August 15th

 

This week, we had the chance to learn more about lesson planning. And before that, our professor briefly reviewed a revolutionary method used in multiple areas. Particularly, in the area of education, “The smart action plan” can truly be embodied and applied into a classroom.

As we get into understanding what the SMART action plan stands for, we are able to apply this into our lesson planning, and it will dictate the rhythm and development of the class. 

S: the teacher should be able to set clear and specific objectives that can be demonstrated or proven at the end of a lesson.

M: We should be able to track the efficiency of the execution of the lesson by using the present-practice-use method.

A: The objectives should be achievable and the actions taken towards them should be effective.

R: The topics reviewed in the lesson should be relevant and most importantly aligned with the objectives set at the beginning of the lesson.

T: The time used to achieve the objectives should be appropriately managed, since there are times when the teacher's intervention shouldn't be necessary. The teacher should not forget the SWBAT method.

Present-Practice-Use

This is a framework that designs speaking lessons. It is not the only one, but is effective for helping create lessons that are organized, coherent, and lead to a clear lesson objective.

The stages of a speaking lesson organized in this way are: 

• Present: During this phase, Ss understand the context being used, the form, meaning, and use of the vocabulary, function(s), pronunciation point or grammar, and/or the speaking skills (stating an opinion, pausing while speaking, interrupting, etc.), which are the focus of the lesson.   (Awareness).
• Practice: Ss practice the speaking skills and/or the language component of the lesson by doing tasks which are designed to help Ss increase their accuracy or correctness. This allows Ss to move from having no choice of what to say (repetition or drills) to more, but still limited, choice of the form, meaning, or use of the skill or language they use in the activity. (Accuracy).
• Use: Students use the language or skill to complete a communicative task similar to an activity they will or may do outside the classroom. (Fluency).

Structure of a lesson inside the classroom

 

And that was all for this week, I'm looking forward to how my classmates and my group do in a live class demonstration. But of course, I can't go before sharing a few pictures….