Lesson Planning
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Lesson plan refers to an educator’s road map or guide. It stipulates what the students need to learn. It also stipulates how this learning will be delivered effectively and efficiently during class time. This formal plan will likely change as the class proceeds. It is prepared well in advance and is written according to the needs of a specific group of learners. According to Milkova, a lesson is “an organized segment of instruction that has a certain content, length and unit of time”. This definition assumes that lesson must be planned out in advance. In reality, lessons are often ad-hoc conversations or series of activities thrown together to address an immediate need or situation. There are guiding principles behind lesson planning but this activity does not lend itself well to be oversimplified into formulas or steps.
Lesson planning is a process. The process involves looking for better ways to present the material, planning learning activities and assessment steps. The process is not linear or sequential in any sense. There are no rigid steps to follow. It is best understood as a well thought out process where you think through the learning objectives and activities in advance while also allowing students and yourself the flexibility to adapt this plan as the day unfolds. It is important to know your students as well as yourself when it comes to lesson planning. The classroom teacher has an intrinsic knowledge of their students that will come in handy when making adjustments during the lesson plan in response to immediate needs or questions being asked by students during the lessons.
Lesson planning incorporates major parts or components. These components are student learning objectives, learning or teaching activities, and the strategies or tools to check student understanding (Milkova, 2012). Other components of a successful lesson plan include: topics to study, conceptual framework, goals and objectives, assessment strategy. It is also important to consider learner-centered goals during the planning process as these will dictate how learners learn best. The content component includes what will be presented in class and how it is presented. Drills are one component that help students master material more quickly by exercising more often than performing once only. Other components include visuals such as graphs, text charts and diagrams that support the information being taught by presenting data in a way that makes sense without reading too much into it (Damayanti, 2020).
The content to be delivered in the lesson covers what students will learn and the main points that will be emphasized in the lessons. The learners to be involved should also be considered when planning lessons because no lesson is created equally for all learners of different levels, learning styles and preferences and educational needs, among others. Education stakeholders or educational leaders must also take into account students with disabilities as they plan instruction.
Defining the objectives for student learning in lesson planning is vital. Using both short-term and long-term objectives will help meet the needs of both teachers and students. This is the starting point of planning a lesson. It is important to clarify what the goal is – why you are doing the lesson, so that there is consistency in instruction. This goes back to ‘planning’ not just teaching. The objectives of a class should be clear, it should be known what is being taught and for what reason.
Teaching or learning activities involves planning and execution. It includes the Skills: Set of competencies students demonstrate after learning an outcome. Materials and ides for instruction: This includes anything you might need to teach, such as projector, whiteboard or computer, markers or pencils, etc. It also includes any learning instructions or resources you might want to use. Activities: The activity itself that needs to be taught or learned – what exactly the student is doing during their time with you. Timings and process for activities
Procedures for setting up a class environment (in order) How much time should be spent in each step? Etc.
Checking the students’ understanding is another key component of lesson planning that involves assessments. Sometimes the assessments can be in-class, but at times they might be taken by students outside of class. In order for the teacher to check the students’ understanding of a certain topic, there are some questions that can be used as assessments. Some questions need to ask them how much they know about certain topics, while other questions will require them to provide a specific answer or amount of detail. Something else that teachers may like is having their students fill out an information sheet where each student answers common misconceptions and facts about subjects.
The process of creating an effective lesson plan is not an easy task, however, it is necessary in order to meet the needs of both teacher and students. This process is made up of six major steps. The first step in preparing an effective lesson plan is outlining learning objectives. This step stipulates what students are willing and able to learn at the end of a particular class. The next step is developing the introduction, which involves preparing specific activities to get students to understand and apply what they have learnt. This step is followed by the main body of the lesson, that is planning the specific learning activities. Here, the educator ought to design various mechanisms of explaining the material to the students. These ways include using visuals, analogies, using real-life examples and so on. At this point, the instructor should be keen to ensure that they engage the students with disabilities and ensure that they are not left behind (Sabetra & Aziz, 2021). This step is followed by checking for understanding. The educator needs to have different mechanisms of assessing each and every student’s understanding. Here, the instructor ought to be keen to ensure that students living with disabilities are well assessed. Developing a conclusion and preview is the next step that involves summarizing the main points. Creating a realistic timeline is the last step in the lesson planning process.
Reference
Damayanti, S. (2020). RELEVANCY THE COMPONENTS OF THE ENGLISH LESSON PLAN. English Journal, 12(2), 68-78.
Milkova, S. (2012). Strategies for effective lesson planning. Center for Research on learning and Teaching, 1(1), 1-29.
Sabetra, F., & Aziz, I. (2021). The Component Of Lesson Plan On Classroom Management. International Journal Of Humanities Education and Social Sciences (IJHESS), 1(3).