PLANNING LESSONS

Reasons for planning

For students, evidence of a plan shows that the teacher has devoted time to
thinking about the class. It strongly suggests a level of professionalism and a
commitment.
For teachers, a plan gives the lesson a framework, good teachers are flexible
and respond creatively to what happens in the classroom, but they also need to
have thought ahead, to have a destination which they want their students to
reach, and some idea of how they are going to get there. In the classroom, a
plan helps to remind teachers what they intended to do, planning is especially
important, and that is when a teacher is to be observed as part of an
assessment or performance review.
A proposal for action
We may have an idea of what the learning outcomes for the lesson should be,
but we will only really know what those outcomes are once the lesson itself has
finished. Good teachers need to be flexible enough to cope with unforeseen
events. There will always be a tension between what we had planned to do and
what we actually do when magic moments (unexpected events that can happen
in the classroom) or unforeseen problems present themselves.
Lesson shapes
A good lesson contains a blend of coherence and variety. Coherence means
that students can see a logical pattern to the lesson. Even if they are three
separate activities, there has to be some connection between them. The lack of
variety in a lesson period would militate against the possibility of a real student
engagement.
Planning questions
The students’ age, level, cultural background and individual characteristics have
to be taken into account when we decide activities, texts or methodologies to
use in the classroom. We need to understand the kinds of individual differences
in learning styles.
We have to decide what we want to do in the lesson in terms of both activities,
skills ad language. We need to predict what it will achieve before deciding to
use the activity.
We need to estimate how long the activity will take so we can measure our
progress as the lesson continues against our proposed.
It is important to think about the resources we’ll use because it depends on the
school we are. We need to consider the physical environment of the classroom
itself.
 EVALUATION: TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
A good test
 Validity: a test is valid if it is a test what it’s supposed to test, if it produces similar results to
some other measure, in the way it’s marked.
 Reliability: a test should give consistent results. For example, if the same group of students
took the same test twice within two days, they should get the same results on each occasion. If
they took another similar test, the results should be consistent. In practice, reliability has to do
with making instructions clear and make sure the test conditions remain constant.
Types of test
Direct test: asks students to perform the communicative skill which is being tested.
Indirect test: measures the students’ knowledge and ability of their receptive and productive skills.
Discrete-point testing: tests only one thing at a time (asks students to choose the correct tense
of a verb).
Integrative test: expects students to use a variety of language at any one given time (asking for a
writing composition or doing a conversational oral test).

ASSESSMENT
The process of "assessment" involves recording, selecting, designing, collecting, analyzing,
interpreting, and using the information gathered in order to increase students' learning and
development. There are different reasons for assessing students:

 FORMATIVE:  part of the continuous learning process. (ON-GOING assessment). Teachers give
feedback to students which help them to improve their performance.
 SUMMATIVE: give feedback on progress and achievement at a particular point in time. (FINAL
assessment)
 INFORMATIVE:  inform; provide feedback (students, parents, other teachers)
 DIAGNOSTIC: identify Students special needs
 EVALUATIVE: identify students’ levels of achievement; to reflect on teacher’s methods, materials,
etc.

 The following image shows the fundamental components that a learner-centered assessment 
include:
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Teachers have to use assessment results to improve learner's performance and also, to improve
the teaching and learning process.
Another important part of the process of assessment is "feedback". This "powerful tool" to
enhance student's work and help them improve.