Roberto's Stage one

Individual Work

a. How important do you think a lesson plan is to a successful lesson? What features do you think a lesson plan should include?

I’ve always said that all buildings must have a base which allows it stand still during a tremor or earthquake. The same thing happens to the classes we teach. We are not working under construction sites but we are building knowledge which will help people to be future professionals.

Lesson planning is vital since the very first moment we decide to teach a simple class. If we don´t do it prior a lesson to be taught, we will be drowning in dangerous current which is called “Improvisation”. Not only us will feel uncomfortable but also students notice we haven't prepared ourselves ´cause they perceive we don´t know how to deal with this situation.

Teachers will feel confident with the knowledge they teach and of course planning is useful to organize the learning process step by step.   Regarding the features I can say that every lesson should be composed of Goals, Topics, Activities, Rubrics, Evaluation criteria and dates. These should all take into account the age and interests of the group designed:

• Goals: These aims will let the teacher and students know the horizon of the class.
• Topics: These themes name the knowledge to be taught and learned.
• Activities: These exercises will allow students to develop exercises which show how much they´ve learned in class.
• Rubrics: This tool allows students to know the way they must do their tasks at the moment of turning in each activity.
• Evaluation criteria and dates. These items are helpful since the moment the student begins his/her learning process. They also let students know “What” “When” & “How” knowledge will be evaluated.  

b.   Do you think it is a good idea to strictly follow a lesson plan? Why?

Actually, I think it would be good to follow strictly a lesson planning inside a context which allows students to be autonomous, but there have been bunches of changes that make us stop and wonder: Is knowledge a straight-jacket for insane people in a madhouse? I particularly disagree if many people think this way. Education and methods change from one community to another. We can´t hide our reality from a variety of learning processes.

Lesson planning will make us become leaders in this tough process called “Education”. This planning can organize our lessons, the way it goes and of course control the timing in which we develop our classes. I personally believe that it shouldn't be followed strictly in our field as English teachers.

c. Some people think that lesson plans severely restrict teachers’ creativity. Do you agree? Explain your answer.

I totally disagree with this view. Anyways, “Practice makes perfect” and the more people practice, the better they become. That's why I say that Lesson planning makes us correct mistakes, they let us get the knack of the teaching, and the way we should avoid possible students' gaps.

If we are dynamic teachers, we can interact with the students easily. We will see that creativity flows and our classes will be more interesting for students. They will be eager to expect their English class to come in order to learn more or have fun. 

                                                                                                                          By: Roberto Ortíz