Jun 30
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 of the lesson will shift anyway?
With that said, there are two main reasons why teachers need to plan in advance:
- You need to create lesson goals and objectives for yourself and for your students. Each lesson needs to flow from one to another. This creates a sense of cohesion and organization.
- Students are less likely to misbehave when a lesson is structured and organized.
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 reasonably 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.
Jun 30
Every new teacher has to start out somewhere.
Since I’ve started teaching ESL (English as a second language) and EFL (English as a foreign language) in Israel14 years ago, I have searched for a new teacher resource that would give me some guidance and advice.
For me, every day entering the classroom is a new experience.
Well, not quite. The concept of new teacher support means different things to new teachers. Teachers are subject to the changing global and economic and technological changes and thus our teaching must change. We constantly need updated methods and research on ELLs and (English language learners) integrating information technology as we learn to incorporate the methodology of teacher’s college and in-service courses.
A new teacher can be a young person fresh from college, a beginning teacher interested in fresh ideas, an older individual in the midst of a career change, an experienced teacher who may also be a mentor, or anyone interested in helping a yet-to-be experienced teacher get adjusted.
I created this blog on new teacher support to provide first hand information about teaching that is both personal and informative. Each blog entry will provide guidance, resources and links on classroom management, different learning styles and methods, improving and planning lessons, and the not so easy task of assigning homework and calling parents.
