First, I'm going to outline my problem and then I'll talk about the solution.
Problem: We are required to submit lesson plans for the entire semester to the powers that be. These powerful people have decided that all lesson plans should look exactly alike regardless of the course they are designed for or who is teaching the course. The theory behind this is that other teachers or administrator years from now will be able to duplicate the lesson plans of today right down to the very last minute provided they have the same text books. Therefore the lesson plans are laid out thusly;
Title of lecture and class
Topic (what is being covered)
Goal (why this is being covered)
First half of class:
Activity 1:
Who is involved?
What are the rules?
How long will you spend on this activity?
Why are you doing this activity?
Support information for this activity (ie websites, resources, etc.)
Activity 2:
Who is involved?
What are the rules?
How long will you spend on this activity?
Why are you doing this activity?
Support information for this activity (ie websites, resources, etc.)
Second half of class:
Activity 3:
Who is involved?
What are the rules?
How long will you spend on this activity?
Why are you doing this activity?
Support information for this activity (ie websites, resources, etc.)
Homework assignment:
What is it?
Why this HW and not some other (how is it related to the topic or topics)?
What is the goal of this HW?
My problem is that an outline like this far too rigid for my classes. I teach one class in which everyone is fully capable of studying abroad in any English speaking country. I have another class where about half of the students would be able to do this. A third class that should go back to their freshmen year and re-learn everything. and a fourth class that is actually better in Listening than the class above them, but significantly further behind in their speaking abilities. How or why should I have a lesson plan tat is this rigid for classes that require a lot of adjustment?
My solution:
I don't use the format the school requires and this has ruffled a few feathers. I use a lesson plan format that is much more fluid and contains only the information I need do deliver an effective lesson to all four classes regardless of ability levels. I simply see no point in submitting the "standard" lesson plan when it is not something I would ever be able to use. My lesson plans look something like speech outlines, but with far more detail. I include entire paragraphs of relevant information that I want to make sure I deliver to my classes. I don't use timelines because I would never be able to use them in class. An activity that takes 5 or 10 minutes for my best class would take 30 minutes for my lower-performing classes. Therefore, I simply outline what activities I CAN use to support the lesson, but I don't make it a mandatory thing for ALL of the activities to be accomplished. To make sure the lesson is effective, I make sure that the most pertinent and necessary activities are in the first part of the lesson plan and other activities that are simply nice to have find a home at the end.
This seems logical to me since a lesson plan is really only a means to keep the teacher on track. It is never supposed to be replicated by others teaching different courses with access to different materials. I guarantee that none of the teachers in the future will be able to duplicate my lessons simply because they will not have access to the same materials (such as iTunes podcasts). I would have no problem with making a lesson plan using the acceptable outline, but I would then have to make another lesson plan that I would actually use in class.
Here is an example lesson plan from the school:
Objective: 1. To practice VOA news
2. Show Students English Slangs: pronunciation and sense
3. Make students do slang conversation
| Attendance | |
| VOA News: Students will listen to a VOA news report twice. They must answers questions in this format: -Who -What happened/story about... -When did the news event occur... -Where did the news event occur... -Why did this news happen... If the students did not finish they will have to do this as homework, then turn it in.. | 15 Min. |
| Assign Student Teacher Exercise Dates | 5 Min. |
| Slang PPT.
| 25 Min. |
| Slang Conversation:
| 20 Min. |
| Finish the Valentines day Simpsons. | 15 Min. |
Here is one of my lesson plans:
Listening class 07 March lesson plan
Turn in and review Homework.
Finish Stereotypes and prejudices work.
Introduce Accents of the British Isles.
Students should be able to distinguish between the two dialects. Students should also be accustomed to hearing various accents and dialects of English as TEM 4 preparation and for SA.
What is the difference between the standard British and Western Neutral American dialects?
English is a West Germanic language. This means that it derives from the Anglo-Frisian dialects of Northwest Germany and Netherlands. One particular dialect came to dominate all of the other regional dialects that were present in the British Isles before 1000 CE…
Continue this discussion with the PPT.
Play examples of BrE and AmE accents and dialects for the class.
Dictation exercise
Have students write down what they hear. What are the different or strange words? Are there different pronunciations? Call on random students to read back what they have written.
Go to this website and play the clip. Summarize what the girl is talking about. Write down at least 5 words that are unfamiliar to you and write the definitions. Your summary must be at least 5 full sentences.
____________________________________________________
I like my lesson plan, although I do see where they think the problems are. I simply operate differently than they believe all classes should operate. I do what is effective for my classes, not what some of the other teachers say is effective for their classes.
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Update:
I have now taken to writing two lesson plans for each class. One to turn in and one to use in class. It's a royal pain in the backside, but it's what I have to do...
Update:
I have now taken to writing two lesson plans for each class. One to turn in and one to use in class. It's a royal pain in the backside, but it's what I have to do...
Any thoughts or opinions?
Hola Chicka!
ReplyDeleteI'm finally getting around to reading all your bloggies again, It is spring break here! yAy! So, for lesson plans, I luckily (knowck on wood) have never had to submit my plans, except once a year for evals. In my plan notebook, I have boxes that line out my day, and one week fits on two 11X17 pages going across. Each box is about an hour of the kiddos day and is about 2" X 4". So, first thing everyday is calendar, weather etc, I never write this in my plan book, but if someone needs to observe, or if I have a sub, I write this out in paragraph form. This leaves my whole first box for math, I have two grades, so for each grade, i just write the topic, and page numbers. for example, K-numbers to 20, page 105 and 1st-estimating groups, page 150. If it is for someone else though, I can easily write a page on just this hour. The same type of thing goes for the rest of the day, in my next box (after morning recess) we do reading, I have a job for the Ks and for the firsts, plus i have colored reading groups. So it may only say 1st, read the sleeping pig, write new story ending, K- letter H book and sorting by initial consonant paper. orange group- unit 13 readwell, blue-unit 12 readwell (etc).Then my day keeps going.
So I guess for me, my plan book is simply notes on what I am going to teach that week. I already know what I mean by teach initial consonant, so I don't justify each thing.
HOWEVER, When I write up a lesson plan for my principal, I go into great detail, lining out every last thing and why it is important to my day. It is such a pain in the booty to write it out, but for me it is only once/twice a year.
So, I do feel bad for you that you have to do it all the time. My recommendation is do what works for you in your own notebook, and turn in BS lessons, in the style they want. It is not worth getting your admin upset with you over. The truth is, no teacher in the future is going to care what you taught.
Ideally, your admin will not care if you do it your own way, as long as your kids are learning, you are prepared each day, and you have put some thought into what you are teaching. From your example of what you do, It is obvious you care and that is (ideally anyway) what your admin should be looking for. (not if yours looks like everyone elses)
well,hope that might help.
By the way,
Gus finally died of old age about a week ago. It was sad, but he had been getting quite grouchy and unhappy toward the end. He even had started biting me, once on my face in the middle of the night. So, although sad, it was time for him to go. I am lonely without my gus, and am thinking of getting a new cat.
Hope to hear from you soon, Katy