Classroom Management Part 2: Lesson Planning for a Productive Classroom Marla Yoshida TEFL Professional Seminar UCI Extension International Programs

Smart lesson planning helps keep students on task and motivated.

Get students engaged and keep them engaged. Make sure everyone has something they’re supposed to be doing all the time. Students who are engaged and busy don’t get bored easily and don’t have time to goof off. That means they stay on task and learn better.

Build accountability into every activity. Be sure students have to produce something verifiable. Give listeners something to do to keep them attentive. Use “Teach your partner” or “Think, pair, and share.”

Teach routines. For example... Use bellwork to start the class without wasting time. For younger students, use songs to establish routines. What routines do you use in your classroom?

Change activities often. Depending on the age of your students, you might have 4-6 separate divisions or activities in 50 minutes of class time (or even more for very young students). Use a combination of quiet and busy activities, individual and pair work, teacher talk (a little bit) and student production (a lot).

Don’t explain too much at one time. Cognitive overload! 

When you’re calling on students... Use unpredictable ways of choosing who’s next. Give everyone an equal chance to participate. Some ways to choose students at random... Write students’ names on cards or popsicle sticks. Choose one. Close your eyes and point at one of the names on your roll sheet. Choose a student to go first, and let that student choose the next one, and so on.

Create an English-rich environment. Use classroom English and expect students to use it too. Introduce classroom English from the first day. Prepare a list of expressions to use in class. Introduce only a few expressions at a time. Review and practice every day. Remind students to use English. Praise them.

Sometimes you may still prefer to use the students’ native language. Be sure you think about why you use L1 or L2 in a particular situation. Greeting students Presenting the agenda for the day’s work Introducing or explaining grammar Explaining new vocabulary words Giving instructions for activities or homework Giving praise Summarizing what the class has learned today Other lesson elements?

In summary... Careful lesson planning keeps students engaged, motivated, and on task. This makes classroom management much easier.