Planning for the lesson, the term and the school year

The teacher as manager

One of the main roles of a teacher is controlling the use of time in the classroom. The success of a
teachersworkismeasuredbythelearningprogresswhichismadebyeachindividualstudentinthe
class. Therefore, planning the use of time for effective learning is one of the teachers main
managementtasks.

Whosetimeisbeingused?
Arethestudentswastingmytime,oramIwastingtheirtime?
Weoftenthinkthatgoodlessonplanningwillhelptheteachertousethetimeeffectively,asifthe40
90minutesoflessontimebelongedtotheteacher,asiftheteacherstimewasmorevaluablethanthe
studentstime.

Thisbringsustothequestion:WhocaresifthestudentslearnEnglish?Obviouslytheteachercares.
This is why the teacher puts a high value on teacher time. But, do the students care? In many state
school situations, they dont and this is why they do not value lesson time in the same way. The
teacherneedstopersuadethestudentstocareabouttheirownprogress.Iftheteachercandothis,
studentswillcarethattheirlearningtimeisusedeffectively.

How can I make my students care about their progress?

Young learners and many teenage learners do not really care about their progress. The prospect of
becoming an effective user of English is so far in the future, it is not a strong motivator. They are
motivated because English lessons are fun and regular quizzes appeal to their sense of
competitiveness. Young children like gold stars. As they grow older, certificates gained from more
formalexaminationshavesomemotivationalinfluence.

Parentalsupportisanimportantfactor.Childrenliketolearnsongsandpieceswhichtheycanperform
infrontoffamilymembers.Teenslikecollaborativetaskslikeperformingplays,makingvideos,putting
onconcertsandrecordingperformancestheirfavouritepopsongs.

Thesetypesofactivity,whichcanbebroadlydescribedasprojectwork,maynotbeseenbyteachersas
highvaluelearningtime,butthenonstructuredlearningandmotivationalvalueisveryhigh.Inmany
learningenvironments,studentsdonotgetmanyopportunitiestousetheirEnglishlanguageskills.If
students get praise and personal satisfaction from these projects, they will care more about their
progressanddevelopment.

Author: Nick Dawson

r:Katie
Jones.
Pearson

Page 1 of 44
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Planning for the lesson, the term and the school year
Lesson planning
The danger of many teacher training programmes is that they tend to concentrate on a lesson as a
singleeventandfocusontheteachersperformanceduringtheperiodoftheevent.Withoutstudents,
teachinghasnomeaning,thereweshouldnotthinkofalessonasaneventinthelifeoftheteacher
butasoneofalongseriesofeventsinthelearninghistoryofthestudents.Alllessons,exceptthefirst
andthelast,haveaprecedingandfollowinglessonsoakeyelementinplanningistolinkeachlesson
to previous and following lessons. Students have short and unreliable memories. 90% of their life is
conductedwiththeirbrainsoperatinginL1.Makinglinksbetweenlessonsisagreatwaytoreactivate
pastlearningandhelpstudentstoswitchtheirbrainsintoEnglish.

11 principles of lesson planning

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

Starteachlessonbyreviewingwhatwasdoneinthepreviouslesson.Eithertellthestudents
what was done, or better, ask them to tell you what was done. If you regularly start your
lessonsinthisway,yourstudentswillquicklybecomeaccustomedtotheprocedureandwill
getbetteratrecallingandgivingabrieforalsummaryofaspectsofthepreviouslesson.Tryto
varythewaysinwhichyouorganisethisrecall.
Tellthestudentswhatyouhopetoachieveduringthislesson.Itismucheasierforstudents
tocollaborateinthelessoniftheyknowtheitinerary.Butexplainthelessonintermswhich
willinterestyourstudentsandlanguagetheycanunderstand.
Plan your lesson in terms of student activity. If you plan in this way, you will be much less
likelytoboreyourstudentsbyaskingthemtobeinactiveandconcentrateonthesametask
fortoolong.
Teachertalk=studentlisten(atleastintheory),buthowlongcanthestudentslisten,ifthey
havenoreasonforlistening?
Vary the amount of time devoted to each activity. Activities which involve the active
participationofstudentscanbelongerthanlessactiveperiodsbuteventheseshouldnotbe
allowedtogoonfortoolong.Thinkintermsoftherewardfactorforeachactivitynotthe
learning value, as judged by the teacher, but the satisfaction factor as experienced by the
students.
Vary the social structure of activities so students work individually, with partners, in small
groupsandasawholeclass.

Chainactivitiessothatlanguagefromactivity[a]isusedinactivity[b]andthereareregular
crossreferencesbetweenactivitiesinthislessonandwithpreviouslessons.
Author: Nick Dawson
Page 2 of 44
r:Katie
Jones.
Pearson
PHOTOCOPIABLE

Planning for the lesson, the term and the school year
8)

9)

10)

11)

Settimelimitsforsomeactivities.Studentsneedtolearntoworkfasterandaraceagainst
timeisagoodwaytoencouragethis.
Planamemorablestudentachievementbytheendofeachlesson.
Trailyourplansforthenextlesson.Forexample,tellthestudentsifyouplanaquiz,apuzzle
oranyactivitywhichstudentscanpreparefor.
Thankyourstudentsfortheircooperationandgoodbehaviourandsaythatyoulookforward
toseeingtheminthenextlesson.(Orexpressyourdisappointmentiftheyhavenotbehaved
well,butstillsayyoulookforwardtoseeingthemagain.)

Planninggoodlessons
Secondary school students observe more than a thousand lessons by different teachers each year.
With this wealth of experience, they know the types of activity which are most fun but also the
activitieswhichhavethegreatestlearningvalue.Usequestionnaires,classdiscussionsandindividual
interviewstofindoutwhichactivitiesareconsideredtobeofgreatestlearningvalue.Donotassume
your students judgements are always correct but ask them for their opinions. Asking the students
demonstratesthatyoucare,andencouragesthemtocareaswell.

Planning for a term or school year

Planningforalongerperiodinvolvesadifferentapproachtoplanning.Youwillbeabletocalculate(at
leastapproximately)thenumberoflessonsintheschoolyear.Asanadult,youcanthinkaboutthese
longerperiodsoftimebutyourstudentsmaynotbeabletothinkintheseterms.Ayearplanneror
term planner which is marked with targets to be achieved by specific dates can be a very useful
documentifsharedwiththestudents.

The advantage of having a plan is that you are not limited by the plan. The plan allows you and the
classtobeflexible.Ifacertaintargetisnotachieved,studentswillrealisethattheywillhavetouse
timemoreeffectivelytoachievethenexttarget.

If you are working with a specific textbook, the unit structure will help you to set targets. If you are
workingtowardsanexaminationonaspecificdate,thiswillalsobeatarget.

Punctuating the year

Inthepast,prisonersinjailwereforcedtoworkonorinatreadmill.Everysteprequiredeffortbutno
progresswasmade.WhenstudentsthinkaboutayearofEnglishlessons,manythinktheyearisjusta
treadmillofboring,repeatedactivity,withnovariationandnosenseofachievement.
Author: Nick Dawson
r:Katie
Jones.
Pearson

Page 3 of 44
PHOTOCOPIABLE

Planning for the lesson, the term and the school year
Wecanovercomethissenseoftheyearasatreadmillintwoways.Firstly,wemakesurethatstudents
track the progress they are making reference to the learning syllabus. When students examine the
content of early units, the material seems to be very easy. It is easy because of the progress the
studentshavemade.Thelanguagedossierstoresexamplesofthestudentsbestworkorganisedbythe
date of execution. Looking back at the first few items, students will be able to see their increased
competence.Anotherideaisforthestudents tobuilda personallibraryofrecordingsof themselves
performing dialogues or reading aloud in English. Once again, listening to old recordings will give an
immediateindicationofprogress.AnotherideaistoreteachUnit1afterthestudentshavecompleted
Unit6.Thiswillnotonlyrecycleknownlanguagebutstudentswillbeamazedathowquicklytheycan
completetheexercises!

Thesecondwayinwhichweavoidthetreadmillisbypunctuatingtheyearwithparties,celebrations
andspecialevents.Theseholidaysfromthetextbookareanopportunitytofocusonliterature,culture,
CLILorjustwatchacomedyTVprogrammeinclass.Ifyouhavethechancetoinviteateacherfroma
different school or a local regular user of English to your class, your students will be able to try out
their skills in communicating with a stranger. Exploit all opportunities from outside the school to
stretchyourstudentscommunicativeskills.

Dontlettheseeventsdominatethelearningprogramme.Theyarespecial,becausetheyareunusual.
Bypunctuatingtheyear,theseeventsaddvarietytothelearningprogrammebutareverymemorable
andmotivatingforthestudents.Althoughtheyarenotstructuredlessons,theseunstructuredcontacts
withEnglishhavegreatlearningvalue.

Planning for examinations

Ifanexaminationisthemajorfocusofalongerlearningperiod,yourplanwillhavetosetasidesome
timeforrevisionandexampreparation.Asfaraspossible,givestudentstheopportunitytoleadthis
revision for the class. Divide the review into different sections and assign each one to a group of
students.Setthemthetasktodeveloppresentations,worksheets,gamesandpuzzlessothattheycan
lead the class in reviewing this aspect of language. Students love becoming teachers. Of course, you
willobservethisworkcorrecterrorsandfillinggapsinthegroupsreview.

Teaching, learning and planning

Successfullearningistheresultofcollaborationbetweenthelearnersandtheteacher.Collaborationis
madeeasierifthelearnersknowwheretheyaregoingandtheycanunderstandtheteachersplanfor
reachingthedestination.

Author: Nick Dawson

r:Katie
Jones.
Pearson

Page 4 of 44
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