why make a session/lesson plan?

[mlbg]

i have been researching on session plans and all the writers place great importance on planning and wrting session/lesson plans.
i want to find out from teachers if having a session plan works for them or not.
is it really important to have a session plan?
can a session be effective without one?
what must be included in a session plan?

[Sally Olsen]

It is interesting to Google lesson plans and see the variety of forms proposed by various individuals and organizations. I found it useful during my initial studies to make out lessons plans so that I would have an idea of what I was going to do on my practicum. It made me feel safe and was also approved by my professors and the supervising teacher. I was given topics that fit in the curriculum and was required to provide reading, writing, speaking and listening activities during the lesson so it forced me to think of ideas that would cover these items. As I got more confident in teaching, I would think of the plan for the lesson beforehand including my materials and often jot down the materials in a daybook so I wouldn't forget anything but I wouldn't write down what I had done until afterwards as the plans changed with the circumstances and the participants. This gave me more of journal of what actually happened but was still in the format given me by the schoolboard to have a lesson plan. I also had a dayplanner where I wrote out in brief what I might be doing the next day just in case I wasn't able to make it and the substitute had to take over. That is probably the most important reason to make a lesson plan as it gives the substitute an idea of how you structure your class. We all tend to get into a routine and the students expect it and will tell the substitute if s/he varies from it. It doesn't hurt to look at curriculum goals once in awhile to see if you are accomplishing them and to check over your lesson plans to see if they are covering the curriculum. Those high sounding ideals may inspire you from time to time. I am still required to hand in lesson plans so that I keep pace with other instructors who are teaching the same course. The schools don't want students saying that they are missing items if they get such and such a teacher or are ahead of others. What you do when that door is closed though is another matter and how you present the content with all the other considerations of human psychology going on in the classroom is an artist and scientific balance. In some schools the parents wanted to see the lesson plans as well and in some schools the supervisors checked the student's notebooks against the lesson plans plus quizzed the students to see if they had actually learned what was taught. Then your lesson plans have to be much more detailed and precise. It also meant a good deal more review because the testing was done at quarterly periods.