Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in BAlAgong Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in E'erduosi Shi — Ordos? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.
What are the key features of effective lesson planning? There is no doubt that lesson planning is the horse drawing the cart, the cart being the execution of lessons. Creating a great plan is not difficult but the less experienced a teacher is, the more difficulties and uncertainties may arise. A lesson plan is a document that the teacher composes, detailing the stages involving in sharing new information or reviewing information already covered. Those who are new to teaching may produce plans that are very detailed but lack essential features. Many times teachers are pressured to meet the standards of annual examinations and ministry requirements, so much so that the topic is the first thing to be decided. This, in itself, is not the problem but in the future, plans may be too coursebook driven rather than suit the interests of the students. The students must be able to see the relevance of learning the content. Since an instructor should know the interests and background of the students, it would be best to have a short-term goal. The short-term goal could then be followed by the individual objectives to be achieved for each lesson as a guideline. It is important to remember that they should be flexible about goals as some objectives might not be met. Objectives go hand in hand with the students’ needs. When recording the flow of the lesson, a good question to consider is “How do I minimize teacher talk time?”’. This will help to reduce unnecessary details and lead the teacher to think of how to deliver content using simple instructions. If this is not done, teachers would then resort to asking if students understand the instructions rather eliciting answers that correctly confirm their understanding of the matter. Writing simply also helps lessen the teacher’s burden so they can create the necessary technology. The start of the lesson needs a warm-up activity which captures the attention of the students. They will gain valuable talk time from this period. When considering the sort of materials to use, from my experience, the idea comes more naturally after writing the activities that I will use in the class. While referring to one’s plan is fine during teaching, having brief steps written down on memory cards, is a little better for some and cuts down on the amount of time the teacher diverts his or her attention. After completion of a lesson, the most important step is to evaluate the entire process. This includes noting apparent strengths and weaknesses, areas of concern and areas that need improvement. Depending on the ability of the students, unmet objects can arise from time to time, but this does not necessarily mean that the lesson plan or teacher is ineffective. As long as there is time, going slowly and thoroughly through the content is better than rushing. Students will not react kindly to swift changes when they have not absorbed the previous material properly. In brief, clear objectives tied closely to the students’ interests and simple notations of desired steps, perhaps within the school’s curriculum, are traits of effective lesson planning. Forming a habit with these traits will give even the most uncertain teacher good vision as long as he or she can be as organised as possible. With the plethora of resources available these days, one might think that even seasoned veterans of education know the best way to approach teaching, but unless they have employed the basics of the above, this is not necessarily so.
