lesson
- It provides an opportunity for students to raise questions of usage and style
- It enables the instructor to monitor individual student comprehension and learning
- It provides closure to the lesson
Expansion activities allow students to apply the
knowledge they have gained in the classroom to situations outside it.
Expansion activities include out-of-class observation assignments, in
which the instructor asks students to find examples of something or to
use a strategy and then report back.
Identify Materials and Activities
The materials for a specific lesson will fall into two categories: those
that are required, such as course textbooks and lab materials, and
authentic materials that the teacher incorporates into classroom
activities.
Truly authentic communication tasks have several features:
- They involve solving a true problem or discussing a topic of interest
- They require using language to accomplish a goal, not using language merely to use language
- They allow students to use all of the language skills they have, rather than specific forms or vocabulary, and to self-correct when they realize they need to
- The criterion of success is clear: completion of a defined task
Source
- Uhl Chamot, Keatley and Kennedy. (2007) “The essentials of language teaching: Planning a lesson” Retrieved on October 17, 2016 From: http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/planning/plindex.htm
