Section 2: Planning Classes

Chapter 8: Lesson Plans

Each time you go into your class you should have a plan and be prepared with activities and a general goal for each class. On many websites and with other TEFL certifications you will often see over complicated lesson plans with intricate plans and nonrealistic goals. When you make your plans for each lesson you want to keep them simple, short, and easy to change up when something does not work during class. It is recommended that you look at what you will be teaching for each day and break it down into blocks. Separate the vocabulary from each lesson and start off with teaching it, then follow up with other information and the other things the students need to learn, then come back to the vocabulary at the end of the class and help the students use it in a meaningful way. By dividing lessons properly and preparing small activities around what your students are required to learn you can make efficient and strong lesson plans that will let you easily teach during each class session. Lesson plans are different for everyone who teaches, as you teach over time and gain experience you will learn the best way to organize and run your classes when it comes to making lesson plans. As a teacher you should not put too much pressure on yourself and you should just always remember that when it comes to lesson plans you should always adjust and change them to fit your needs as time goes on. Don’t worry too much if you ever have an issue or an unsuccessful lesson, you will improve as time goes on and can learn the most from lessons that were not successful!

When it comes to actually forming your lesson plans for each class you need to start by establishing clear and realistic goals. Start by looking at what you need to teach for your class and write down everything you need to learn. Follow this up by planning activities and games that you will use during your class lessons (We highly recommend you keep a list of games that you play and record if they were successful or not with your students). Divide everything on your lesson plan and get a general time estimate of how long it will take and then follow up by having a backup plan such as worksheets, coloring, or other games. It is very important to manage your time well and to make sure you don’t rush too fast through a lesson or go too slow! Another very important tip is to make sure you always are consistent with the beginning and the ending of class, for us personally as teachers at TEFL Abroad, we always start by asking our students their name, how they are feeling, what they are wearing, and one other question about them! By starting them the same way everyday they are able to easily come back into a lesson the next time you are with them and they can easily readjust after a break or the weekend. On that same note we would recommend that you end each lesson in a similar way as well, with rewards or talking to the students so that they can have a clear sense of when it is time to leave or it is time to finish the lesson. Having structure is extremely important for every level of student and you should always make sure you are giving your students a clear start and end point for each lesson that you are teaching to them.