Abstract:
Country, state, municipality, school boards, administrators, principals and teachers may have differing opinions of the importance of Lesson Plans; however the vast majority of teachers are required to use lesson plans before entering any classrooms. We have noticed many such teachers who spend 10-12 hours a day to prepare a lesson-just reading different books and making a note coping different lines from different such books. Unfortunately, once they enter the classroom, they start vomiting all the jumble knowledge they have swallowed from such different texts. As a consequence, neither they make their students perceive the matter, nor do they finish the course in time. It’s all because they spent many hours reading textbooks instead of making a clear lesson plan about what to do, why to do and how to do it. Lesson plan inculcates a lot of questions which help in brainstorming about a particular topic and hence students become interactive. So Lesson Plan is a Bridge between Student and Teacher. An Effective Lesson Plan Includes Variety of Activities which Supports the Content; it rather keeps the content along with the procedure of delivering in our heads. In this article, I have mentioned the necessity of making lesson plans along with how and why I make lesson plans before teaching.
Lesson Plan Keeps the Lesson in My Head
Mukunda Kumar Giri
Only theoretical knowledge of teaching concepts does not provide a complete guideline for classroom instructional procedures. For this, lesson planning is essential; lesson planning is an overall plan for teaching any items effectively and successfully which helps we-teachers guide our students towards achieving determined objectives of a particular teaching item. It is “the daily decisions a teacher makes for the successful outcome of a lesson” (Farrell, 2006, p. 17). It is a framework which includes objectives, activities, timing, procedures, materials, techniques, equipment etc. This provides awareness of teaching objectives, structure of the content, materials required, presentation, practice and evaluation to the teachers, and it is more helpful to new or inexperienced teachers to organize content, materials, and methods in EFL/ESL class.
The primary purpose of lesson plan is to aid the instructor in preparing for instruction; it specifies the instructional objectives, which helps the teacher move his teaching to the appropriate direction; it provides a tool for giving the instruction; it documents course content; and provides the necessary techniques for assessing the students so that the teacher can get immediate feedback for the success or failure of his teaching. It helps us clearly organize how we are supposed to present the language to the students. Hence it is essential for all the teachers of EFL, as it provides a framework to follow during the lesson with clear aims and the structure of the lesson. So any professional teacher should make lesson plans to create a cohesive lesson and to be reminded of the different elements needed to pay attention to in bringing the whole lesson together as it helps us think through the lesson in advance. It is because “for truly professional teachers, lesson planning is not optional, it is essential preparation for teaching” (Davies).
A good lesson plan of EFL or ESL includes what you’re going to teach (topic/content, language skills & functions vocabulary, grammatical structures, culture), how you’re going to teach (techniques, activities, procedures), who you’re going to teach (Characteristics, needs of learners), and how will you know if you taught it (evaluation, assessment).
Developing the lesson plan starts, after introductory part, with specify objectives followed by learning activities and specific method of evaluation. Generally specific objectives are mentioned in a lesson plan, not a general one. These objectives need to be measurable, observable and approachable. According to Bloom’s Taxonomy, there are 6 levels of thinking-knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation (Shrum & Glisan, 1994). Therefore, words like tell, list, describe, locate, write, find, state, name etc are written to measure knowledge level of thinking; likewise explain, interpret, outline, discuss, predict, describe, restate, translate, compare are written to measure comprehension level; to measure application level of learning, words like solve, show, use, illustrate, construct, complete, examine, classify etc are used; for analysis, words like analyze, distinguish, examine, compare, contrast, investigate, categorize, identify, explain, separate etc are written; similarly, words like create, invent, compose, predict, plan, construct, design, imagine, propose, devise, formulate etc are written to measure synthesis; and finally, to measure the evaluation level of thinking, words like judge, select, choose, decide, justify, debate, verify, argue, recommend, assess, discuss, rate, prioritize, determine are written while writing specific objectives. Teachers should be aware of some words that cannot be measured, for example, know, understand, feel, realize, consider, think, comprehend, think, memorize etc. After mentioning specific objective, teaching materials are written, but daily materials like board, chalk, marker, book etc do not need to be mentioned. Both specific objectives and selection of teaching material are pre-classroom activities. The classroom activity starts with revision and warm up/motivation. In this regard, the teacher has to mention how he can associate the present teaching item with the preceding one in his plan. Then he has to motivate the students in different ways; some teachers start with simple questions like “how are you?”, “how was your previous class?” or they can tell some relevant jokes or stories, which should be clearly mentioned so that he won’t forget. After motivation, the main part of the plan comes i.e. presentation. Here he has to mention how he is supposed to present the new teaching item. In the context of language teaching, how he presents the vocabulary items, structures and other aspects should be clearly mentioned. Moreover, he can mention the methods and techniques used to present the new teaching items here as well. As we believe in learning by doing, or an old saying “practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice makes practice,” it should be mentioned in the plan what the learners will practice (control, guided or free) and how long. This practice can be both oral and written. And finally to know how much the learners have achieved, the evaluation should be planned as well. Evaluation can be both formal (test, quiz, presentation, interactive discussion) and informal (random sample, homework activity) to check the production. The lesson plan does not end with evaluation, there should be follow-up as well. For this the teacher can ask some questions like “what do you think today’s lesson was about?”, “what part was easy?”, “what part was difficult?”, and “what changes would you suggest the teacher make?” And before leaving the class, the teacher also has to let students know what they are going to study for the next day’s class.
So, at the beginning of a lesson plan, I write the name of the academic institute, the subject, unit, teaching item, period, date etc. As the teaching item is the most important one, I mention every detail of the body part of the lesson plan as mentioned above, but briefly. I do not prefer making very formal and elaborate plans that consume my time. I believe in the preparation of the teacher rather than planning itself. So, while planning a lesson, I, first of all, read thoroughly to understand the subject itself. Moreover, professionals are consulted or additional readings done if further understanding is needed to be well prepared. My planning consists of very specific points to mention objectives, activities of the instructor and the learners, practice and evaluation. And if I realize the planning is not suitable according to the classroom situation, I may modify it during instruction as well. As “the success with which a teacher conducts a lesson is often thought to depend on the effectiveness with which the lesson was planned” (Richards 1998, p.103), I try to have reflection on the effectiveness of my class asking myself few questions, when the class is over, like “was this lesson satisfactory?”, “what could I have done/do to improve it?”, “did the students learn what I taught them?”, “Were my objectives met?”, “was the lesson good?”, and “if so, what exactly made it so” (but these are not mentioned in the plan). Then the next day’s class is planned accordingly, because good lesson plans do not ensure that students will learn what is intended, but they certainly contribute to it.
As “a good lesson plan guides, but does not dictate what and how we teach” (Jensen, 2001, p. 403), it provides structure and shape for the lesson or a map to follow; it states and enables teachers to reach the purpose and learning objectives of each lesson utilizing the time available most efficiently with appropriate techniques, materials and procedures. Moreover, it is also helpful to keep a record of what was taught, and to develop more confidence in the teacher. Therefore, believing in myself as a professional teacher, I make lesson plans as a checklist or a map that guides me in knowing what I want to do next; more importantly this reminds me of the goal and objectives of my class. So I make the plan a night before the class, usually in the evening of the previous day. And once the class is over it also helps me determine whether my objectives have been met, assess what the students have actually learned, and make adjustments in my teaching for the next class. Hence, in a sentence, it helps me think through the lesson before teaching – it helps me get the lesson into my head.
References:
Richards, J.C. (1998). Beyond Training. Cambridge University Press
Richards, J.C. & Renandya, W. A. (2002). Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice. NY: New York. Cambridge University Press.
Shrum J. L., & Glisan, E. (1994). Teacher’s handbook: Contextualized language instruction. Boston, MA: Heinle &Heinle
