The teaching isn't so hard, it's the lesson planning that's the hard part!
I can come up with a lesson plan pretty quickly, thanks to my TESOL planning, but then I need another hour for all the copying, printing, formatting, etc. When I was in training, I couldn't wait to be independent so I wouldn't have to fill out that silly planning sheet each time and have the trainer check it. The joke's on me, though; my new employer wants me to email all my lesson plans to her at the end of each month. That means TYPING each one into a special form.
I visited another teaching location, and the teachers there have 3-4 classes a day, all the same level. That's one lesson plan a day. I have 4 classes, all different levels.
Being true to my tendency to make assignments harder than they are supposed to be, I just spent several hours editing all my September lesson plans so that they're in the right font, format, etc. And scanning all the worksheets.
I haven't even sent them out yet and it's already Oct.2nd. Sigh.
I'm just wondering though.... For our English classes with Koreans we are given pretty thorough lesson plans. Why don't you have something provided for you?
ReplyDeleteLesson planning is part of my job description, although a resource library is made available to us. I'm guessing your company pays someone to make all those lesson plans, or they buy them from somewhere.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of like cooking: if you buy something ready-made, you either have to alter it or just accept someone else's cooking. Or you could spend several hours making something yourself, and be satisfied with the end result, but have no time left for other things!
Now you mention it, when it comes to teaching religion - my REAL profession, I have completely jettisoned the lesson plans. Painstakingly over years of writing, teaching, exploring resources, I've developed lesson plans for each of the grade levels, which I expect the catechists to use. And, which they gratefully use, because they are good. I found the ones that came with the texts pretty inadequate in terms of either interesting the children or involving them actively in the lesson. Long story, but this is one of the reasons I am so proud of my work. So it amuses me I would have asked that question, now I think of it!
ReplyDeleteWith my own ESL teaching, the difference is that our phone lessons are short - either ten or twenty minutes long, and the goal is limited - conversational English. Just the fact that we are on the phone rather than in person limits things, too. So the plans they provide seem to work fine. Perhaps if I did this for years I'd begin to think I needed to improve or expand. I don't know. How long are your lessons with your students?
Well it definitely is harder in the beginning, but then you accumulate materials that you can use later.
ReplyDeleteIt also depends on how much of a priority the lessons are. Although we are supposed to do everything in excellence, should you spend a lot of time on something that's not your main job?
My lessons are 90 min.
In my case, I think it is a main part of my job. It is not something that most DREs do, because they fall back on the ones that come with the texts, but those are not really all that good for a variety of reasons.
ReplyDelete90 minutes with just a few people would require some planning! Wow!