New teachers: You need a weekly lesson plan

Most new teachers starting out find the balance between lesson planning and classroom management is the most challenging.

Any experienced teacher will tell you that finding this balance is not always so easy because a lesson is a dynamic, organic process. Students can be unpredictable and as a result, teachers need to be quick and spontaneous in their thinking. So, how can it possible to plan a weekly lesson if half the lesson will shift anyway?

There are two main reasons why teachers need to plan in advance:

There are no real alternative routes to this process. Every new teacher needs to start somewhere. But by doing this weekly, you will notice patterns of planning – which areas need more attention and which areas need less. You will learn to concentrate your efforts and develop your time much more efficiently.

Your weekly lesson plan should consist of each of the following:

1. Educational and learning goals and objectives and enabling skills. For example, if one of your goals is to teach summarizing, make sure you teach them note taking and how to find the main idea first.

2. A List of activities for each part of the lesson. A typical lesson should have a beginning, a middle and an end. Which activities are more suitable for the beginning of the lesson? Do you also want to include group work activities? Then you’ll also need to factor that into your lesson plan.

3. Activities that correspond to different modes of interaction. Avoid teaching all your lessons frontally. A good way to diversify the teaching is to include pair or group work. Think about which types of materials you intend on using. Try also alternating between the whiteboard (or blackboard) and other information technologies (ie. Internet, power point presentation, etc.)

4. Back-up plans. Many new teachers underestimate the importance of a back-up plan. If you know your class well, this should not be so hard to do. Always have a resource back-up of materials in your teacher’s bag for those unanticipated surprising moments.

As you get to know what appeals to your students, you will try to find ways to duplicate the success. Since each class is different, you won’t be using the same activities over and over again. After teaching the lesson, make comments such as how well students coped, specific difficulties, what was especially challenging for them and for you.

Students can smell out an organized teacher. The difference in your classroom atmosphere and relationship with your students might be a more organized lesson. So put your gear into action and plan your weekly lesson plans today.