Unit 4 lesson planning

1. Why is lesson planning important?

? It can make teachers aware of the aims and language contents of the lesson. ? It helps teachers distinguish the various stages of a lesson and see the

relationship between them so that activities of different difficulty levels can be arranged properly and the lesson can move smoothly from one stage to another.

? It gives teachers opportunity to anticipate potential problems that may arise

in class, and prepare some solutions to them. ? It builds teachers? confidence in class.

? Teachers can also be aware of teaching aids in class. ? Planning is a good practice and sign of professionalism.

2. Principles for good class planning:

? Aim

It means realistic goals for the lesson; the things students are able to do at the end of the class. ? Variety

Planning a variety of different activities to introduce a wide selection of materials, so that learning is always interesting. ? Flexibility

Preparing some extra and alternative activities and tasks as the class does not always go according to the plan. ? Learnability

The contents and tasks planned for the lesson should be within the learning capability of the students. ? Linkage

The steps and steps in each stage are planned in such a way that they are someway linked with another one.

3. Macro planning

A planning over a longer period of time, for instance a whole-year course. It is often done by a group of teachers who are to teach the same course. ? Knowing about the profession

Which language area and language stage should be taught? ? Knowing about the institution

The institution arrangements of the time, frequency of the class…… ? Knowing about the learners ? Knowing about the syllabus ? Knowing about the textbook ? Knowing about the objectives

4. Components of a lesson plan

? Background information

Who the students are. The time and date of the class. ? Teaching aims

What students are able to achieve at the end of the lesson (Linguistic and language skills) ? Language contents and skills ? Stages and procedures ? Teaching aids

Teaching aids and resources, and how teachers will use them to aid learning ? End of lesson summary

Take some time to summarize what is learned in class. ? Optional activities and assignments ? After lesson reflection

Unit 5 classroom arrangement

1. Efficient classroom arrangement can be achieved when these six conditions are met:

? The teacher plays appropriate roles. ? The teacher provides clear instructions

? Students are grouped in a way suitable for the learning activities. ? The teacher asks appropriate questions.

? There is discipline as well as harmony in the class. ? The students? errors are treated properly.

2. The different roles of teachers: ? Controller

? The teacher controls the pace so that the activities run smoothly and

efficiently.

? The more communicative the activity is, the less control it needs. ? Assessor

? Correcting mistakes ? Organizing feedback ? Organizer

Design and organize the tasks ? Prompter

When students are not sure how to start an activity, or what to do next, the teacher give appropriate prompts. (and……/anything else?/yes, but why?) ? Participant

? Resource-provider

3. Rules to follow for making instructions effective:

? To use simple instructions and make them suit the comprehension level of the

students. (Also, make your comments as simple and as natural as possible) ? To use mother tongue only when it?s necessary.

? The best thing to do is to model the task/activity before letting students move

into groups and pairs.

? Demonstration is more effective than words.

4. Student grouping: ? Whole class work:

? Advantages:

? Everyone feels being together with others.

? It is good for teachers to instruction and explanation together, and

also an ideal way to show materials and do presentation together.

? Disadvantages:

? Individuality is not favoured in this sense.

? Not everyone has an opportunity to express himself.

? Some students feel nervous and anxious when they are asked to

present in front of class.

? It favors the transmission of knowledge from teacher to students

rather than students discovering things by themselves.

? It is not a good way to enhance real communication. Students cannot

communicate with others in this sense.

? Pair work

? Advantages

? It dramatically increase students? speaking time in class.

? It allows students to work together rather than under teachers?

guidance.

? It allows teachers to work with the weak pairs when others are

working on their own.

? It can promote cooperation between students. ? Disadvantages

? It is often very noisy and teachers are afraid of losing control of the

class.

? Some students may talk in native language or something not related

to the topic. It is not very easy for teachers to monitor every pair. ? Some students may not like to work with peers, and they, think they

can only learn from their teachers.

? So they refuse to participate in the activities.

? The choice of pair is a problem. Some students don?t like to work

with a particular partner while someone may dominate all the time.

? Group working

Some groups may finish the task fast while some may be very slow. Teachers may have to prepare some optional activities for the quick group and be ready to help the slower groups all the time. ? Individual study

Teachers need to prepare different tasks for different groups.

5. Measures for disciplined acts and badly behaving students: ? Acting immediately

Indisciplined acts should be immediately stopped, so that less damage is made.

? Stop the class

If the discipline is so disruptive as to hinder the progress of the whole class, the teacher should stop the class and make it clear what is wrong. ? Rearrange the seats ? Change the activity

? Talk to students after class ? Create a code of behavior

The teachers and learners can work together to create some rules for the class during activities.