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When does the lesson start and end for an ELT professional? III

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I had started to jot down my ideas about this topic in a series of blog posts in April. I have finally found some time to complete the series. For me this last stage is the most important of all.

Yes, I planned my lesson considering all the crucial aspects  that I mentioned in the first stage of this series, and I managed to execute my lesson plan in class. What is next? Has the lesson really ended here?
Actually, it is time to sit down and think about it. Even ten minutes would be enough to reflect on it. The wonderful word ‘reflection’ :). What do I reflect on though? Here are a few questions to guide me:

Were my lesson aims achieved? Were they approriate to the age group and the needs of the learners. Were they too easy or too difficult? Were they too ambitious or not challanging enough for my learners? What about the activities I have chosen to achive my goals? Did the students actually enjoy them and benefit from them? How do I know that? How did I get the feedback? Is the feedback based on something tangible or is it intutive? How do I know that the activities were really suitable? Were all of them absolutely effective? Do I need to make modifications? If I had the chance to do this lesson again what would I change? Would I do it exactly the same way? Why? Why not?
How about the timing of the stages? Were they just fine, too long or too short? Were there students who finished earlier than the others? What did I do to occupy them? Did it create a problem? Did they do what I wanted them to do extra or did they refuse to do so and make noise? What would be a better solution? Can I make use of the faster learners in another way? Can they be the observers of the small groups, for example? Can they be my assistants? Should I prepare different worksheets for these students in order to create enough challange for them? Would it be fair or unfair? Would the slower learners feel offended or relieved?

What about the physical aspects: did I make use of the room and the seats efficiently? Could I have done anything differently to make the lesson more effective? Did this seating allow learners to interact well? Did the grouping work well? Did all the pairs do the assigned tasks properly? Did the students participate well? If not, what could have I done to increase their participation? Should I have  included more technology? Would the task have worked better if it had been assigned electronically? Would it have generated more interaction if I had set up a wiki before the lesson?
Were my instructions clear? Were there any ambiguities when the activity started? Did I have enough number of worksheets? How much did I talk? How much did the students talk? How did I correct errors or did I ignore them intentionlly? Was it efficient to do that? How do I feel about this lesson? 


Millions of questions? The answers I give to some of them and the actions I take to improve them will hopefully make my next lesson a better one. And probably many more questions will follow that one.

This is an ongoing journey. In a way, it is really hard to say when a lesson starts and ends…

SO LET’S MAKE THE MOST OF IT AND ENJOY THE JOURNEY. 🙂

When does a lesson start and end for an ELT Professional? II

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BenefitsofTeachingEnglishOnline_thumbWell, you have planned your lesson considering your learners’ needs, exploited the course materials in such a way that you are sure it will be engaging for your learners, ensured that there is a learning outcome which is assessable as well as realistic, and incorporated meaningful communicative activities. Yes, you are definitely a genius. You are righteously proud of yourself.

Now, it is time to actually execute the lesson you have planned so carefully.

First of all, your instructions and classroom procedures need to be clear to students. They need to be staged and graded according to the level of understanding. They need to be checked as well. You need to make sure your students are all clear about what they are doing.

I can help youHow about the questions you ask during the lesson? Do you ask genuine questions or didactic ones? Are they balanced in quantity? Do you give enough time to students to answer the questions you ask? How do you respond to the answers? Do you show interest or do you concentrate on the language problems? Are the students involved in the discussions? What do you do if they aren’t?

Let’s think about the way you present the content of your lesson. What approach do you apply? Is it appropriate to the learners’ interest and background? Are the activities cognitively stimulating your students as you thought they would? Do you have to adapt any changes?

 I love englishAre the students able to cope with the pacing? Is there anyone who is falling behind? What do you for that student? Do you find ways of making him part of the lesson or do you ignore him/her? What if s/he is not interested in anything today?

 At the end of the class period, do you think your students achieved the lesson aims? Are they able to do something that they were not able to do at the beginning of the lesson? Have you assessed their learning? How? Orally or in a written format? What kind of feedback have you given? Is you feedback encouraging and constructive?

How did the lesson end? Abruptly? With the homework notes? A whole class feedback on what has been achieved that day and how well the students performed?

Well, the lesson has ended here… OR???