Hello Colleagues!
I would like to share these tips with you; although I have a short experience in teaching (from September 2000), I came to create these tips out of my continuous efforts to change my ways of teaching in order to promote my young learners' level in English as a Second Language. Any constructive comments are warmly welcomed.
Ten Tips For A "Successful" Lesson
1) Read the WHOLE lesson you are going to teach and OUTLINE the linguistic components (lexis, grammar, structure,...)
2) DECIDE the objectives of your lesson.
3) REORDER the objectives according to their importance.
4) PREPARE your guiding questions.
5) LOOK for prompts, visuals, games, puzzles, crosswords,... to support your objectives.
6) REORDER your activities / exercises in the ascending order (from the easiest to the most difficult).
7) LOOK for alternative activities in case your learners might not comprehend the main activities. This is more practical with grammar (e.g. when teaching abstract rules).
8) DO NOT be a slave to the textbook / workbook. The book designers usually look at learners from their "ivory tower" and they try to experiment different methodologies and approaches neglecting the truth that what may "succeed" in a country does not necessarily "succeed" in another. They are always theorizing though pretending to be very practical.
It is YOU who is ALWAYS in the classroom, YOU who Teaches, YOU who Tests, and YOU who Evaluates!!! So, it is YOU who must DECIDE what you see as the most appropriate to your learners provided that you RESPECT the objectives outlined by the book / syllabus designers. You are FREE to CHOOSE the activities, REPLACE some with others, ADD yours just for the sake / benefit of your learners.
9) INTRODUCE the item (vocab., grammar,...) through visuals, flash cards, prompts,... then, PUT it into PRACTICE through activities, tasks, exercises..., and finally TEST it through puzzles, crosswords,...
10) LOOK BACK at your previous lessons, ASK yourself whether you fulfilled your goals and, if not, avoid the "mistakes" you made. This is a kind of self-evaluation in order to better learners' feedback. The output depends on the input. Keep in mind that it is not a disaster to make mistakes But it is a disaster to CONTINUE making mistakes without any effort to avoid them.
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I like the tips you woked out. I guess I have followed the same structure, though it was more intuitive. One more point I would add is that in the rule from-the-easiest-to-the-most-difficult, more difficult exercises need to be based on the previous easier ones.
There is no ONE way to plan a lesson, as there are creative teachers, there are myriads of ways to achieve your objective and get ready for the next one. The first step would probably be to revise your previous lesson and make sure each one in your class is ready to start.Make it clear for your learners right away at the beginning that they should always be clear about the objectives of the lesson. Next, try as much as possible to ask questions for a brief discussion to get the most of your students.Ideas and comments from peers are always welcome. The blackboard is primordial, and should always be clear.In addition,questions should target higher level thinking skills .Cooperation and team work during the lesson is essential.Moreover,self -evaluation questions are vital.What s more,strategies for active learning are very much helpful such as 3-2-1 notes,slips as well as the muddiest points. Reflective teaching can also be helpful.
Hi Ridha,
I like these tips, and they are easy to follow especially for a novice teacher.
Thanks for sharing them with us.
Thank you for your share. After reading through your tips. I felt very clear about how to give a successful lesson. Your structure and method is really useful and significant.However,do I add something to your tips if you do not mind it？That is communication. I think good and enough communication with your students is essential in preparing a successful lesson. Apart from the points which you will explain,the students are the most important part for us.We need to know their studying favourites or learning level on this topic and so on.
Hello Jim!
I am pleased to read your comment upon my article about a "Successful" lesson. Thanks a lot for what you added.
You remarked: " I think good and enough communication with your students is essential in preparing a successful lesson. Apart from the points which you will explain,the students are the most important part for us."
Please note that, in modern approaches, Teaching is Learner-Based i.e. the learner is the CENTRE of the Teaching-Learning Operation. That is the objective behind writing my article to facilitate things for especially novice teachers. I always take that into consideration while preparing my lessons. So, to make your learners interact / communicate is what you aim at while you prepare your lesson. That is an AXIOM. All the activities / tasks /exercises... must be communicative. Otherwise, you will be teaching in a scholastic way which is totally out of the aims of the Syllabus that you have to follow. Here again, ALL the learners ( taking into consideration their mixed abilities) must interact thanks to a well-prepared lesson that gives priority to communication. If not, you will not have a "successful" lesson.
Finally, a lot of thanks and respect.
Nice topic!
they are very useful tips, I've quoted some of them to apply with my learners.
Thank you!
I liked your ideas a lot.I don't have too much experience in teaching English but I'm looking for useful and practical ideas.When I was at university I remember that as english teachers we should use the alternative approaches.I'm trying to motivate my students to communicate even though it's a little bit difficult for them.I usually use games and cards when I want my students to learn grammar or the new words.thanks a lot for sharing your experience with us.
I liked your tips very much.I reakky try to make the lesson interesting by using games,cards and pictures when I explain grammar or vocabolary.I motivate my students to communicate through making questions.thanks a lot for sharing your ideas.
Your ideas are very useful