Olusanjo, M. O.
Department of Curriculum and Instructional Technology
Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun.
A paper presented at 2010/2011 teaching practice seminar for students
Lesson preparation and presentation during teaching practice
Introduction
This paper will discuss lesson preparation and presentation during teaching practice. The focus in this paper is not teach EDU 113 (Introduction to principles and methods of teaching) and EDU 213 (Micro-teaching). Students should have come across these two courses at 100L and 200L respectively. However, this paper is to equip student teachers with the skills to create their own lesson plans. Acquiring these skills is far more valuable than being able to use lesson plans developed by others. Knowing “how” to is far more important than knowing “about” when it comes to lesson plan. Because, this is one of the important makers that tell that you are a professional teacher. Teaching practice is a programme that offers students the opportunity to put into practice, the “theories” of teaching and learning in the classroom setting. During teaching practice, student teachers should not entertain any fear of failure but at the same time, he/ she have a duty to the cooperating teacher not to leave chaos at the end of the teaching practice. Throughout this paper, the writer will make use of the works of scholars like Olokede, N. O. & Olusanjo, M. O.; Osokoya, I.O.; Ogunyemi, B. and Ifegbesan, A.; Udoh, C. O. and Erinosho, S.Y. & Badru, A. K..
Objectives
At the end of this seminar, student teachers should be able to:
1. Plan lessons successfully
2. Present lessons appropriately.
What then is lesson preparation?
Lesson preparation is selection of topics, determining instructional objectives, selection of teaching methods and instructional materials and determining the evaluation instruments for the assessment of the teaching. Lesson preparation (i.e. writing of lesson notes) will be taken in this paper to mean lesson planning. Lesson planning involves much more than making arbitrary decision about what to teach and how to teach it. Many activities precede the process of designing and implementing a lesson plan. Similarly, the job of systematic lesson planning is not complete until after the teacher has assessed both the learner’s attainment of the anticipated outcomes and effectiveness of the lesson in leading learner to these outcomes.
Lesson preparation, which is the focus of this section, should not be seen as a burden but should be seen as the last stage of preparation to go to the class. The purpose of lesson plan is to communicate. A key principle in creating a lesson plan is specificity; that is, writing a lesson plan that can be interpreted or implemented in a particular class. A lesson plan that is meant to teach many different classes is probably not a very good plan. One of the most helpful tips in writing first lesson plans would be to look(not copying) at lesson plans that are already fully developed to get a better idea of what needs to be in the lesson plan.
The importance of lesson plan
1. A well prepared lesson plan gives the teacher a sense of direction when he enters the classroom.
2. Lesson plan helps the teacher to know when and where to start and where to stop.
3. It allows the teacher to know which materials would be needed so that they are collected before the class.
4. In case of illness, lesson plan of a teacher could be used by another teacher to teach the class.
5. It serves as a record for the teacher in future.
6. It also guides the teacher as to what instrument to use for evaluation.
Steps to developing a quality lesson plan
This guide is a general overview that highlights the key points of creating a lesson plan. It is worth noting that there is no one “best way” to plan lesson. However, for the purpose of teaching practice in this college, we have one format student teachers should learn how to write, revise and improve on. Below is a list of the steps involved in developing a lesson plan as well as a description of what each component should be.
1. The first thing to consider in developing a good lesson plan is what you want to teach. This should be developed based on the standard of the school, grade level you want to teach and time allocated for the subject on the timetable.
2. Having known what to teach, another point is the nature of the learners. As a teacher to be, you should know the characteristics of your learners in terms of their ability, their previous knowledge and experiences.
3. Developing clear objectives; this is, where you ask yourself what you want to achieve or accomplish at the end of the lesson. The lesson objectives should be stated in measurable terms using action verbs. Words like “know”, “understand” and “enjoy” should avoided while formulating instructional objectives, as they cannot measured.
4. The lesson plan should indicate clearly what content to be included in the lesson plan. The sources of the content should be from the recommended textbook.
5. Another essential step to developing a good lesson plan is methodologies to be used and activities to be employed. Whatever method used must lead to the achievement of the stated objectives. In case curriculum guide prescribed a particular method of teaching, this should be adhered to. This is necessary because curriculum planners must have considered the pros and cons of other methods.
6. Another thing to be shown clearly in your lesson plan is material that you are going to use to teach. This is necessary if someone else were going to use your lesson plan. Materials may include reading materials, apparatus, maps, charts, models, living materials and other relevant materials. In selecting materials, you are to consider factors like relevance, appropriateness, variety and availability as stated in the lesson plan format.
7. Procedure (presentation) is the core of the lesson plan. It is at this stage the student teacher plans the presentation and development of the lesson step by step. Procedure should include everything that the student teacher plans to do including his plan for the pupils. While planning procedure, it is important to note the following principles- the planned activities for the students must follow the established objectives of the lesson and students should not be expected to do the same thing; that is there should be a variety of activities for the students during the teaching. Expected ways of writing presentation include- The teacher asks students to define verb; The teacher mentions examples of plants; Ask the students meaning of noun; The teacher will ask the students…; The teacher should explain…; Display the map of Nigeria. Do not personify your presentation e. g. He/ She explain marriage.
8. Last but not the list is the evaluation procedure to use. This should be determined at planning stage. In selecting evaluation procedure, the student teacher should make sure there is direct correlation between the objectives and the evaluation. While planning for evaluation, the following examples could be used- The teacher asks the students the following questions; Ask the students the following questions; Let the students answer these questions.
Common mistakes in writing lesson plan
Experiences from the supervision of the past teaching practice exercises have revealed the following mistakes student teachers do make;
1. Instructional objectives do not specify what the learners will actually do.
2. Lesson assessment disconnected from the instructional objectives formulated.
3. The previous knowledge not specifies or inconsistent with what is actually required to succeed.
4. The instructional materials specify in the lesson are extraneous to the actual described learning activities.
5. The student activities described in the lesson plan do not contribute directly and effectively to the objectives of the lesson.
6. The instructional contents are not efficient for the level of intended learners.
7. Not stating instructional methods to teach objective specified.
Having successfully prepared the lesson, and now stepping into the class, the next stage is presentation; that is, communicating what has been planned. This is going to be the focus of our next section.
Meaning of lesson presentation
Lesson presentation is refers to as effective use of selected resources, effective use of voices, hand, parts of the body, ability to demonstrate as the need arises, and effectiveness of class control and management. Lesson presentation is one of those stages that student teachers ought to have planned for in order to make his/her lesson a successful one. While stepping into the classroom, before anything at all student teachers should make sure the classroom is physically ready for the students to receive training; that is seating arrangement are adequate. It is worth noting for the student teachers to know that at presentation stage, they are to demonstrate academic subject and pedagogical knowledge.
When it comes to actual presentation, the following steps are important:
1. Introduction of the lesson: The first thing a student teacher does in the presentation of the lesson is to introduce the lesson. The essence of introduction is to alert the class to the fact that the business of the learning is to begin. Going by the approved lesson plan format, you are to introduce the lesson by briefly explaining the current topic. The introduction to a lesson, no matter what form the lesson plan takes, must be to develop students’ interest and state the lesson objectives and significance. The maximum duration for introduction of the lesson is 5 minutes.
2. After introduction, the next stage is actual presentation (i.e. teaching). This should be done according to what is approved (i. e. subject teacher approval) in the lesson plan. In your presentation, do not read a lesson plan verbatim; make sure you are thoroughly familiar with the material you are presenting. To meet the specific objectives of the lesson, you must know exactly what you are going to teach and how you are going to teach it. Again, you must be careful not to over teach; that is, to provide extraneous information merely because you are knowledgeable in a particular area. At the same time, do not under teach; that is, skipping what is in the lesson plan. During presentation, material should be presented in logical sequence beginning with the known and moving to the unknown. While teaching, you should ensure effective way of using the chalkboard. The chalkboard should be properly divided and you should write legibly (chalkboard summary and not classroom note). Use transition statements that allow you to move through the lesson smoothly. Transitions signal to the students that you are progressing to a new point. Also, chain materials (that is, tie it together) in a meaningful manner. Link material previously taught with the present material, or link the present material with what will be taught later. Maximum duration is 20 minutes.
3. Conclusion/Summary: Just as it is necessary to have an inspiring introduction, so also it is necessary to have a clear-cut conclusion. This could be a summary of what you have taught or restatement of the key points. Duration is 5 minutes. In writing conclusion (overall goal of the lesson), the student teachers should begin with phrase like “The lesson is aimed at…
4. Evaluation: This is another important aspect of lesson presentation. Evaluation should be built into the lesson at all major stages of the lesson- beginning, middle and towards the end. At the beginning, student teachers need to know the current standing of the students vis- a- vis the new topic (entry behaviour). While presentation is on that is, while teaching, you are to ask question to ascertain students’ understanding. Towards the end of the presentation, the question asked to determine whether the objectives of the lesson have been met is termed summative evaluation. Summative evaluation may take oral or written form. Take-home assignment that is given to the students is a form of evaluation that is done to make them practice at home and at the same time make them remain on the track until the next lesson. Duration for evaluation is a maximum of 10 minutes.
At the end of presentation (i. e. teaching), it is advisable that student teachers write remarks. The remarks is used to show the supervisor how the lesson went. Comments expected in the remarks column include “A successful lesson”; The lesson was successfully delivered; The lesson should be re-taught because of certain disruptions (e. g. public holiday, sports, e.t.c.); To be repeated because of students’ under- achievement; The lesson was successfully delivered in Jss1a&c but not delivered in Jss 1b because of....
As a first time teacher, you should bear it in mind that the success or failure of the whole teaching practice would be determined by the impression created during the first week.
In conclusion, be informed that a lesson plan should not be prepared several days or weeks in advance, as the failure or success of the last lesson should determine the next lesson plan. Do not be misguided to believe that either of the lesson preparation and lesson presentation is adequate for adequate competence in teaching, as a result teaching practice supervisor will not rely on one of these to return a score for a student teacher. During presentation, you are to maintain orderly class control and management. For more details on how to achieve good classroom control during teaching practice, consult your text.
Acknowledgement
I wish to express my thanks and gratitude to all the scholars whose works have formed the basis of this paper. At the same time, I appreciate the opportunity given to me by the college teaching practice committee under the leadership of the dean school of education, Dr. S. A. Fakayode to share my experience with our future leaders. I thank you all and God bless.
