The success or failure of a lesson largely depends on the preparation that the teacher will conduct. This preparation consists of two stages – planning a system of lessons on a topic and planning each specific lesson.
Planning a lesson system on a topic, or thematic planning, should begin with studying the curriculum for the subject and the content of the educational standard. This will allow you to see the structure of the subject, the place of the topic and the upcoming lesson. The lesson system is reflected in the calendar-thematic plan, which is usually drawn up at the beginning of the school year.
When planning a specific lesson, a beginning teacher should first work through the material of the corresponding paragraph of the textbook, study the methodological literature in order to become familiar with the recommended methods for conducting the lesson. Then it is necessary to select teaching aids, check their compliance with the content of the lesson material.
When using technical means, such as computers and electronic boards, it is necessary to check their operability, to make sure that what is being demonstrated is clearly visible from the students’ seats in the classroom. When showing models and demonstrations, they should be prepared in advance, to ensure sufficient visibility for all students, for which purpose it is necessary to use stands, additional lighting, pointers, background and shading screens, etc.
For a beginning teacher, it is mandatory to write a so-called lesson plan or lesson plan. Even experienced teachers use lesson plans, drawn up in one form or another – brief or detailed, which is most acceptable to them.
A teacher’s plan is a support, a guide to action. It should not constrain the teacher – if necessary, it can be abandoned, adjustments can be made during the lesson. The plan should be drawn up in such a way as to reflect, as far as possible, the actual course of the teacher’s work in the lesson. The plan should be sufficiently detailed and designed so that, if necessary, at any time during the lesson, it can be easily used.
The lesson plan should have the following approximate structure.
1. Title of the lesson topic, its number, date, type of lesson.
2. Objective of the lesson — educational, developmental, educational; lesson objectives.
3. Provision of the lesson with visual aids, technical and educational equipment.
4. Structure of the lesson by stages, indicating the distribution of time.
5. Content of the educational material in the accepted sequence, indicating the teaching methods used and the methods of teaching schoolchildren.
7. Homework.
8. List of references.
Separately, it is necessary to think over and even sketch out the option of distributing notes on the blackboard, especially when important material is presented that requires a large number of notes. Information that the teacher will need to reproduce on the blackboard should be highlighted in the lesson plan in red pencil.
As for homework, it is not necessary to give it at the end of the lesson – it is better to do it after explaining the new material and before reinforcing it, when it is already clear how the students have learned it. In addition, in this case, the often encountered situation when homework is given at the very “curtain” of the lesson, when the students, as they say, “are sitting on their suitcases”, or even after the bell will be excluded. Giving homework during the bell means not giving it at all. Some beginning teachers, in an effort to avoid such a situation, give homework at the beginning of the lesson, but in this case a psychologically negative situation arises for the student – they have not yet studied the new material, and they are already giving homework on it! In addition, the teacher will not be able to fully comment on the assigned task. In terms of lesson time, the most acceptable is to give homework at about the 35th minute of the lesson, when the peak of fatigue of younger students is observed and a switch in the types of student activities should be made.
The homework itself should be given in an expanded form, as instructions on how to do the work at home. If the homework involves using a textbook, then it is necessary to show which paragraphs and on which pages to read, what to remember, what to learn by heart, what exercises to do. No time should be spared for this, especially in the first grade, when the important work of developing the students’ homework skills begins. You should also check the homework entry in the diary.
An important point in planning a lesson is to take into account the students’ capabilities. This concerns, first of all, the choice of teaching methods and means, as well as the distribution of time in the lesson for questioning and explaining new material.
If necessary, a teacher can create two different lesson plans for one lesson if he or she works in parallel classes that differ significantly in terms of their level of preparation and general development.
Some teachers practice the following form of preparing didactic equipment for a lesson. For each lesson, a separate large-format envelope is created, into which, in addition to the lesson plan, various didactic and additional materials are put: knowledge control cards, handouts, illustrations, compact discs, photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings with interesting additional and historical material, etc. Such an envelope allows you to conveniently store all the didactic material for the lesson in one place, easily supplement it, and, if necessary, replace outdated or worn-out material. Over time, a lot of didactic material accumulates in the envelope, which can be successfully used when a few minutes of free time appear in class or in extracurricular work.
Preparation for a lesson includes preparing students for work in the lesson. This preparation of students includes: familiarizing students with the plan for studying the topic, orientation to the content of the upcoming work, showing its prospects, targeting future results. For younger students, this may be a task to prepare and collect materials at hand, counting sticks, wire, etc., which will then be used in the lesson and when doing homework.
The lesson plan should include a list of questions to monitor the assimilation of the educational material. There should be a sufficient number of these questions so that they can be used as a time reserve if necessary. It is useful for a beginning teacher to write down the answers to them briefly. As an example, below is a version of a short lesson plan for a mathematics lesson in the 1st grade.
Mathematics lesson. 1st grade. School No. …
Topic: The order of performing actions in expressions (the first lesson on
the topic).
Objective: Children will learn the rules of the order of performing actions in expressions and develop their ability to follow these rules.
1. Updating knowledge, abilities, and skills in the process of checking homework. (Examples and questions for a frontal conversation and students’ expected answers are provided.)
2. Learning the rules of the order of performing actions. (The teacher’s questions that he addresses to the children and their approximate answers are provided, it is explained how they complete the tasks offered by the teacher – frontally, individually, in the process of group work, on the board, in notebooks, on a flannelgraph.)
3. Reinforcing the rules. (Work with the exercises that the teacher offers to the children is described.)
4. Solving problems. (Work on a problem is described.)
5. Lesson summary. (Content of the frontal conversation, independent work, its discussion, recommendations for homework.)
For a beginning teacher, here are some recommendations on how to conduct lessons.
1) Prepare thoroughly for each lesson.
2) Before the lesson, check that everything is ready for work.
3) Always begin the lesson with an organized greeting of the students.
4) Address the students by name – this disposes them to the teacher, because for a person the sound of their own name is always pleasant.
5) Do not begin the lesson with the question: “Who did not do their homework?”, so as not to accustom the students to the idea that not doing homework is an ordinary thing.
6) Do not try to “squeeze” as much information into the lesson as possible. Remember the pedagogical parable: a young teacher is concerned about not missing anything in the explanation, and an old one is concerned about not saying anything unnecessary.
7) The best means of maintaining discipline is interesting and meaningful educational material and an exciting explanation from the teacher.
8) More often address questions, requests and assignments to those students who are prone to violations of discipline and distraction by extraneous matters.
9) Choose a place in the classroom from which all students can see you, and you can see everyone. However, do not stand in one place, but do not walk around the classroom either. Each student should be sure that you can be near him at any time.
10) Do not use swear words and do not give long moralizing, do not be ironic and do not allow ridicule, try not to make unnecessary comments.
11) Do not allow the appearance of favorites, informers, and outcasts. Love your students, and they will love you.
12) Try to ensure that every student is questioned during the lesson or that you at least address each one during the lesson.
13) Motivate and comment on the grades given, tell the student what he needs to do, what else to work on in order to improve his grades. Try to note the positive changes in the studies of poorly performing students, even if they are not so significant, but do not do this too often.
14) Always end the lesson with an overall assessment of the work of the class and individual students.
15) Always end the lesson with the bell.
16) Be optimistic and improve your skills. After the lesson, the teacher must conduct a self-analysis, determine what went well and what did not. Outline measures to eliminate the shortcomings, both in his own work and in the organization of students’ activities in the lesson. Such an analysis must be done immediately after the lesson, based on fresh impressions, and briefly write down the conclusions. According to V. F. Shatalov, innovative teachers differ from ordinary teachers in one thing – they write down everything they do. Then you can return to these notes even after several years and analyze your work from the standpoint of the acquired experience, draw conclusions.
During self-analysis, it is necessary to dwell on the following questions.
1) Was the goal of the lesson achieved?
2) What was unexpected and not foreseen during the lesson?
3) What mistakes and miscalculations, unsuccessful actions were made?
4) To what questions and actions of the students was it not possible to respond adequately?
The teacher can also be recommended to use the detailed diagram by T.A. Ilyina for analysis and self-analysis of the lesson, which is given below with minor changes and abbreviations:
1) General structure of the lesson. What type does this lesson belong to? What is its place in the system of other lessons on the topic? Are the main elements of the lesson clearly identified and is the dosage of time determined correctly?
2) Implementation of the main didactic goal of the lesson. Were all the requirements of the program on this topic reflected in the lesson? How active were the students when familiarizing themselves with the new material (perception, attention, cognitive interest)? Was there an organization of primary consolidation? How was the quality of knowledge, skills and abilities of students checked (what was the coverage of students, the principle of challenge, etc.)? Was there a differentiated approach to students? At what stages of the lesson? In what way?
3) Implementation of development in the learning process. Was there involvement of students in the main mental operations (analysis, synthesis, generalization, classification, systematization)? Was the overcoming of feasible difficulties organized? Were there any motives for intellectual motivation? How and by what was the development of cognitive independence of students ensured? Were the means of developing creative thinking used? Was any information for the general development of students communicated in the lesson? Was there any aesthetic development of students? What means were used for this?
4) Education during the lesson. Were the educational potential of the content of the educational material fully utilized? What work was carried out to form a worldview: was there an explanation of ideological ideas, the formation of attitudes, evaluative judgments, did the lesson influence the development of views and beliefs of students? How was the connection between learning and life ensured in the lesson? What in the lesson contributed to the education of a conscientious attitude to work and study? What was the educational impact of the teacher’s personality?
5) Compliance with the basic principles of didactics. Were the basic principles of didactics observed during the lesson: scientific nature, accessibility, clarity, systematicity and consistency, strength.
6) Selection of teaching methods. Was the method of familiarization with new material chosen correctly? Were the necessary technical training aids used? Were visual aids used to the full extent? Did the demonstrations achieve the stated goals? Were the methods and techniques for consolidating knowledge and developing skills and abilities sufficiently varied? Was there a gradual increase in the degree of independence in completing the exercises? Were the methods and means of control chosen rationally? Were the individual, frontal, combined surveys and written control organized correctly? Was work on mistakes organized? Were the general requirements for the selection of teaching methods met?
7) The teacher’s work in the lesson. Was everything necessary prepared by the beginning of the lesson? Did the teacher use the notes correctly? What was the ratio of the teacher’s organizational activity to the students’ cognitive activity? What types of teacher activity took place in the lesson and in what ratio (speech activity, listening, writing down, helping students with independent work, etc.)? What methods were used to organize the students’ work? Did the teacher establish contact with the class and with individual students? What was the teacher’s appearance? (Could anything in the teacher’s clothing or hairstyle unnecessarily attract the students’ attention, distracting them from the lesson?).
8) The students’ work in the lesson. Was the students’ readiness for the lesson checked? What was the students’ activity at different stages of the lesson? What did its fluctuations depend on? What were the students’ activities (speech activity, listening, writing from the board and from the teacher’s words, independent written work, etc.)? Was attention paid to the culture of academic work (taking notes correctly, formatting them, handling the textbook with care, etc.)? What kind of discipline was there in the lesson? What methods of maintaining discipline did the teacher use? Were all of them adequate? Did they achieve the goal? If not, why not? What was the students’ attitude to the subject and the teacher?
9) Hygienic conditions of the lesson. Is the classroom illuminated sufficiently? How does the color of the walls, panels, and desks affect the course of the lesson? Is the furniture appropriate for the students’ age? Are the students seated taking into account their health, height, and academic performance? Is the schedule well-organized? What is the place of this lesson in the weekly schedule and in the schedule for this day? How was the break preceding this lesson conducted? Were the students detained after the bell rang during this lesson?
10) Some special tasks. In some cases, the teacher needs to analyze his lesson from the point of view of the scientific problem the school is working on or in connection with the decision of the pedagogical council, methodological association. These special tasks may be the following:
– compliance with the unity of requirements for maintaining student notebooks;
– the culture of students’ speech;
– ensuring interdisciplinary connections;
– ensuring an individual approach to students, etc.
Of course, a teacher can analyze a lesson only in some of its aspects and use other schemes for this, but this analysis is especially necessary for him at the beginning of his work.