Every new teacher worries about what will happen on the first day of teaching. “What if my class activities are over too quickly and I have extra time?” “What if my lesson goes off topic and my class falls behind?” Detailed lesson planning is the best solution to these worries. In this video, Oxford Seminars Instructor, Bridget McLaughlin explains how having detailed and well thought out lesson plans will help you prepare for situations where your class goes in an unexpected direction. Planning for these instances gives you additional options and activities for when your lesson runs short or does not effectively teach the material to your students. It also allows you to plan activities that can be cut out of your lesson should another activity or discussion take longer than expected.
Detailed lesson plans can help you on your first day in a new classroom as well. An important goal for any teacher is to get to know your students. To teach English as a second language (or any subject) effectively it is essential to engage your students and find out what interests them, then gear your lessons towards those interests. It is also important to gauge your students’ English ability during the first few lessons, as it will inform your lesson plans for the rest of the contract, from what concepts you teach, to what activities you use to teach them. Lesson planning can help you pick activities that will give you a good understanding of your students’ hobbies and interests, as well as how comfortable they are with English. Learning this information will then help you tailor your lessons to teach the required curriculum effectively.
To learn more about teaching English abroad and succeeding in the classroom, be sure to check out our website and some of our related blogs about lesson plans and classroom management.
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