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When a student, or a class of students, enroll in a course, they expect that they will have obtained a certain amount of knowledge and/or skills by the end of the course. In order for a teacher to fulfill their obligation by doing their best to lead their students to successfully achieving their goals, a plan must be put into place in order to define a logical schedule for presenting material. Writing a lesson plan can always be a challenge. In fact, a lesson plan is more of an outline; a skeleton in which a teacher can use certain subjects and activities as a guide for the course of the lesson. What must be kept in mind is that in many cases, the lesson plan will need constant tailoring, as a new class of students may differ from a previous, even though they wish to learn the same information. Although a class of students may be analyzed at the beginning of a course for their current skills level/ needs, these results may not be concrete, and often can vary or change in surprising ways. When presented with the unexpected, the teacher needs to be able to revise their lesson plan on the spot, in order to best fit the needs of their students. The ability for a teacher to be flexible is paramount for the success of their students. A teacher who merely sticks to their lesson plan exactly, and even in some cases ignoring the requirements of the students, will surely results in lowered motivation of the students, and most certainly failure. When planning a lesson, it is important to keep in mind a certain form, which of course is the key to almost everything in life. The teacher must first choose the necessary material for that days class, and then additionally choose a lesson form that would be best used to impart that knowledge to the students. For example, when teaching a class of business people how to present a product, the ESA plan would work best, with an “Engage Stage” to motivate and get them warmed up speaking and thinking in English. Continuing with a “Study Stage” to learn the necessary vocabulary of the day, and then finally have the students practice and use of their new vocabulary by getting into groups and then making presentations, during the “Activate stage”. The ESA lesson proves to be, globally, the most effective as it has the basic elements that allow students to learn in the easiest manner; warm up, new material, practice of the new material. Although this may not always be the most effect, meaning other methods such of the “boomerang method”, might work better for a review lesson. Additionally, when planning lesson, it is very important to “know your audience”, and what would be of most use and interest to the students, not the teacher. For example, if you have a class of Japanese medical students, it would certainly be more useful to create an activity where students would have to present a certain product from the medical field, or perhaps a short explanation of some new research, whereas asking them to create a “sales pitch”for a vending machine, may be a boring and frivolous activity for them. Finally, it is important not to solely focus on only one lesson after the other, but how all the lesson come together so that a class can successful pass a final exam for a course, but even more importantly, walk away having fully learned the knowledge they require for their intended purposes.
