Education In Ghana Today: Do We Need Lesson Plans In Our Classrooms? Some New Teachers Ask :

An interesting post on Facebook by a Ghanaian teacher whom we will give a nickname as Teacher Kay, has inspired this article:

In his post he raised the following concerns and concluded as follows:

“This Issue Of Lesson Notes Is One Of The Major Contributing Factors That Leads To The Mass Failure Of Our B.e.c.e Candidates. why? Because Most Teachers waste Much Of Their Precious Time They Should Have Used For Research In Writing Lesson Notes Which Doesn't Have Any Impact In This Our Modern Time.it Is High Time We Moved Away From This Oldies World To The Scientific World.the World Is Moving At A Faster Pace But G.e.s Is Still Resorting To 1750s Idears. poor We.YOU CAN DO THIS RESEARCH AND SEE.How Many Teachers Goes To The Classroom With The Lesson Notes Book To Teach.or Follows The Lesson Notes When They Are Teaching? virtualy Zero." ( NO EDITING)

In our response: We wrote:
Prekese Ghanamedia: "Mr. KAY, we hope you are speaking for yourself and not all teachers. I Many of us do not honestly subscribe to your wholesale conclusion. Lesson Notes are used all over the world. Advanced or developing country, all depend on Lesson Notes to let teachers create structure in the classroom. Any serious and dedicated teacher knows how to use lesson notes properly. We can't make a generalize statements that the kids are failing cos of the time spent preparing lesson notes. Good teachers are always prepared no matter how little time they have at their disposal. Many of us are spending professional time on many non-teaching commitments leading to less quality time for lesson notes preparation. Since you suggested using technology, why dont we create a resource site for lesson notes/plans where many teachers can refer for samples of work? Already, there are plenty of sites for lesson notes on every lesson on earth some of which can be adapted to suit our local needs. If you need help contact us via inbox and we will give you some references."

So Dear Readers, let's read what authorities say about relevant Lesson Planning and Notes writing:

Why plan?
Lesson planning is a vital component of the teaching-learning process. Proper classroom planning will keep teachers organized and on track while teaching, thus allowing them to teach more, help students reach objectives more easily and manage less. The better prepared the teacher is, the more likely she/he will be able to handle whatever unexpectedly happens in the lesson.

Lesson planning:
- provides a coherent framework for smooth efficient teaching.

- helps the teacher to be more organized.
- gives a sense of direction in relation to the syllabus.

- helps the teacher to be more confident when delivering the lesson.

- provides a useful basis for future planning.

- helps the teacher to plan lessons which cater for different students.

- Is a proof that the teacher has taken a considerable amount of effort in his/her teaching.

Decisions involved in planning lessons:
Planning is imagining the lesson before it happens. This involves prediction, anticipation, sequencing, organizing and simplifying. When teachers plan a lesson, they have to make different types of decisions which are related to the following items:

- the aims to be achieved;
- the content to be taught;
- the group to be taught: their background, previous knowledge, age, interests, etc.

- the lessons in the book to be included or skipped;

- the tasks to be presented;
- the resources needed, etc.
The decisions and final results depend on the teaching situation, the learners´ level, needs, interests and the teacher's understanding of how learners learn best, the time and resources available.

Lesson Plan Part 1– What to teach (refer to group task in session)

Background info (students' age – no of students – time limit)

Objectives
Language skills
Language Content: (structures, vocabulary, functions, etc)

Resources
Attitude
Lesson Plan Part 2 – Lesson Procedures (how we are going to teach)

§ Warm-up
§ Core lesson: teaching new language, recycling, project work, written and oral production.

§ Tasks (which sequence to follow)
§ Rounding off.
Hints for effective lesson planning:
Ø When planning, think about your students and your teaching context first.

Ø Prepare more than you may need: It is advisable to have an easily presented, light “reserve” activity ready in case of extra time .Similarly, it is important to think in advance which component(s) of the lesson may be skipped. if you find yourself with too little time to do everything you have planned.

Ø Keep an eye on your time. Include timing in the plan itself. The smooth running of your lesson depends to some extent on proper timing.

Ø Think about transitions (from speaking to writing or from a slow task to a more active one).

Ø Include variety if things are not working the way you have planned.

Ø Pull the class together at the beginning and at the end.

Ø End your lessons on a positive note.
Planning enables you to think about your teaching in a systematic way before you enter the classroom. The outcome of your planning is a coherent framework which contains a logical sequence of tasks to prepare the field for more effective teaching and learning.

Plans only express your intentions. Plans are projects which need to be implemented in a real classroom with real students. Many things may happen which you had not anticipated. In the end you need to adapt your plans in order to respond to your pupils´ actual needs. It is important to bear in mind Jim Scrivener's words: Prepare thoroughly. But in class, teach the learners not the plan.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Moon, J. (2005) Children Learning English. Macmillan.

- Scrivener, J. (2011) Learning Teaching. Macmillan

- Ur, P. (1996) A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP

Adapted from: How to Be A Good Teacher by Harold Servis, PhD