Parts and stages of a lesson

TIME MANAGEMENT

This involves something we can call ‘flexible planning’. That means you plan what is going to happen in a lesson but you are ready to change your mind if something does not go quite as you had planned. If we plan very rigidly then the students do not have a chance to go over something if they do not understand or move on quickly if they understand very fast. On the other hand if we are always distracted by trivia then the students will get frustrated as the aims of the lesson may not be fulfilled.

Here are some common mistakes that teachers make.

Teachers plan for 50 minutes of work in a 50 minute lesson.

A 50 minute lesson is not 50 minutes long as the students have to get in and get organised then pack up and get out of the room. More like 45 minutes, sometimes only 40.

Teachers plan a 1 minute brainstorm activity.

Never write things into your plan that take one minute. They always take longer! Have you thought about the time taken to draw the spidergram or write down student suggestions?

Group work goes on a lot longer than planned.

Teachers don’t plan the time it takes to move the furniture and give instructions. You often see ‘work in groups for 10 minutes’ on teachers’ plans, but 5 minutes of that may be getting organised!

Students are not handing in their homework - they say they didn’t write it down.

This is often the fault of the teacher who makes a lesson plan that does not allow 5 minutes for discussing homework. It does not have to be at the end of the lesson, but could be half way through or even at the beginning. It is also a sign that there is probably not a clear plenary stage at the end of the lesson.

You should have an ‘if time’ activity to do if you finish too quickly.

You should have a cut off point in the last activity in the lesson that is clear and organised - not just ‘finish that off for homework then’.

You should have a plenary before the end. If you have not finished the work, then stop at the cut off point and review. Give the homework in good time. Tell the students clearly that you will continue with the work next lesson.

SELF-CHECK 4:2 5 a

You will see a lesson plan for a 50 minute lesson. It is not detailed as we are just concentrating on timing.

Can you spot 8 errors in this plan?

COMMENT 4:2 5 a

1. It is a very ‘busy’ lesson plan. Students move from writing to speaking to drawing to listening. By the end of the lesson their desks will have books and colour pencils and an exercise book on them, very messy.
2. The lesson is too long! The teacher has presumed that he/she has 50 minutes teaching time.
3. The plan presumes everyone will do things at the same speed. This is rarely true of a class. There will be people finishing early and others getting behind.
4. There is no homework writing down or discussion time.
5. There is no review, the lesson just stops and the teacher does not check work.
6. It is not flexible. What if a child has more than one pet or no pets at all?
7. Some timings are ambitious, eg ‘ individual work’ - only 10 mins?
8. There are no ‘if time’ activities or ‘cut off points’.

SELF-CHECK 4:2 5 b

Now look at the plan again. How has the plan changed and why?

COMMENT 4:2 5 b

1. Copying down questions from the board has been removed.
2. The free drawing activity has been left to the end of the lesson - homework. If the teacher gets through the lesson more quickly, she can begin this in class time - ‘if time’ activity.
3. There is flexibility for people who do not have pets.
4. The homework can be discussed
5. There is a clear plenary.

Flexible timing is written into the plan - the last 10 minutes could be 5 if there is a problem.