Types of Lesson Plans:

There are literally dozens of lesson plan types depending on the teaching philosophy followed by an educator or specific mandated by learning institutions. In ESL and EFL education, the most common lesson plans are those based on three main instructional approaches:

A. PPP (Presentation, Practice and Production)
B. TTT (Test, Teach and Test) 
C. TBA (Task-based Approach) 

Presentation, Practice and Production. PPP is a recommended lesson approach for many educators of ESL/EFL and is commonly taught in institutions that provide TESOL and TEFL certifications. Most English language educators believe that PPP is the root approach from which other approaches have evolved. 

Test, Teach and Test. TTT is a frequently used alternative to the PPP method, where the production phase is sequentially moved to the first part of the lesson. During the (first) test phase that corresponds to the production phase in the PPP approach, students are more or less abruptly asked to communicatively produce a language concept based on their existing knowledge and without any prior guidance from the teacher. The teacher will then asses the students' level of competency in the particular language area, determine their needs, and proceed with the teach phase (which corresponds to the presentation phase in the PPP approach) based on an overall assessment.

Task based Approach. TBA is a good alternative to either the PPP approach or the TTT method. In TBA-structured classes, teachers do not pre-determine the language specifics to study but base their lesson strategies on how a central task is completed by the students. Similar to the other two approaches, TBA follows a sequential progression: 1) a pre-task introduction to be conducted by the teacher; 2) the students' completion of a central task involving a particular language aspect; 3) reporting, analysis and feedback to be performed by the teacher concerning how the students accomplished the central task; and 4) practice sessions to hone student proficiencies in the language area.

What is a teacher’s style of delivery and what is your style of delivery?

        

     Regularly, the teacher stands in front of his/her learners and he/she starts to the deliver the content by using a lesson plan or a hand-out. In other words, most of the teachers use a direct instruction (teacher – centered) in which the teacher is the major information provider and students just receive the instruction or information. The arrangement of desks in the classroom is most often structured in rows so that students are facing the teacher.

     When teaching, I always arrange the desks forming a horse shoe for me to have enough space to carry out a variety of activities. The tutor always made us design a lesson plan per each class so that the ideas have a logical sequence and coherence and learners don’t get confused. I think that when delivering English topics at a level where learners don’t know too much the target language, it is better to use a direct instruction because they couldn`t succeed on their own. Of course the students have the chance to ask as many questions as they can.

What are convergent and divergent questions? How can these types of questions help students initiate addressing reasoning as an active process?

      When teaching, teachers could use convergent and divergent questions to give instructions. Convergent questions are questions that involve limited answers. That is, the receiver is not required to provide many details when answering and this type of questions doesn’t involve too much analysis or reflections.

      I think this kind of questions can be useful for beginners  because they don’t have to provide too many elements such as vocabulary, grammar structures or pronunciation proficiency; but they are learning how to respond by using short answers.  

    Divergent questions are questions that encourage general or open respond. It means that since students have to provide more elements and details when answering, teachers have the chance to evaluate learners language proficiency ( vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar structures and so on ) and to give advice about how to improve weaknesses.

    In my opinion, this  questions are more suitable for Advanced English Students because they have to use the language by expressing more ideas and thoughts.  

What are two ways classroom design has changed over the past twenty years?

Children can and do learn in places where they feel comfortable, it is accomplished by having a classroom design that accommodates the learners’ preferences.

The classroom setting has changed over the past two decades regarding academic and behavioral considerations. The physical arrangement of desks and chairs in a classroom communicates the behaviors and instructional accommodations for the population that occupies it. Although things have changed regarding room design opportunities, the way one was taught has impacted teaching for decades, because oftentimes teachers teach the way they were taught.

About twenty years ago, desks and bench-type seats were secured to the floor, which did not provide for movement of them into different configurations for, let’s say, small-group work. A section of the room was built to accommodate coats and outerwear with closets. Most often books were stored in either desk drawers or the desk top, which lifted upward.

Nowadays, when considering classroom design, educators can be concerned that those in the room have a sense of security. They may feel cozy and have ownership.

For instance, now learners use one-person desk and teachers can perform more activities such as pair work or group work by arranging the learners in strategic places. Consequently, educators can give their courses using advanced technology ( computer, projector, educative softwares, internet access, virtual classrooms and so on). What teachers have to do is just to choose a suitable learning technique in order for promoting a successful learning in the school community.

What are three types of comprehension, and how do these differ from one another? Provide one example of each type.

     Comprehension is the use of one’s memory and these leveled thinking processes with the ability to understand or have knowledge about something.

There are three types of comprehension:

1. Memory
2. Cognition
3. Metacognition

-Memory is the storing and then recalling and retrieving of thoughts and feelings.

-Cognition and metacognition are recognized as being lower- and higher-level thinking.

    

     For instance, I have learned a lot of English information such as fruits, colors, countries, numbers and so forth. I think that my memory helped me to store that information in the past and now it is  helping me to remember it. 

     Through the cognition I have learned how to organize that information to transmit messages and to communicate my ideas, feelings and thoughts to other people; and the metacognition is still helping me as a Long – Term memory which allows me remember the information for a long time.

        How can someone give effective feedback to his/her students?

      Feedback is an important tool for the student and teacher. It is the information communicated to a student in regard to his/her understanding, this information includes guidance on how to improve.

 It also enables students to gain a more thorough understanding of the particular skill or concept they are trying to improve in.

      Feedback should concentrate on the success of the work and the areas

for improvement in both individual pieces and for meeting the learning objectives over a longer period of time.

      Feedback is most effective when it is delivered promptly and reflection time is planned into the lesson to allow students time to respond

to the comment and if possible act upon it immediately

      The impact of prompt, criteria based feedback on selected pieces

of work will have greater long-term impact on a student’s learning

and their results. 

What are the purposes of teacher’s classroom questions?

    Questioning is very important within a classroom. Well-structured questions in a Learning-Teaching environment can move student learning forward.

     Questioning serves dual purpose in helping a teacher meet course requirements and in developing subject mastery and progress.

      Questioning is also a means of developing and extending student dialogue and is an essential tool for both teaching and learning.

       In an ‘A’ Level classroom, questioning is arguably of even greater importance in terms of developing subject knowledge, moving learning forward and building self-esteem.

What’s your call on the following? Assessment in education must, first and foremost, serve the purpose of supporting learning

When supporting learning, assessment should involve the following aspects:

1)    It should show the teachers’ performance results on the Learning-Teaching      process, that means how effective was  the education the learners received in an education establishment.

2)    Assessment is also focused on improving the Learning-Teaching Process and raise standards in the classroom; that is  through the evaluation, both teachers and learners have the opportunity to get better by determining their own ability, progress and steps to improvement.

Besides, it’s through assessment for learning that teachers and students come to an understanding of the individual’s learning needs. In order words, whenever  teachers assess the learners, they are shown the weakness they all have to work on, so that both of them can get a successful learning.

University study requires students to take responsibility for their own learning, to be more self-directed, to make their own decisions about what they will focus on and how much time they will spend on learning both inside and outside the classroom. How can you get the students up to this point by the end of the course or the year?

First of all, I have to let the learners know that I will be just a guide or facilitator for them, and they’ll have to work with independence; in other words, the teacher has to encourage the students to autonomously engage in their studies and to think by themselves, so that they can become their own learning builder.

I would like to put into practice Belle Wallace’s independent learning framework, which is called: TASC  ( Thinking Actively in a Social Context ). Whenever I teach a specific topic, I’d like to make my students follow the stages of the TASC WHEEL from the beginning to the end.

The TASC WHEEL is a cycle that learners should work in, and it consists of the following segments:

ORGANIZE:

Students explore their schemata that will be the basis to start working.

IDENTIFY:

It is to set the tasks they will work on.

GENERATE:

To think about worthwhile ideas to succeed on the work.

DECIDE:

The group gets together and choose the best decisions.

IMPLEMENT:

It means to start working.

EVALUATE:

In this stage, students have to be aware if they have achieved the main purpose of the work.

In your own words, explain how more interesting and innovating strategies can create a positive and challenging learning environment for your or someone’s students.

A positive and challenging learning environment could be created by taking into account the following strategies:

Ø  TALKING:

This tool is very useful because through it the teacher can gain and mantain students’ attention. Students learn English better through dialogues or conversations; that is, by communicating and speaking one another.

Ø  NOTE TAKING:

The purpose of Note Taking is to recall , for future reference, the most conspicious features in a text, learners could perform this action before having an exam or when they are about to perform an important job that could be graded.

Ø  READING:

It is one of the most important activity when learning a second language. Reading helps to inform the learner’s knowledge as well as develop their reasoning skills.

In my opinion, students should read a lot and then put into practice the readings by speaking to others in order to recall and to learn what they have read.

Ø  PARTICIPATION:

If students don’t participate in class, it would be hard for the teacher to investigate if someone has understood the lesson. Teachers should encourage an active participation of all students so that they can show their strengths and weaknesses.

Ø  GAMES:

Warm-up activities, ice breakers or other games are very useful to avoid stress or dullness in the classroom. Learners should find fun in each lesson in order to encourage them to learning.

What are the goals of classroom management? What do you think are the most important principles of classroom management?

When we talk about classroom management, we can not avoid to talk about applying DISCIPLINE in classrooms.

All of the students behave in different ways in a school community, that`s why teachers have to know how to deal with different behaviors, and how to solve problems inside a classroom.

When misbehavior is reduced, the way is clear to efficient learning. Students who behave in a wrong way could need attention in socially acceptable ways.

Teachers could use the following principles in order to practice an effective classroom management:

- Focus  your attention on entire class.

- Silence can be effective.

- Direct your instruction so that students know what is going to happen.

- Monitor groups of students to check progress.

- Move around the room so that students have to pay attention more readily.

- Make sure classroom is comfortable and safe.

- Come to class prepared.

- Show confidence in your teaching.

- Learn student names as quickly as possible.

- Develop strategies for implementing a discipline plan

- Design an effective lesson plan per each class.

- Take the control of the class.

- Come in with enthusiasm and show you are excited to be there.

- Promote values in the classroom. 

On the other hand, if we as teachers want to get an effective classroom management, we have to reach the following goals:  

  *To create a positive and productive learning atmosphere.
  *To get a successful educational environment in the classroom