Oh my gosh.I cannot believe I am half way done with the semester.Anyway,today's class was not very long but we did learn many things.Our topic was about the conceptual foundations for planning a lesson.Mr Wan said when you fail to plan,you are actually planning for failure.He then told us that pedagogy can be divided into two parts which are what and how.Basically it is the study of ways to deliver a subject and what you need to know.For example,what do you need to know?You need to know the content of the subject you are teaching inside out.As I have said before,you will have a really hard time teaching a subject if you are not an expert on it.It is like the blind leading the blind.Mr Wan also asked us why it is necessary to have a lesson plan.My classsmates gave answers stating that the lesson plan acts as a guide for us and Mr Wan said it was right.It is for us to achieve our objectives.There are many other reasons as well.For example :-
1.Substitiutes teachers are able to teach a class with the provided lesson plan as a guide line.
This was something I actually never really thought about till that lesson.Usually teachers who are absent have a substitute teacher to come and sit in for a class and let us do absolutely anything we want and eventually by the end of the day we did not learn anything.What a waste isn't it?But with a guided lesson plan,students do not need to experience the loss of learning.
2.Time management
If you are an extremely forgetful person like me,then I suggest you have a lesson plan to keep track of time.Some teachers are extremely passionate about teaching which is a good thing but sometimes they get to carried away and are basically in their own world to the extent they lost track of time and are not able to focus other material for their students.
3.Confidence
Sometimes,when you are a novice in the classroom,you may lack confidence as compared to some super experienced teachers.Hence,you need a lesson plan so that you are able to keep track of things and not go off topic.A lesson plan prepares you for a class and you are able to reflect upon it to make improvements.Hence,the lesson will go much more smoothly(Another reason to have a lesson plan)
Moving on,we learnt about the instructional action planning.A teacher has to identify the learner preparation activities and get the classroom ready.Furtheremore,teachers need to create personal prompts.They have to be creative in teaching a class so that students would not be bored.A students attention span is really short,just for the record.A teacher also needs to list support technologies.They need to be proficient in things like microsoft excel and powerpoint to help the students learn more because these are excellent tools for learning.They need to be up to date with the latest technologies because young people will not be as interested if you use old technology or old resources to teach them.If you do not believe me,take a look at this video to see how up to date children and teenagers are and how much they despise old technology.
I think that if you are born in this modern era,for example if you're a millennial or born in the 2000s you will not have much problem with modern technology but sadly the older generation have some problems.
Maybe some of you younger people will experience this when teaching your parents how to use technology.I love my father but this is absolutely true when it comes to teach your parents about modern technology.Watch the video below.
But with time slowly but surely even the older generation will be good at using technology.They need to learn because with an ordinary blackboard and chalk,students are not going to interested anymore.
I also suggest teachers continuously update themselves with Youtube videos online.Young people these days spend a lot of their time online and having great educational Youtube videos in class would be a good way of getting their attention.Mr Wan said that maybe one day in the future,students would not need to bring any books in class.Since everything can be found online,all they need to do is bring their laptops.This reminds me of a video I watched on Youtube.Here is it is :
I think you will see the connection.Moreover,teachers need to list feedback instruments.I have said it before and I will say it again.We teachers need feedback,without feedback the room for growth will be so little.There also needs to be detailing follow-up activities.Summative and formative tests should be given to test a students capabilities.With the results,teachers can help themselves improve on their teaching methods.They will be able to see which topics are the topics students are often confused about and reflect upon their teaching method to help them improve.
Other than that,we talked about writing lesson plan goals,objectives and strategies.First of all,goals and objectives are different things.Goals are more on a bigger scale and objectives are on a smaller scale.For example,the targeted level of achievement you want your students to achieve in a YEAR is classified as goals but when it comes to the targeted achievements of a lesson,then it is objectives.Every lesson plan needs goals and objectives.
Moving on,there are also some prerequisites when it comes to planning lessons.Prerequisite or pre-requirements are helpful for weak students.It helps to consider the readiness of students and it helps teachers not teach materials that are too difficult for students to understand.Prerequisite allows teachers to replicate lesson plan to make sure the students meet the lesson objectives.Teachers need to make sure that the possibility of students achieving those objectives are very high because a student's self-esteem can affect his or her performance.We also discussed about the materials in class.It helps a teacher determine how much time they need to prepare their students,management involved in carrying out the plan,materials,books,equipment and resources they will need to have ready.Materials are very much needed for a lesson.You can even say it is the MVP of the lesson.Without materials what would students learn?A lesson plan also needs a lesson description,it provides an opportunity for the author of the lesson to share some thoughts,experience and advice with teachers.It tells people what is unique about the lesson planned,how much did the students like it and what the level of learning is covered by the lesson plan.There is also the lesson procedure,it provides a detailed,step-by step description of how to replace the lesson and achieve the lesson plan objectives.This is usually to provide suggestions to teachers on how to proceed with the implementation of the lesson plan.It can be divided into several components:-
1.Introduction
2.Main activity
3.Closure/Conclusion
4.Follow-up lesson/activities
The follow-up activities is for the teachers to evaluate the students and help students apply the knowledge they have learnt in class.I am currently doing my lesson plan for my assignment and it involves a set-induction,main activity,closure and follow-up activities.I like to ask my students to reflect on videos to jog their creativity and help them think critically.Sometimes I ask them to form groups with their friends to share their thoughts.I would ask them to present their sharings during the next lesson so that I can evaluate them.
Finally,the final subtopic of chapter 9,assessment and evaluation.This is extremely vital not just for students but for students to ensure that they are using the right teaching methods.Without an assessment how would students improve?During my secondary school days,my friends and I often complain about the people who invented examinations and that we hate them for ruining our lives.The funny thing is,the people who created examinations were the Chinese and I went to a secondary school which was predominantly Chinese.So basically we were complaining about our ancestors.I find it funny.Back then,if a student was caught cheating in an exam,they will face harsh punishments like being thrown into jail.I do think assessments are important but sadly it has become more of a bragging tool instead of an evaluation for teachers to help students learn.In my secondary school,when some proud students did well they often put down those students who did not do so well(that includes me) and our self-esteem will usually deteriorate.Some teachers even return test paper scores from the lowest to the highest in front of the whole class.It is a great moment for those who did well but what about those people who do poorly like me?It really affects our self-esteem.Teahcers do not know but there are lots of really proud people in my class who look down upon the weak students.I went home crying so many times because of being looked down upon.I was even called stupid once because of my test scores.Assessments and evaluations are important but I think these days,the education system and society has taken it far too seriously.This needs to change.
References
KIDS REACT TO OLD COMPUTERS. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 22 November 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF7EpEnglgk&t=102s
TEENS REACT TO ENCYCLOPEDIAS. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 22 November 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7aJ3xaDMuM&t=43s
TEENS REACT TO WINDOWS 95. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 22 November 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ucCxtgN6sc&t=141s
When Parents Use Technology. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 22 November 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSRNvNkThGk&t=190s
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