wae Lesson planning — right from the heart Duncan Foord recommends strategies for preparing and teaching effective lessons. ave you ever taught or observed a lesson which doesn’t reach its end?” Why do we run out of time, and ‘hat aze the consequences? Not doing everything you've planned is not necessarily a bad thing, but in my ‘experience the bits planned for the end are nearly always the most crucial bits of the lesson, where the students get 10 tuse language: the heart of the lesson. In this article, I suggest that a global, ‘rather than linear, approach to conceiving lessons and lesson plans ean be helpful to teachers, by allowing more flexibility in staging (sequencing activities) and more focus on our communicative aims. To avoid missing ‘out these vital parts of the lesson, rather than work cowards our aims it might be ‘mote helpful to work around them. ‘Two approaches ‘Toillustrate what Ihave in mind, Thave produced two lesson plans for the same lesson, These are shown on page 5. The first of these takes a traditional linear Format, with numbered stages designed 10 be followed in sequence. The second isin the form of a ‘spider graph’ ot (44 tose 99 July 2014 + ENGLISH TEACHING professional « wwre.ctprofessional.com + “mind map’, centring round a ‘heart’ ‘The communicative aim of the lesson is at the heart, and the various activities which might support the learners in achieving this sim are shown as satellites and arteries which feed and pump life {nto the heart, Forgive the mixed metaphors, but you get the idea, ‘The mind map is numbered, but its fairly clear which bits can be left out and ‘which bits depend on other bits and are, therefore, more distant from the heart. For example, the drill activity 2) is dependent on examples to drill (1). OF course, both can be left out altogether, ‘We could start the lesson at 3 or S or exen 7. This kind of flexibility is more The students give each other advice about their Peer dil: The students read and respond to each ‘other's problems with single phrase responses. Mind map format (right brain) ‘The teacher tells the students about a problem and elicits advice. ‘The teacher dele the students from the advice Glicted and put on the board. Focus on typical formulae for ‘giving advice and using appropriate rhythm and intonation, ‘The students write down ‘six problems. s wunnotprofessionalicom + ENGLSHTEACHN professional » lexus $9 iy 2014+ & Ppp>>> an i Fash fit the heart SB ir we betiave that students learn better through a communicative approach, then it Is probably a good idea to be conceiving ‘communicative lesson plans’, in other words, plans “which not only foreground ‘communication activities, but aso, in their very form, embody and reflect the task feedack-task eycle which is inherent to the communicative approach. The linear format invites a dogged adherence to the sequence planned, asif leaving something ut would someliow break a chain and ‘we'd have to start agnin, This type of thinking, derived I believe from behaviourist models of language earning, isnot always helpful and doesnt really reflect our understanding of the way people learn languages. AW ie taciitates ttexiitty. The mind ‘map lesson planmindset allows the teacher more freedom to add and discard activities in response to time constraints and leamer needs. The satellites can be numbered to suggest a sequence, but this sequence is not set in stone and can be easily abandoned. S it encourages leaner Involvement. Ifthe lesson plan is presented to learners in this format on the board at the start of the lesson, they hhave an opportunity to add bits, take bits away, even change the heart and start again, if they want, Alternatively, the teacher can start with a heart and let the learners suggest the ‘satellites’. This can be taken a stage further so that the Jearners decide both the hearts and the satellites —a kind of ‘course planning. from the heart. Four questions Here are my answers to four FAQS (frequently asked questions) about this ‘model of lesson planning T does this model only work for lessons based around communication activitios? No. Lean imagine a lesson, say, with a class preparing for a First Certificate ‘exam, where the teacher wants the Teamers to work on their accurate use of ‘propositions. The heart in this case ‘could be ‘the students fill in « gapped text with propositions removed’, and the satellites could include ‘work on typical uses of certain prepositions with reference to a grammar book’ or “teacher chalk and talk’ or ‘learners researching and peer teaching’, sentence gap fills’ "reading and noticing’, ‘a game of preposition dominoes’, etc. 2 this mode! seems to be relevant for task-based loarning, but what i {you are working with other approaches? Before task-based learning, ‘communicative teaching was frequently expressed through the PPP type lesson, ‘This type of lesson, which is still commonly used in initial training ‘courses for teachers, usually contains a task, the tid P: ‘Production’ or "Free Practice”. The difference is that it always ‘comes at the end, as if itis only possible to produce of activate language once the students have earned it by jumping through the frst two hoops: ‘Presentation’ and “Practice”. In this sense, PPP is a half-way house to communicative teaching, embracing the idea of a communication activity as a vehicle for learning, but retaining much of the audio-lingual insistence on sequencing and “getting it right’ before moving on. So, yes, this approach to planning reflects a broadly task-based approach to teaching language, S wnat about beginner learners? Surely they need some carefully- sequenced input before they can attempt even basic communication ‘asks? ‘Yes, I agree. How can students play bingo, for example, if they don't have a grasp of numbers in English? You could hhave two hearts! Or, better still, combine them in one: ‘Learn the numbers 1 to 50 ‘well enough to play bingo’. If you set out with this in mind, you wil be less likely to be overly diverted by satellites like “practise word stress shrrecr versus ‘thirty’, which may be helpful but are not essential. Its better for the students to play bingo with poor word stress at the end of the class than to practise word stress but not have time to play the game! (6 + osu 9 July 2014» ENGLISH TEACHING professional « www.etprofessional.com + 4 wnat about ‘stasing’? tsn'tit important to create lessons for learners which are carefully sequenced to support learning? | think some sequences make more sense than others, but I suspect that learners are also capable of learning in a more messy fashion. This is, afterall, how they acquire their first language, making sense of fairly random input rather than being taken through language step-by- step. We need plans that can go with the flow without abandoning core objectives. Our example lesson could start with stages 5 and 6, for example, or even 7. One tip for ensuring the communicative activity is not squeezed ‘out ofthe lesson isto set atime for it to begin. For example, ina lesson from 6pm to 7 pm, designate a latest time for the activity to start~say 6.40 pm. AL 6.40, stop whatever you are doing with the students and start this activity. This, way you preserve the heart of the lesson. kkk Observing teachers over a number of years oa the Trinity Diploma in TESOL course at Oxford TEFL, our tutor team hhave noticed that the approach described here supports many teachers on the course in improving the balarce and effectiveness of their lessons. They make a shift from left-brain listing towards right-brain mapping, conceiving lessons in terms of @ core focus activity, a hear, which they work ‘round. This helps them to make better choices hefore and during the lesson about which activities o include, discard or shorten, and helps the students see more cleariy the practical application of the exercises and activities they are asked to do. ID Fletcher, M Teaching for Success Enaish Expatience 2000 ‘incon Foord ia Bireetor of foachor ating ot Groeten, He hes been wang fachore om Trinity ‘Conifeste and Diploma ‘Sours forthe past ‘Byers