Lesson Planning and Classroom Management

Teaching English 10. Lesson planning and classroom management Nancy Grimm – Michael Meyer – Laurenz Volkmann

0. Table of contents

1.

Lesson frameworks

2.

Using the textbook and other material

3.

Planning a lesson 3.1 Advance reflection 3.2 Structuring a lesson 3.3 Models for lesson planning 3.4 Generic structure of a lesson plan 3.5 Assessing and evaluating lessons

4.

The lesson in progress 4.1 Teacher talk and student talk 4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction

5.

Recommended reading

6.

Acknowledgements

Chapter 10: Lesson planning and classroom management

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Discuss:

Look at the cartoon. Does a good lesson need exact preplanning? What do teachers need to consider when planning a lesson? What would be a generic structure of a good lesson?

Chapter 10: Lesson planning and classroom management

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1. Lesson frameworks

Think about the metaphors for a lesson and discuss which of them seem closest to your vision of an ideal lesson.

based on Ur 1996: 213

1. Lesson frameworks

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1. Lesson frameworks – functions of a lesson an exchange a series of free choices

an interaction

Elements of… a goaloriented effort

a ritualized construct an enjoyable experience

cf. Ur 1996: 214

1. Lesson frameworks

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1. Lesson frameworks

Life is what happens while you are making plans. – John Lennon

1. Lesson frameworks

Good lessons pre-planning

improvisation

pre-given structure

impromptu modifications

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1. Lesson frameworks – external factors

1. Lesson frameworks

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1. Lesson frameworks – dilemmas ?

?

?

?

As an avid fan of Shakespeare, can a teacher still use a complete play, maybe even a complex one like Hamlet with advanced classes?

Given the fact that textbooks apparently seem to spoon-feed students all the input they need, do teachers still need to consult the curriculum or use teaching material other than the textbook?

Given the dominant standardization and output-orientation, how do teachers deal with physically or mentally handicapped students in inclusive classes who will not achieve the same level of proficiency?

How do teachers foster life-long and autonomous learning, as propagated by all the political documents on FL teaching, if they are pressed to ‘teach to the test’?

1. Lesson frameworks

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1. Lesson frameworks – sound balance

cf. Thaler 2012: 24

1. Lesson frameworks

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2. Using the textbook and other material

• mechanical, inauthentic, vague, simple, complicated • autonomy

Methods

Language & content • monotonous, difficult, simple • context

• different learning styles / learner types

Appeal to learners

Balance of skills • too much emphasis on an isolated skill?

• Processability Hierarchy • staging • input

Progression & grading

Cultural content

• appropriate • up-to-date

• quality • functional / decorative • too much or too little

Visuals

Islam & Mares 2003: 88-89, adapted

2. Using the textbook and other material

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2. Using the textbook and other material Media package (Lehrwerk)

Additional material?

Authenticity? Selection?

Reality shock?

2. Using the textbook and other material

Adaptation?

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2. Using the textbook and other material

2. Using the textbook and other material

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Consult the homepages of textbook publishers (e. g., www.klett.de, www.cornelsen.de, www.diesterweg.de). Look for supplementary material to the EFL textbooks offered by theses publishers. Consider the following questions: - Is the material provided appealing and comprehensive? - How much is free of charge? - How is it related to the textbook? - How motivating and useful do you consider the material?

2. Using the textbook and other material

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3. Planning a lesson

Discuss the statement below and rephrase it so that it reflects your own attitudes: “Good teachers plan their classes minutely so that everything they do is prearranged. Once they are in the classroom, they follow their plan without deviation, always watching out for irrelevances which the students may bring up and which would disrupt the plan.” (Harmer 2000: 138)

3. Planning a lesson

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3.1 Advance reflection

Needs and goals before methods

based on Richards & Rodgers 1986: 159

3. Planning a lesson

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3.2 Structuring a lesson – “no plan is written on tablets of stone”

Take notes with the overall structure to class!

A good lesson should be clearly structured with smooth transitions.

What can go wrong? Time management!

Variation!

Write down key questions and instructions!

A good lesson has a certain composition!

A sense of achievement!

Lessons should neither be predictable nor always the same!

cf. Harmer 2000: 125, Ur 1996: 216-17

3. Planning a lesson

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3.2 Structuring a lesson – principles different methods output& competences

Keep the students and their needs in mind!

material & media

3. Planning a lesson

different social forms

individual learners

scaffolding

pre

during

post 17

3.3 Models for lesson planning Pre – while (during) – post

Problems Engage – Study – Activate (ESA) 3. Planning a lesson

Presentation – Practice – Production (PPP) 18

3.4 Generic structure of a lesson plan

Look at the lesson plan: -

Where would you find the phases of the PPP and ESA models? Consider a typical EFL lesson for beginners, introducing new vocabulary, or for advanced learners, tackling a cultural issue. How would you modify the plan below? 3. Planning a lesson

lesson plan based on Farrell 2002: 33, the German terminology follows Benecke 2007: 36-37

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3.4 Generic structure of a lesson plan Consider the following scenario and discuss how teachers should respond to it: “[T]he teacher has planned that the students should prepare a dialogue and then act it out, after which there is a reading test and some exercises for them to get through. The teacher has allowed twenty minutes for dialogue preparation and acting out. But when the students start working on the activity, it is obvious they need more time. The teacher then discovers that they would like to spend at least half the lesson on just the acting-out phase which they find helpful and enjoyable. At that moment, he or she has to decide whether to abandon the original plan and go along with the students’ wishes or whether it is better to press ahead regardless.” (Harmer 2000: 5)

3. Planning a lesson

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3.5 Assessing and evaluating lessons Were the learners attentive and active?

Did the teacher respond to students individually?

What did the students actually learn?

Was there a phase of consolidating knowledge?

Was English used communicatively throughout?

What tasks were most successful? Least successful? Why?

Did the lesson follow a certain trajectory? Was it finished on time?

What changes (if any) will have to be made in the future in one’s teaching and why?

Put the criteria in an order of priority. Put the most important first, the least important last. 3. Planning a lesson

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4.1 Teacher talk and student talk Exchanges in class need to be more authentic and truer to real-life communicative situations.

While people use the structural resources of English to express ideas, they are also using language to pursue relationships. What is said draws meaning from a vast amount that is left unsaid. Talk is used to bind people together. People refer implicitly to what previous speakers have said and anticipate what they might say next. Especially small talk aims to establish an interactional framework for encounters between people. Conversations are frequently highly repetitive, marked by turntaking and rituals. Intonation and body language significantly convey and inflect meaning.

cf. Maybin 2002: 5-12

4. The lesson in progress

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Compare each characteristic of verbal interaction in everyday conversation with how language is used in the classroom. Why is language in the classroom different? Could it use the characteristics of verbal interaction as a benchmark?

While people use the structural resources of English to express ideas, they are also using language to pursue relationships. What is said draws meaning from a vast amount that is left unsaid. Talk is used to bind people together. People refer implicitly to what previous speakers have said and anticipate what they might say next. Especially small talk aims to establish an interactional framework for encounters between people. Conversations are frequently highly repetitive, marked by turntaking and rituals. Intonation and body language significantly convey and inflect meaning.

cf. Maybin 2002: 5-12

4. The lesson in progress

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4.1 Teacher talk and student talk

Classroom interaction

Inauthentic classroom communication

cf. Rowe 1986, Hüllen 1987, Lindner 2011

4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction

• authentic texts & situations • more task-oriented with clear goals • active student participation

A place of learning & action

• variety of learning resources • more studentcentered evaluation & feedback • teaching is cooperative and participatory cf. Legutke 2007, 2009

4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction – optimizing teaching skills physical presence in class seating arrangement & student groupings knowing the problems of ‘teacherese’ and TTT dealing with uncooperative students 4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction – physical presence in class proficient understandable dress, gestures, expressions, mime

proximity & closeness

appropriacy

movement & voice 4. The lesson in progress

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When regarding the teacher’s physical presence in class, one would also need to consider how this affects different learner groups – with regard to age, gender, ethnicity, cultural background, group set-up, etc. How, for example, would a teacher’s physical presence and interaction with students differ when (1) she or he is teaching grammar in grade 6 to (2) her or him teaching Shakespeare in grade 12?

4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction – seating arrangement & student groupings

counter-productive seating arrangements

alternative seating arrangements

different student groupings & social forms 4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction – problems of teacherese and teacher talk

comprehensible input

boring, inauthentic

IRE

4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction

“What is the capital of Great Britain?”

“London.”

Problems of teacherese and teacher talk “Very good.”

If student A fails to respond immediately, another student is asked until the right answer is elicited. If student A fails to give the correct answer, another student is asked, with the teacher signaling verbally or non-verbally that student A answered incorrectly. Often there is a chain of such ‘teacher questions.’ cf. Lindner 2011: 40, based on Rowe 1986

4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction – TTT

“What is the capital of Great Britain?”

“London.”

Inauthentic classroom communication “Very good.”

Consider the following statistics (Lindner 2011: 49): A teacher asks a question every 37 seconds. A class of students asks the teacher 2.2 questions a lesson. A student asks a question every 3 days. A teacher asks more than 800 questions in the course of three days.

Suggest ways to improve communication in EFL classes. cf. Lindner 2011: 40, based on Rowe 1986

4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction – good teacher questions Prepare short, unambiguous, and simply structured questions. Raise demanding, meaningful, and open questions with a clear topic. Use learner-centered questions which include everyone Employ questions to gain students’ co-operation and to emphasize important learning goals or organizational aspects. Use alternatives to questions such as impulses and non-verbal communication.

Allow enough time to prepare the answers and do not repeat students’ answers (Lehrerecho). based on Lindner 2011

4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction – clear and unambiguous instructions! Convey only important information and clear instructions.

Consider what students need to know to tackle and complete an activity successfully.

Clearly communicate the steps of an activity.

Provide a time frame.

Check whether students understood the instructions.

Harmer 2000: 4

4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction – dealing with uncooperative students

distractive, disruptive

refusing to take part

rude & undisciplined behavior 4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction – dealing with uncooperative students

Teachers convey the impression that they are on top of the teaching scenario and group dynamics.

Teachers are able to ‘multitask.’

The session proceeds fluently and smoothly and at an appropriate pace.

The whole class stays involved.

4. The lesson in progress

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4.2 Optimizing classroom interaction – 10 rules for classroom performance 1 Avoid translating where you can demonstrate. 2 Avoid explaining where you can act. 3 Avoid making a speech when you can ask questions. 4 Avoid speaking too much when you can make your students speak. 5 Avoid using your textbook solely.

6 Avoid jumping around and appearing unstructured. 7 Avoid going too fast or too slow. 8 Avoid speaking too slowly or too quickly. 9 Avoid gearing your lessons toward just a few students. 10 Try not to be impatient; ‘take it easy.’ cf. Richards & Rodgers 1986: 10

4. The lesson in progress

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Recommended reading Benecke, Ingrid (2007). Zur Grobstruktur von Englischunterricht: Eine Planungshilfe. In: Praxis Fremdsprachenunterricht 4.6, 35-38. Farrell, Thomas S. C. (2002). Lesson Planning. In: Jack C. Richards & Willy A. Renandya, eds. Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press, 30-39. Finkbeiner, Claudia (2007). Lehrplan – Lehrwerk – Stoffverteilungsplan – Unterricht. In: Johannes-P. Timm, ed. Englisch lernen und lehren: Didaktik des Englischunterrichts. Berlin: Cornelsen, 36-44. Harmer, Jeremy (2000). How to Teach English: An Introduction to the Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Longman. Lindner, Michael (2011). Gute Frage! Lehrerfragen als pädagogische Schlüsselkompetenz. Marburg: Tectum. Meyer, Hilbert (2006). Criteria of Good Instruction: Empirical Findings and Didactic Advice. Trans. Dave Kloss. http://www.member.unioldenburg.de/hilbert.meyer/download/Criteria_of_Good_Instruction.pdf. Chapter 10: Lesson planning and classroom management

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Acknowledgments Benecke, Ingrid (2007). Zur Grobstruktur von Englischunterricht: Eine Planungshilfe. In: Praxis Fremdsprachenunterricht 4.6, 35-38. Farrell, Thomas S. C. (2002). Lesson Planning. In: Jack C. Richards & Willy A. Renandya, eds. Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press, 30-39. Harmer, Jeremy (2000). How to Teach English: An Introduction to the Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Longman. Hüllen, Werner (1987). Englisch als Fremdsprache: Beiträge zur Theorie des Englischunterrichts an deutschen Schulen. Tuebingen: Francke. Islam, Carlos & Chris Mares (2003). Adapting Classroom Materials. In: Brian Tomlinson, ed. Developing Materials for Language Teaching. London: Continuum, 86-100. Legutke, Michael (2007). Handlungsraum Klassenzimmer and beyond. In: Johannes-P. Timm, ed. Englisch lernen und lehren: Didaktik des Englischunterrichts. Berlin: Cornelsen, 93-109. Chapter 10: Lesson planning and classroom management

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Acknowledgments Legutke, Michael (2009). Lernerwelt Klassenzimmer: Szenarien für einen handlungsorientierten Fremdsprachenunterricht. In: Gerhard Bach & Johannes-P. Timm, eds. Englischunterricht. Tuebingen, Basle: Francke, 91-120. Lindner, Michael (2011). Gute Frage! Lehrerfragen als pädagogische Schlüsselkompetenz. Marburg: Tectum. Maybin, Janet (2002). Everyday Talk. In: Janet Maybin & Neil Mercer, eds. Using English: From Conversation to Canon. London et al.: Routledge, 5-27. Richards, Jack C. & Theodore S. Rodgers (1986). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: A Description and Analysis. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press. Rowe, Marry Budd (1986). Wait Time: Slowing Down May Be a Way of Speeding Up. Journal of Teacher Education 37.1, 43-50 Thaler, Engelbert (2012). Englisch unterrichten: Grundlagen – Kompetenzen – Methoden. Berlin: Cornelsen. Ur, Penny (1996). A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 10: Lesson planning and classroom management

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Acknowledgments The cartoons at the beginning of each ppt were designed by Frollein Motte, 2014. If not otherwise indicated, the copyright of the figures lies with the authors. The complete titles of the sources can be found in the references to the units unless given below. All of the websites were checked on 10 September 2014. Slide 4: Metaphors for a lesson, based on Ur 1996: 213 Slide 8: https://pixabay.com/en/drama-comedy-and-tragedy-theater-312318, https://pixabay.com/en/cardboard-box-open-sheets-box-297587, http://bildungsblog72.blogspot.de/2013/02/sitzen-bleiben.html, https://pixabay.com/en/roadsign-right-of-way-test-361513 Slide 15: The reflection process, based on Richards & Rodgers 1986: 159 Slides 22 & 24: https://pixabay.com/en/personal-people-talk-discussion-9441 Slides 24, 31, 32: https://pixabay.com/en/teacher-class-classroom-students-44735 Slide 25: https://pixabay.com/en/network-cobweb-fig-figures-63770 Slides 26, 27, 29, 30, 35: https://pixabay.com/en/direction-information-stairs-climb-44069, https://pixabay.com/en/man-male-silhouette-body-fig-100667, https://pixabay.com/en/layoutclassroom-seating-chairs-36508, https://pixabay.com/en/megaphone-loudspeaker-speech-talk155780, https://pixabay.com/es/ni%C3%B1a-enojado-cara-malestar-infeliz-308980

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Acknowledgments Slide 27: http://www.opentapestry.com/tapestries/bus403-negotiations-andconflict-management, https://pixabay.com/pl/d%C5%82o%C5%84-r%C4%99kagest-trzyma%C4%87-biznes-427521, https://jodiscurriculumcorner.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/tree200795_640.jpg, https://pixabay.com/en/photos/tie%20suit, https://pixabay.com/fr/personnes-foule-individus-groupe-304353 Slide 29: https://pixabay.com/en/teaching-classroom-teacher-311356, https://pixabay.com/pt/ferradura-brown-ouro-cavalo-sapato-309891, https://pixabay.com/en/jigsaw-puzzle-puzzle-pieces-pink-494510 Slide 30: https://pixabay.com/en/customer-family-magnifying-glass-563967, https://pixabay.com/sv/uttr%C3%A5kad-likgiltig-sjukt-tristess-478651, https://pixabay.com/en/chain-links-connection-metal-steel-309566 Slides 31 & 32: The IRE pattern, adapted from Lindner 2011: 40 Slide 35: https://pixabay.com/en/emoticon-quite-quiet-shoo-25532, https://pixabay.com/en/smiley-smiling-smile-face-tongue-42842, https://pixabay.com/en/angry-face-emoticon-animations-33059 Chapter 10: Lesson planning and classroom management

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