Viv's EFLT course 03
by Viv Quarry (www.vivquarry.com)
After the first class
When you've finished a lesson, there's still something else to do before you leave the classroom: it's important to make a note of what you have done. This might be essential if another teacher has to cover for you in the following lesson, or you may need to check this information yourself if you are teaching several groups or if the next class will be some time later e.g. next week. With this record, it's also possible to gauge your progress through the course material and easily keep track of the progress of different groups using the same material. Furthermore, if you are charging private students for classes, it makes billing easier. I use the computer to keep these records, which I write up at the end of each day. Here are the model forms I use for students having one, two or three classes per week. If you'd like to see what one of these forms looks like at the end of the month, here's an example.
If you don't have access to a computer at the location where teaching takes place, I recommend writing up your lesson notes by hand. Just photocopy the appropriate model (depending on the number of classes per week) on to the back of the Class Attendance Form for each month and, at the end of the lesson, note down what you have done.
If you are sharing a classroom with other teachers, don't forget to tidy up before you leave. Make sure that the classroom is in the same condition that you would like to find it when you arrive to teach e.g.clean white board, no cd in the player etc. If any classroom materials like board marker pens need replacing, inform administration, or write a reminder to yourself to bring a replacement.
Now you're ready to complete the plan for your first class (or, if necessary, use these instructions in your next lesson plan on page 51).
Go to page 50 of your Teacher's notebook and add at the top of the page "Objective: Introduce teacher and SS, teach numbers 1 - 50 and organise student notebooks.";. Under this write "Assumptions: SS probably know most of these numbers already, but may be pronouncing and spelling them wrong". Then below write "Anticipated problems: SS probably won't know the English alphabet, so words must be written on board. Pronunciation of /th/ - it doesn't exist in Portuguese and word stress on 'teens' and 'tens'." Finally, add to the 'Materials' section "red marker pen. Adhesive labels to mark the start of grammar section and Hwk page in SS nbs. 1 copy of Viv's pronunciation symbols for each student. Glue & scissors."
Next to the '10' in the margin (under 'warm-up activity), write "Draw tree on board and ask 'What's this?'. Drill 'tree', then draw picture of nose, mouth and tongue touching the roof of the mouth. Write 'tree' in blue then in red /TREE/ on the board. Under the tree, draw £0.00.Give clear model and drill 'free'. Draw a similar face in profile but in this one the lower lip touches the upper teeth and an arrow shows air escaping between the teeth and lip. Write 'free' and /FREE/. In a third row, draw a big number '3'. Give clear, slow model, exaggerating tongue outside the mouth. Drill 'three' then draw diagram with tongue projecting outside the mouth and air escaping between the upper teeth and tongue (see diagrams in the book 'Ship or Sheep?' for a clear demonstration of these diagrams). Drill 'three' and then write 'three' and /θREE/. DON'T CLEAN THESE DIAGRAMS FROM THE BOARD!"
To the right of the number 15 in the margin write "Put 'one' on the board. Say 'Open your notebooks at page 1' (demonstrate). Students write 'one' in the top right-hand corner of page 1. Repeat this process with 3, 5, 7 (we don't cross out sevens in English!) until students notebooks are numbered up to page 49. Ask students to supply the next numbers if possible and correct any pronunciation problems. Clearly demonstrate word stress on thirteen, fifteen, seventeen & nineteen by beating stress on your hands and drawing a big red dot above the stressed syllable on the board. Do the same with twenty-one etc. Focus on the stress difference between thirteen & thirty."
Next to 5 in the margin, write "SS turn over the page and write 'fifty' on the back of page 49. Distribute two adhesive labels to each student and show them how to 'tab' this page and a page in the middle of their nbs (divider page?) for hwk. SS write 'HWK' on this tab. Ask students to copy the diagrams of faces and pronunciation onto page 50 of their notebooks."
Beside the 10 in the margin, add " Clear board. SS open notebooks at back page and stick a copy of pronunciation symbols on back cover and number the pages at the back of the students' notebooks with even numbers (2, 4, 6, 8) until 32, using the same process as before."
These instructions can now be added to the lesson plan on page 50 of your teacher's notebook. See example.
You now have a complete lesson plan for your first lesson (or a basis for lesson 2 if you've already taught your first class).
Homework activity: What are the
'Assumptions' and 'Anticipated problems related to teaching the English
alphabet in your country? Prepare some ideas for how you would introduce your
students to the English alphabet.