Reybert Caberte - BSED IV

Date: March 15, 2019.

Lesson Planning: An expatiation

As an education student and an aspiring future teacher, I see lesson plan as
a weapon – a weapon to pass the course, a weapon to showcase what you have
been taught of, and a weapon for guiding students thoroughly towards essential
learning. Making one is indeed not easy. It takes a thorough understanding of the
concepts, a wide range of known strategies, and a creative mind to ensure
meaningful and fun learning. Teaching as what everyone says, and as cliché as it
seems, is the noblest profession, which, I believe is true. But teachers actually
become every profession inside their classrooms. They become designers,
because they want to aesthetically beautify the classroom; engineers, for they
apply the principles of science and mathematics to develop economical solutions
for technical problems; entertainers for they also, as much as possible, entertain
his/her students; doctors for they are always in a look-out for students’ health
and not just for their academic capabilities; and guards, for they want nothing
else but his/her students’ safety. Above all, planning is such an essential way of
being prepared to whatever battles we will conquer – literally, or not.

Why is a need for lesson planning important? Simply because it is a vital

element of teaching-learning system. A teacher who is prepared is well on his/her
way to a successful instructional experience. The development of interesting
lessons takes a great deal of time and effort. It is also important to realize that the
best planned lesson is worthless if interesting delivery procedures, along with
good classroom management techniques, are not in evidence.

In order to begin with lesson planning, it is important to know the aims and
objectives of the topic being taught to students. A teacher should be prepared not
only to teach the students but also to make sure that they take some fruitful
thought regarding the lesson at the end of the class. A lesson plan unveils the
basic objectives of the topic. Enlisting the learning and teaching activities are the
next step. Here, you will have to strive and come up with multiple explanation
methods that will help your students to better understand the topic. You can
include real-life examples alongside citing imaginary situations. This will help
students stretch their imagination to extract the essence of what is being taught.
After planning for both objectives and teaching activities, you should work in the
direction of assessing the level of understanding of your students. A step-by-step
lesson plan will help you lecture the important sections of a topic within the
prescribed time period. You will not grope in the dark about how a particular
query from a student should be addressed. With this tool in your hand you will be
able to teach with a better sense of direction and control. With a lesson plan in
your hand, you will become a confident teacher. You would stay abreast with the
novel teaching styles that are currently in vogue. You will not be following the
principles of the old school of thought but will incorporate new teaching
mechanisms. A lesson plan helps you adhere to the best teaching practices that
deliver effective teaching. You will be come to be known as a confident teacher
who is well-informed and highly knowledgeable faculty.

“What to teach?” and “how to teach?” are the two basic questions that
should be pre-answered by teachers. When you are clear about what topics to
teach and how they should be taught, you will be able to match your lecturing
patterns to the learning abilities of your students. One important thing to
remember – teaching from the front cover all the way to the end of the text book
does not meet your teaching goals. A lesson plan here sheds light on what topics
are considerable as against those which are secondary. Many a times, teachers
either omit or repeat the subjects taught earlier. This situation arises because of
the absence of a lesson plan. With a lesson plan at your disposal, you will be able
to avoid casual omissions or repetitions that emerge as a result of students
getting promoted from one grade into another. A well-organized teacher will be
able to attract the attention of students who will pattern after your planning
traits. You can set an example to students who will follow your footsteps.
Uncovering the benefits of planning and apply your values to aspects of their
lives. This way, you will be able to lead the students by setting an example of the
benefits of planning. You as an instructor will be able to guide your students
better if you value spadework yourself. You will be instrumental in helping your
students’ complete assignments with little or no supervision. A lesson plan comes
handy in assessing the level of mastery of your students. It allows you to
concentrate on struggling students. This way, you will be able to check their level
of understanding and match your teaching style with what your class needs. With
a lesson plan as a teaching tool, you can plan your lessons in the most purposeful
manner. Healthy classroom management is driven by a systematic pattern of
teaching. With a well-chalked out plan of learning activities and routines, you will
be able to present the subject matter straight and clean.

I can say that my lesson plan during my final demonstration was very-well
prepared. I was able to make use of different teaching strategies to somehow
address the different learning styles of my students. I made sure my objectives
were specific, measurable, attainable, reliable, and time-bounded. I also made
use of appropriate materials during my demonstration; I made use of ICT, and
even integrated a lot of topics from different subject areas because developing
learners holistically is not just what is required but because it is my goal. I also
made sure that my questions would generate students’ higher order thinking
skills and not questions that are too shallow. During my evaluation I also made
each questions congruent to the objectives and of course I was also able to give
students assignment to enrich my lesson.

During my final demonstration, I was rated based on my personality, my

lesson plan, the content, the teaching methods, the classroom management, and
my questioning skills. I made sure I was neat, well-groom and free from
mannerism that would disturb students’ attention. I also showed dynamism,
enthusiasm and of course I made sure that my voice is modulated enough to be
heard by everyone in the classroom. The congruence of my lesson plan between
objective and subject matter, objective and teaching procedure, objective and
formative test and objective and assignment were also checked. I also
demonstrated in depth knowledge of the subject matter. I related the topic to
real life situations, kept abreast of new ideas and understanding in the field and
gave sufficient and concrete examples to create meaningful learning.
Furthermore, I made it to the extent that the methods I used were suited to the
needs and the capabilities of the students. I also made use of instructional
materials and those were used to illustrate the lesson. As my demonstration was
on track, I had a systematic way of checking the attendance, assignments,
practice exercises, projects, passing in and out of the room, and correcting
distributing as well as collecting papers. I see to it that order and discipline were
present in the classroom. Moreover, my questioning skills were also observed. I
was able to probe for their understanding, helped them articulate their ideas and
thinking process, facilitated factual recall, encouraged convergent and divergent
thinking, stimulated their curiosity and even helped them in asking questions.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Thus, an organised teacher
will always be able to deliver the lesson within the given time frame. With the
additional time saved, a teacher can give additional attention and time to
students that require additional help. Also, there will be a sense of control and
direction while teaching. Even if there is confusion amongst the students, the
teacher will be able to guide them effectively as the teacher will be well versed
with the subject matter and will be able to cater the questions without any stress.
A teachers’ most important trait is confidence. Lesson planning can help the
teacher to be well prepared and be aware of what he/she intends on teaching the
students. It can also help the teacher to focus more on the basic knowledge first
then take the students towards the next step. The teacher will never stammer or
mumble during the lecture because of the timely preparation of the lesson.
Furthermore, a teacher is one of the first few inspirations of a child. Setting a
good example of pre-planning can always assist a teacher to become a good
inspiration and the confidence with which the teacher delivers the lesson will
make the student realise the importance of planning ahead of time and adopt this
habit for other disciplines of life. As an over-all conclusion, a lesson plan does not
necessarily have to be a detailed script that contains the plan of every interaction
with students in the classroom. It should preferably have the general overview of
the aims and objectives of the course, the plan of teaching and learning activities
of the course and the activities planned to check the students’ understanding. The
driving force behind lesson planning is the motivation for the teacher and hunger
to learn more by students is what keeps a teacher going.