For the second part of this blog we thought is right to discuss planning strategies and class preparation. As teachers we often ask ourselves the same questions; how long should I spend on planning? And more often nowadays we tend to think of ways to save time. Are my classes interesting and capturing the attention of all my students? We will discuss the benefits of investing time in doing these things, both for you as the Teacher and for your students.
planning refers to the process with which a Teacher organises them self to make sure that their teaching completes various necessities such as clear learning objectives, engaging activities that are effective and varied and also, that learning has a clear and easy to manage progression. What I feel is the most important issue for new teachers to overcome is finding a way of doing this that is easy to use, understandable to others and time effective (the last thing you need is to be spending your whole weekend working). Take a look at the planning link to find easy to use strategies (HERE).
class preparation just means that you must show clearly that you have prepared your classes well, with reference to resources, activities and content (HERE). If a Teacher clearly demonstrates that they know what they are doing, are enthusiastic about the contend and the class has a good pace due to the time they have spent preparing it, classes will run much more smoothly and they will be more enjoyable. I personally recommend having specific daily or better lesson by lesson plans that are easy to follow and communicated with learners so that they can follow the class with ease. I personally write it all up on the board as a type of tick list.
That’s all for now, we look forward to your comments.
Quick tip: keep it simple, start your planning with the objectives for each unit of study and then break it down from there. When starting out as a teacher, finding a planning format can be challenging and then the difficult part of being an experienced teacher is keeping things dynamic and avoiding repetition, take a look at the link (HERE). This can help you get started or give you new and useful ideas.
[…] 2. The importance of planning and class preparation […]
[…] Taking advantage of class time can feel like a constant battle, as not all of the determining factors depend on the teacher. We have external factors such as participation, attendence and the punctuality of our students. Let´s face it; when we plan a class, it doesn´t always go completely to plan and we do not always achieve everything that we had intended. While preparing a class, teachers should be making reference to time management, we normally have a clear idea of the time we wish to spend on each activity, and also allowing for other aspects of the class (explanations, tidying things away etc). With this in mind we can get a realistic view of what we wish to get done in a specified time frame. This brings us back to an issue of class preparation and planning (like I have mentioned earlier and in a previous post 2. The importance of planning and class preparation). […]
[…] far more when the teacher evidently puts a lot of effort into the preparation of their classes HERE and also when they obviously enjoy what they are teaching. The production of original material is […]