How-to-Give-a-Successful-Lesson

HowtoGiveaSuccessfulLesson【Abstract】Consideringmyexperiencefromtheteachingpracticeoverthelast13years,Iwouldliketotalksomethingabouthowteacherscangiveasuccessfullessontoourstudents.Inmyopinion,therearefivekeyfeaturesindicativeofagoodlesson.【Keywords】TeachingaimStrongbeginningandendingStudents-centredQuestiontechniquesTeacher’sinstructionsConsideringmyexperiencefromtheteachingpracticeoverthelast13years,Iwouldliketotalksomethingabouthowteacherscangiveasuccessfullessontoourstudents.Inmyopinion,therearefivekeyfeaturesindicativeofagoodlesson.ThefollowingsarewhatIwilldealwith.Thefirstone,Ithink.istoachieveourteachingaims.Asweallknow,aimsarewhatwewantourlearnerstodoattheendofalesson.Oncewehavedecidedontheaims,wecandesignorselectthemostappropriateactivitiesandputtheminthebestorder.Wejudgeagoodlessonbycheckingwhetheralltheactivitiesarekeepingwiththemainaimsorwehaveachievedouraimsafterwefinishit,forexample,whetherwehavesucceededinteachingwhatwehaveplannedtoteachorwhetherthestudentscandosomethingaswehavetoldinouraims.Ihavehadoneofmyteachingpracticewhoseaimsarenotachievedattheendofmylesson.Theaimsofthatlessonisthatstudentswillbeabletotellwhatthepeoplearedoinginthecontextoftheirdailylifebyusingthestructuream/is/are+doing.Butattheendofthislesson,somestudentscouldn’tusethestructuretodescribewhatthepeoplearedoinginthepicture.Andmysubscidaryaimistopractisetheirspeakingfluencyskill,butmylastactivitywasawritingtask,whichkeptoffmyaims.Sobothoftheseruinedmylesson.Thesecondkeyfactorthatleadstoasuccessfullessonisthatagoodlessonshouldhaveastrongbeginningandastrongending.Thestrongbeginningmeansthatwebeginalessonbygivingstudentsanunusualimpressionwhichcandrawstudents’attentionandmakethemgetinvolvedinthelesson.Andthestrongendingmeansthatwefinishalessonbygivingthestudentsconfidenceinlearningthelanguageandtheyareinterestedinthelesson,lookingforwardtothenextlesson.Iftheteacherbeginsalessoninaverycommonway,studentswillfeelboredandsomenaughtyoneswillnotbeconcentratedinthelesson.OrtheteacherfinishthelessonbygivingtheterriblefeelingthattheyareafraidofhavingEnglishlessons.Allofthesewillhurttheirmotivation.Ihaveobservedsuchalessonthatfocusedonthereadingskillsbyreadingapassageaboutmagic.Tomysurprise,theteacherdidn’tleadinthelessonbypresentingsomequestionsrelatedtothereadingmaterialtothestudents.Insteadofthat,Sheshowedsomepicturesaboutsomeobjectsrelatedtothemagic.Thensheletstudentsguesswhatthetopicofthislessonwas.Ithink,Attheverybeginning,shearousedthestudents’learninginterest.Andattheendofthislesson,teacheraskedstudentstowatchavideoaboutthetopicofthislesson,whichismagic,thensheaskedstudentstowritetheiropinionsaboutthefamousmagician-LiuQian.Soattheendofthelesson,studentsproducedmanyideastoexpresstheirthoughts.Andinthislesson,everyonegotinvolvedinalltheactivities.Thethirdkeyfactorwhichleadstoagoodlessonisthatthelessonshouldbestudents-centred,whichmeansstudentsgetinvolvedinalltheactivitiesandtheyspeakmorethantheteacherspeaks.Becausetalkingisnotteachingandlisteningisnotlearning.InourlessonsweshouldgivethestudentsmoretimeandchancestospeakEnglishanduseEnglish.Nowcomparingwithoneofmyteachingpractice,Irememberedduringthepresentationstage,Ispoketoomuchaboutgrammarrules,andgavelonginstructions,repeatedmyownwords,echoedstudents’answers,allofwhichincreasedmytalkingtime.Asaresult,studentsgotlesstimetopractisespeaking.Sothislessonisnotstudents-centredbutteacher-centred.Thenextkeyfactorindicativeofagoodlessonisaboutquestiontechniques.Thequestiontechnequesmeanshowtheteacherpresentsquestionstothestudents,forexample,whenweask“Doyoulikethismovie?Theywillanswer”YesorNo.Soit’saclosequestion,whichofferslittlechanceforstudentstospeak.Ifwechangeittoanotherway“Whatdoyouthinkofthismovieandwhy”,whichisanopenquestionandwillgivethemmorechancetopractisetheirfluencysubskillinspeakingskills.Theoneaboveisakindofquestiontechniques.Itisveryimportantforteacherstotrytouseclosequestionslessanduseopenquestionsmore,becauseopenquestionswillgetyourstudentsproducemorelanguageandtheywillspeakmorethanwhatwehaveexpected.AnotherkindofquestiontechniquesiscalledConceptCheckingQuestions,whichcanbeusedtocheckstudents’understandingabouttheteachingcontentsandteachers’instructions.Iwilldealwithitinthefollowingparagraphs.Thelastone,Ithinkistheteachers’instructions.Teachers’instructionsareveryimportant,becauseallthetasksareguidedbythem.Soweshouldhaveclear,short,andsimpleinstructions.Andinclass,weshouldn’trepeatourinstructionsandgivetheinstructionsinalogicalway.SometimesIhadtoomanylong,complexinstructions,suchas,Pleaseworkingroupsoffouranddogroupworkandaskabout“Whatareyourparents’jobs”andmakeareporttoyourclassmates,whicharelongandmadestudentsconfused.SoIrepeatedthemseveraltimes,whichincreasedmyteachertalkingtime.AnotherbadexampleisthatIoftengavemyinstructionsnotinalogicalway.First,Igiveawaymyhandouts,thengivemyinstructions.Asaresult,studentsdidn’tfocusontheinstructions,butonthehandouts.whichmadethemnotknowwhattodonext.Thesebadhabitsruinedmylessons.Anotherbadoneisthatwearesofamiliarwith“Doyouunderstan