Job Discussion Forums

[saint57]

I have never been one to make detailed lesson plans. When I first started teaching in Korea, I'd plan eight classes on one sheet of paper. In China, I just made a worksheet.

During my practicums at teachers' college neither of my associates made me do lesson plans. I took a look at some of their lesson plans and most of them were about four sentences.

Right now I teach four sections of the same subject in Malaysia. I prep once and use the same lesson for all four sections. Prep takes me a minimum of one hour a night. It's usually more like two. I make an agenda and estimate the time needed for each activity, but I simply don't see a purpose in drawing up a lesson plan.

However, I am fully capable of making one and I do need to do them when I'm being observed. I guess if things weren't going well in the classroom, I'd start making them to cover my butt.

Do you make detailed lesson plans? Why?

[Glenski]

I make fairly detailed plans, mostly for the future, if my curriculum ever stays the same. Sadly, my 4 years of HS teaching saw yearly changes, and teachers got shifted to teaching other courses every year, so no lesson plans could ever be repeated. A few other teachers got to use them, though.

Now that I'm in university, my situation is slightly different, so I may have the same courses year after year, and that would make planning a good thing. Reduce the work load every bloody term.

[laura1d]

When I was a newbie I religiously wrote lesson plans but this wore off over time.

Now I write notes / pointers only. I do this because my memory is terrible. Most days I teach five continuous hours and if I don't have anything to refer to, I get lost!

I also find that sitting down and making notes helps me to mentally walk through the lesson in advance, and predict possible problems the students may have.

When I teach in depth grammar points I also make notes of what I want to write on the board etc to ensure I don't forget anything vital.

I guess it is very much a personal thing - how in depth your lesson plans are. If, like me, you have a memory like a sieve it is vital to have something!

I also save all worksheets etc into folders on my computer so I can refer back to them / use them again in the future.

Laura

[ls650]

[saint57]

[laura1d]

Ok, Brace yourself - stupid question time!!

What is a thumb drive?

Laura

[saint57]

It might be a Malaysia term that thing you wear around your neck and stick in the usb port to save information. All my student call it a pen drive or thumb drive.

[laura1d]

Ahhh - ok!

I call those: 'thingmajig' / 'oojamaflip' / 'wadyamacallit'

Mind you, that is what I call everything I don't know the name of!

Cheers
Laura!

[spiral78]

I call mine a flash drive....

[guest of Japan]

I usually will write up lessons plans. They were nothing special, just a list of things I'm going to do, the order, and notes of importance. It actually has less to do with my lesson for those particular classes than helping me to remember what I have already covered for future classes.

Recently, my evening ESL position has started to request very formal lesson plans to satisfy the state board of ed. which we recieve our funding from. These lesson plans are a nightmare as I am supposed to refer targets and activities to specific state standards, and I have to go on and on about goals, introductions, relevance to student lives, and activities for students growth outside of class that may or may not be homework. These become works of fiction.

[saint57]

[Ben Round de Bloc]

When I taught in public schools in the States, lesson plans were required in different forms and to different degrees of detail depending on the particular school. For the few months that I taught at a private language school in the city where I now live, a canned syllabus was used. The DOS checked to see where we were in the program on a regular basis, but she didn't really require lesson plans. At the university where I've been teaching for the past several years, we use a department-generated curriculum and syllabus. Lesson plans aren't required. I keep a notebook, however, in which I write out very sketchy plans, write notes to myself to remind me of things to do, comment on how certain parts of lessons went, and keep track of what I've covered with each group/class on a daily basis.

[acquisition]

Glad to see these responses - I thought I was the only one not making pages of notes for every lesson!

I also like the one-notebook idea, Ben Round de Bloc, I think I'll start doing the same.

[kparsons]

I write detailed lesson plans. I got into the habit during CELTA, and then it was a good thing to do to segue from CELTA to the "real world" of teaching. Once I realized how much repetition there is, I decided to continue doing it b/c once I've done a lesson, I don't need to plan it again (except to make minor changes based on the last time I did it).

[gaijinalways]

I also make lesson plans, but not that detailed, maybe 1-2 pages for each lesson of the activities. I sometimes put in notes for suggestions on improvements, and also notes on related vocabulary. I don't put time estimates, as it varies depending on the class level and size.

I also keep copies on my hard drive, and on floppies (I know haven't adjusted to having a CD burner on my new PC). I also keep master paper copies, hence why my desk looks like a paper work graveyard .

The only thing I'd like to do is make a master directory of all the worksheets I have and list various categories by structural, grammatical, functional, etc. Just have to make time for it, to do a full inventorying.