4 or 5 week Cert TEFL/TESOL courses usually involve sleep deprivation, a great deal of nervous tension coupled with feverish activity and an overload of information. New skills are presented at a great rate of knots and are expected to be put into practice just as quickly. One of the key skills you will need to master from scratch is lesson planning

Like going to battle, well planned is well armed. Let the Gazette give you a few tips on making those first steps into the world of ELT lesson planning that much more smooth. First time lesson planners need to think carefully about four key points:

What am I supposed to be teaching?

If you've been given a copy of Headway Pre Intermediate and told that the class is on Unit 4 page 40 the first thing to do is analyse the unit and pick out the meat of the lesson; the skills and the target language i.e. the grammar and the vocabulary focus. Once you have that you have the foundations of your lesson. So, if for example, the unit consists of Speaking skills, Present simple/Present continuous using vocabulary about holidays you have a good idea of what to start thinking about and looking for in the way of materials from the resource centre.

One common mistake trainee teachers often make is to use the class textbook as some kind of security blanket. In reality, once you have analysed the skills and teaching points you are free to go for broke. Desert the textbook and find freedom of expression with your own ideas or be inspired by the multitude of resources available to you. Creative teachers use textbooks as a springboard to exploit a teaching point in other ways. This is a good practice to start from day one and it is easier than you might think.

How am I going to teach the skills and the target language effectively?

You can’t stick confidence into your lesson plan, but solid planning practice will make your job of teaching the target language appear that much more assured. Once you've got the lesson aims focused you can think about how to teach it. Think about using engaging visual aids, knock up some transparencies for the OHP, think about handouts to give to students summarising key lesson points. It always surprises me to find that many teachers have never written on a white or black board before entering their first class. Borrow some pens and practice, it does actually take a while to get good at it, but don't just write anywhere - plan. You should plan what to put on the whiteboard and where to put it. Make sure you have a defined space for new vocabulary to one side of the board.

Where can I begin to start looking for materials and advice?

Cert TEFL/TESOL course tutors like to encourage you to exercise your creative juices and come up with your own ways of teaching whether it be something new or a rehash of an old idea. But, if you're rushed for time and lacking in inspiration head to the resource centre. Any Cert school worth it’s salt will have a room stocked with books, videos, CD Roms, worksheets and the like. Finding what you need from the plethora of materials might be easier than you think.

Once you have narrowed your search down to skill and teaching point it’s just a hop to the skills shelf, a skip to the relevant skill and a jump to a page with a teaching idea for the target language you'll be working with . A good series of books which Cert tutors like to keep hidden is the Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers series. Look for titles like ‘Games for Language Learning’, ‘Keep Talking’ and ‘Grammar Practice Activities’. Or go to the Internet for help, follow the links at Dave's ESL Café www.eslcafe.com or at St Mary's University College.

Think about warmer activities and filler activities. Should your timing go a little haywire have an emergency activity to hand to throw in if you are left with five minutes, blank faces and an exhausted lesson. Penny Ur’s ‘Five Minute Activities’ is a good place to start looking for a bail out plan.

How can I fit it all into the time allowed?

Timing is tricky for trainees and experienced teachers alike. For the lesson plan itself you will have to be quite rigorous with your timing and meticulously account for each minute of classroom time. Tutors will advise you, but try and visualise teaching the lesson before you write it. How do the activities link?, What problems can you foresee? Can you do something better? What do you need to spend more or less time on? Visualising the lesson in your head before that nerve wracking first lesson will help you iron out faulty planning and get a handle on accurate timing.

Lastly, keep it simple, focus on the key points and exploit them through a series of complimentary linked activities keeping in mind students ages, interests and level. Aim to keep ‘teacher talking time’ to a minimum and above all involve your students.

©2003 Graham Holliday

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