Lesson planning and preparation is one of the most important aspects of teaching. It is also one of the hardest aspects to learn. Student teachers, for example, often find it difficult to gauge how to pitch or pace a lesson. This book provides solutions. It not only provides easily understood practical ideas but also sets them in a coherent overall framework based on the ideas that planning and preparation are part of a total cyclical process involving pedagogy, curriculum, learning and assessment. Planning and preparation are personal matters related to an individual teacher but this does not mean that teachers cannot learn from each other or that thinking about planning and preparation is arbitrary. Its coverage includes often neglected areas such as the affective curriculum, language across the curriculum, and homework.
Ideas about lesson planning and preparation: for example; * Purposes; * The place of planning in the learning cycle; * Implicit and explicit plans; * Using assessment data; Schemes of work: for example; * aims and objectives; * skills; * attitudes and emotions; * incorporating homework; Progression and differentiation: for example; * Building on what pupils have learnt before; * Preparing pupils for what they're learn next; * Incorporating special needs; * Incorporating diverse learning styles; Particular lessons: for example; * Procedures; * Language-based plans; * Questioning; * Rhythm and pace. Problem areas: for example; * Getting the timing right; * How to judge the pitch of a lesson; * Pitfalls of technology; * language; Crises and opportunities: for example; * Modifying plans; * Abandoning plans; * Serendipity; * Instant lessons; After the event: lesson planning as part of a cycle: for example; * Record-keeping; * evaluation; * review; * Implications for the next lesson; Where next (further resources): for example; * Research findings; * Books about planning and preparation; * Sources of ideas; * The internet.
