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Imagine standing in front of the classroom with fifty eyes staring at you, none of them know what you are saying, and you have to keep them all actively involved in activities that will help them speak English. After ten minutes went by and you run out of material, you are shocked to see that there are still forty more minutes left to go, and you suddenly realize that you should have planned better. In order to avoid this situation, every teacher should plan ahead to save time and aggravation, to keep the language goals in mind, and to know the progress of the class.
One of the key elements in lesson planning that will save time and aggravation is preparing materials ahead of time. Making sure that every worksheet is printed, every flashcard is accounted for, and every slide in the Powerpoint presentation is ready will save valuable time for the teacher, instead of fumbling through papers during class, or at the last minute due to heavy traffic during rush-hour. Preparing lessons ahead of time will give the teacher less pressure and stress. If the materials are prepared, the teacher can sleep easy at night knowing that he can focus his thoughts on other things. On the other hand, if the materials were not prepared, then the teacher should be prepared for plenty of pressure and stress. Having the materials prepared ahead of time, instead of creating the lesson that morning, ensures that the students will be involved with the various activities, vivid visuals, interesting dialogues, and anything else that is prepared, since the students cannot learn by just listening, and keeping the class busy ensures that the students will have less of an opportunity to misbehave.
Another key element to be aware of when lesson planning is to have the language goals in mind. Doing so helps the teacher to remain focused during class, which helps the students to become focused. If the teacher does not know what he is teaching and is presenting material in an unorganized way, how are the students supposed to understand the material in an organized way? Knowing in advance what the lesson goals are helps the teacher to relate the language goals to practical uses and applications. Relating the material to real-world application is what makes the material meaningful for the students. When the language goals are known, the teacher has a more focused way of determining whether or not the students have attained the goals of the lesson.
The most important element of lesson planning is that it helps the teacher know the progress of the class. Keeping records of previous lesson plans helps administrators, teachers, and parents know what the students have mastered. When teachers write lesson plans they usually know what current issues the students are having, and plan accordingly. Along with language goals, specific student difficulties will be planned into the lesson and can only be planned when enough time is allotted to plan how to do that effectively. When teachers make long-term lesson plans, they know what their objectives will be and what will be covered, and they will know how to adapt the material to the current issues the student are having, since they will have to look for resources online or to ask their colleagues for advice.
No one wants to be the teacher stumbling on his words or his explanations, yelling at students from his own frustrations, or looked down upon by colleagues or by the students themselves. Keep records of what the class has been studying and record individual student weaknesses. Allow plenty of time to plan well thought out lesson goals to ensure focus, peace of mind, and active participation. Above all, if the teacher is having fun teaching, then the students are going to have fun learning.
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