Introduction
One question on a teaching job interviewer list is whether the candidate can handle different levels/age groups and different types of courses in one day. Most candidates automatically answer 'yes'. However, a normal teaching day in our part of the world looks like this: pre-scheduled courses start at 3pm, 4.30pm, 6pm and 7.30pm (e.g. two YL classes, a one-to-one and finally an adult class), and you might even be lucky enough to get an individual lesson before that (let's say 1.30 to 3pm). It can easily get overwhelming to sit down and write four or five lesson plans in a row for the coming day. You may not know where to start or how to proceed. There is always a first time to teach a group/book/unit/grammar point/topic, etc. It's important to get down to work and follow some key steps:
Steps
First things first: find out what you are supposed to teach. Many schools provide a long-term plan, although this might only say: teach unit 1 in lessons 1–3. You might not even have a book, just be given the syllabus points to teach, so you need to prepare everything from scratch. Or you might be given pre-written lesson plans by your school. Even in this latter case, you still need to prepare.
Here's a checklist to follow if you feel you can't get all your lesson plans done:
- Organise visually what you have to do: Put all the materials for your different classes in front of you in separate piles: register, books, your notebook, folders with homework to correct and/or worksheets, flashcards, etc. This way you can manage your time better, since you can see how much is still ahead of you — and watching the piles disappear one by one is genuinely motivating.
- Get the corrections done first. If you have any written homework to correct, do this first. If the class wrote a test in the previous lesson, correcting it is an absolute priority. Why? First, because you need to give feedback as soon as possible (ideally within a week). Secondly, because this will tell you whether you need to insert a feedback session on the writing task, whether you can move on in the syllabus, or whether you need to go back and reteach/revise previous points. The main mistakes in test papers will often become the teaching aim or target language for your next lesson plan.
- Clarify the aim and target language of your lesson: You might be given a grammar point, a lexical field or a function to teach. The first thing to do is make sure you actually know what you're teaching. Check a grammar book for the grammar point, make a list of lexical items for the vocabulary lesson, or work out what language (grammar and lexis) you need to fulfil the function (e.g. giving advice — grammar: modal verb "should"; topic: perhaps 'giving teens advice on family matters'). You cannot walk into a class without a clear aim: What will your students know or be able to do at the end of the class? Will they be able to make suggestions, describe a person or talk about past events? Never fail to complete this step, otherwise you won't be teaching, just entertaining your students.
- Familiarise yourself with the materials: If you're following a book, read the unit you need to cover. Spend a few minutes analysing it: What skills does it train? Where does the target language come up? Are the examples clear? Is practice provided? Do you need audio materials/equipment? Is there any difficult lexis you need to pre-teach?
- Read the teacher's book: You might be able to design your lesson using only the student's book, but if you need reinforcement, check the suggestions in the teacher's book. It can give you good ideas for further (freer) practice and advice on interaction patterns.
- Know where to find extra materials: Not all courses follow a book — sometimes you need to design your own worksheets and materials. It's worth trying this once or twice on your own; you might discover a hidden talent. That said, you can save a lot of time if you know where to look. This is something you can build up over time. You can subscribe to newsletters and get whole lesson plans emailed to you. I find materials from the British Council's Learn English websites (Teaching Kids, Teaching Teens and Teaching Adults) very useful. Macmillan also provides a wide range of excellent lesson plans (e.g. Life Skills Resources). Other options include the Oxford University Press Teachers' Club (still free to subscribe), and busyteacher.org which is another goldmine for worksheets (always proofread them — not all are high quality, but they can be adapted), and there are others, such as Teach-This (also paid). If you need anything, just google the level, the age group and the syllabus point, and you'll almost certainly find something useful.
- Write bullet points for your lesson using clear phases. In my CELTA training we used the following phases: warm-up, lead-in, main part, students' practice. I don't think you need to write out in detail what the teacher and students will do, or every problem you need to prepare for — that's more useful during training. You need notes that you'll understand and can then convey to your class. That said, it's worth spending an extra minute writing out the instructions you'll give your students, so you don't need to think on your feet in front of the class. Keep it short and simple — that's the rule. Grading your language doesn't come naturally at the beginning.
- Design your whiteboard plan for the target language: What are you going to write on the board while eliciting the target language? Do you have clear, sufficient examples? This matters more than describing the process itself.
- Add interaction patterns to the different phases: Will students work individually, in pairs, in small groups or as a whole class? Check that these vary across your plan and that no single one dominates.
- Add time limits for each exercise. The golden rule is to over-prepare, but the secret to a successful lesson is timing. You need to know when to stop one exercise and move on to the next. This ensures you reach your target for the lesson and stay on track with the syllabus. You won't always estimate the time precisely, but give yourself a maximum time limit for each exercise so you don't run over on any of the activities.
- Plan when you'll handle administrative tasks: If you need to take attendance, will you do this at the start of the lesson while making small talk with your students, or on your own while they work on something? What homework will you assign? Is there anything you need to give feedback on (a test or homework)?
Some Advice for Emergencies
- Don't write long lesson plans: Overly detailed plans only make you nervous about what comes next, instead of letting you enjoy teaching. Bullet points are enough. It's far more important to spend time on your whiteboard plan and language analysis.
- Know how to buy yourself some time: You might realise mid-lesson that something isn't going as planned, or that you've forgotten what comes next. Stay calm and give your students something to work on — one or two questions are enough. While they're discussing it, go to your desk, take a deep breath, and check your notes. Decide what to do next, or jot down some sample sentences for language clarification. After a couple of minutes, ask your students for feedback on their mini-task and lead them back to where you left off in your lesson plan.
For further tips, you might find this article interesting.