About a lesson plan By John Mesa

a. How important do you think a lesson plan is to a successful lesson?

Well, it is very important because improvising is not good for the students and teacher and a planned class has an order, objective, goal, instructions, methodology, materials, tools, feedback, evidences and results and most of the time a plan B because sometimes students do not understand the topics and activities as well as always and the time is not sometimes enough.

b. Do you think it is a good idea to strictly follow a lesson plan? Why?

I would not say “strictly”, I would say it depends of the students understanding, the time, tools and others circumstances because if you can change the activity for other more suitable for the students and the objective would be ok.

c. Some people think that lesson plans severely restrict teachers’ creativity. 

Do you agree? Explain your answer. I agree about that because the lesson plan suggests some ideas, activities and exercises and we can change those ones for others which encourage and focus on the student’s attention more effectively.

Present continuous/progressive tense, Lesson plan

This lesson plan is designed taking into account if English class had a duration between one hour and one hour and a half.

We all as members of the group 15, have chosen the topic "present continuous/progressive tense", so here are the most relevant aspects of it:

Stages of the lesson:

Warm up/ Review: This is the first stage of the lesson plan, here is crucial because teacher will talk to his/her students in a secure way for getting the confidence of them and achieving to they lose their shyness.

Introduction: Here, teacher tells her/his students, by the first time, the topic they'll learn in class, for that they will have an idea about it and even he asks them if they have heard about it before.

Presentation activities: In this stage, teacher will explain to her/his students about the activities they'll develop in class and it will occur the first moment of students and teacher´s interaction.

Practice: Teacher will explain the topic to her/his students and they will try to put in practice what they have learned in class, i.e. in this stage we will see how interaction between teacher – student occurs, then, students will develop the exercises proposed by her/his teacher, doubts and questions will be resolved through this activity.

Evaluation: In this last stage, the main objective of this assessment, is check out the students learning achievement, to see if what teacher has explained in class has been understood by students, so, we will use 15 sentences in which students will be able to answer them keeping in mind the topic assessed, and other 5 oral questions in which students will have to answer orally to check their speaking level, their listening comprehension and their speech.

References:

• Jack C. Richards. (2010). Methodology in Language Teaching. An Anthology of Current Practice. Lesson Planning. Chapter 3.Cambridge University Press. http://bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co:2193/pdf_viewer.jsf?cid=CBO9780511667190A012&ref=true&pubCode=CUP&urlPrefix=cambridge&productCode=cbo
• Chapter 3- Lesson Planning pp. 30-39 Chapter DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667190.006
• Scott Thornbury and Peter Watkins. (2007). The CELTA Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults Course. University of Cambridge. ESOL Examinations. http://vk.com/doc197871620_185144389?hash=c5c45a19c97821e073&dl=b908b5fbe373eeab64 Chapter 3- Lesson Planning pp. 30-39 Chapter DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667190.006

A lesson plan by Paula Andrea

How important do you think a lesson plan is to a successful lesson? What features do you think a lesson plan should include?

I think is a successful lesson when we take in account the aims, skills, approaches, group´s needs and profile of each student.

Some of the information that have to be included are: aim, warm up activities, activities to follow instructions the teachers , group or interactive activities, timely, materials, some probably issues, vocabulary or topic, kind of group, level

Do you think it is a good idea to strictly follow a lesson plan? Why?

The lesson plan is the guide how to develop the class, but it´s important to have extra activities or optional activities in case of the lesson plan, in certain moment, doesn´t work or the students need to reinforce some topics or idea that you could have thought it would be easy for them.

During the class could appear some issues or needs that we have to resolve in the real time. For these cases you must not be strict with the lesson plan and you have to do extra mile in order to overcome the situation.

Some people think that lesson plans severely restrict teachers’ creativity. Do you agree? Explain your answer.

I´m disagree, because lesson plan is the guide how to teach and monitor a class according with the information that you have got previously. As a teacher you can create motivating and innovating activities at the time that you are making up the lesson plan. In my opinion if you don´t have a lesson plan you don´t know how to develop a successful class.

About a lesson plan by Juan Castro

a. How important do you think a lesson plan is to a successful lesson? What features do you think a lesson plan should include? 

A lesson plan is very important to ensure learning and improvement in educational quality. To me, we should include a new methodology to make that students don´t get confused with several topics, for instance, through practical activities, namely, encourage students learning by practicing, it would be a great way to get knowledge avoiding text booking.

b. Do you think it is a good idea to strictly follow a lesson plan? Why?

Well, I think we should keep in mind the context and students behavior to decide if follow the lesson plan or whether it´s necessary to apply some changes in order to get a better lesson, it’s a free choice, thought.

c. Some people think that lesson plans severely restrict teachers’ creativity. Do you agree? Explain your answer. 

Agreed, I think that a strict lesson plan restrict not only teachers´ creativity but their thinking about what is wrong or right. I´d suggest keeping calm and make a lesson plan well-structured according to both students and teachers needs.

Importance of a lesson plan by Leidy Sanchez

a. How important do you think a lesson plan is to a successful lesson? What features do you think a lesson plan should include?

I consider it very important make a lesson plan to meet fully the objectives that we propose for the class, the lesson plan can design activities and develop strategies to impart knowledge in an appropriate manner and contribute to learning the students. In the lesson plan we determine the context, objectives, method and methodology that we will implement, topics, resources and materials that we use are very important to make a funny and interactive class as well as strategies to check student understanding by a final evaluation.

b. Do you think it is a good idea to strictly follow a lesson plan? Why?

A lesson plan is as an aid, a base that allows us to remember the objectives, the results that we get in class and so of form organized allowing this to be effective and interesting for students, but I think it should not continue strictly, it may be that the strategies and methodologies used from becoming "boring" due to the different learning styles of students or regarding the subjects that are being taught.

c. Some people think that lesson plans severely restrict teachers’ creativity. Do you agree? Explain your answer.

I think not, the lesson plan can be developed as the teacher sees it more convenient, putting your creativity afloat, in this plan are the objectives and strategies but there are many ways to teach and everything depends on the teacher. We can use different interactive resources for learning and teaching new things that generate creativity as for teachers as students.

Lesson plan by Ivan Murcia

1. How important do you think a lesson plan is to a successful lesson? What features do you think a lesson plan should include?

Making a lesson plan is very important and helpful for English language teachers, because this resource serves as a guide for them at the moment to enter in the classroom. Besides, if the English teachers have a lesson plan for their classes, they will have a greater chance of success in them.


Some features that the lesson plan should include are specific objectives which describe what the teacher wants their students learn, a opening because this stage is very important, since on this moment the teacher has his first contact with his students.

2. Do you think it is a good idea to strictly follow a lesson plan? Why?

I really think is not a good idea. Though the lesson plan is a helpful resource for English language teachers, there are moments in which the teacher should change the structure of his class, either for the students' attitude, someone's visit, among others things. Another reason because the teacher should not follow the lesson plan strictly is, because sometimes into the classroom is necessary the teacher makes some changes on his attitude to guarantee a good environment during the learning process.

3. Some people think that lesson plans severely restrict teachers’ creativity. Do you agree? Explain your answer.

That is not completely true, because the teacher uses this resource as support for his labor into the classroom, therefore I consider the lesson plan doesn't affect the teachers creativity, on the contrary this resource serves as basis for that they stimulate their creativity.

Importance of a well lesson plan

All we know if we want to achieve all the competences. goals and aims proposed in our English classes, we should implement strategies and aids such as a lesson plan, this aid helps us to develop some aspects related to the lesson that we want to expose.

Learning process is a hard task, so, if we implement a well lesson plan, it is sure that learning will be easier because we have the control over the lessons taught, the strategies and tools implemented in order to get the best result possible in each class.

Here we are going to expose the most relevant answers to a couple of questions asked about the pertinence of a lesson plan and if it works or not, of course, it´s necessary to keep in mind that a well-lesson planned is essential to ensure the whole success of a class.