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Lesson planning can be a pain and a nuisance for many teachers because it takes extra work to accomplish. But the benefits of lesson planning far outweigh the initial extra work that it creates. In fact, it almost always will save the teacher more time in the long-run, whether over the course of just a day, a week, or a year. Lesson planning is important because it sets measurable objectives for the students, it provides a flexible structure for teaching a particular topic or unit that may change based on the students’ responses to instruction, and it allows for greater confidence from the teacher. Setting measurable objectives for the students is crucial in teaching English as a second language. Each and every day, the teacher should have a primary objective: something that the students MUST be able to do before they leave the classroom. This can take the form of knowing new vocabulary, memorizing a grammar rule, or describing their days in English. Having a primary objective drives the content, and the approach to the content, of the lesson. This primary objective helps decide what activities are used in engaging the class, what drills are used in the “study” phase of the lesson, and what is used in the “activate” phase of the class. In addition to the primary objective, the teacher should have secondary objectives that are important for the students to accomplish, but not as necessary. Lesson planning provides a much-needed flexible structure for teaching a topic. Ultimately, the teacher does not know exactly how the students will respond to particular teaching methods, and having a plan that is flexible, with multiple options for the ACTIVATE phase and detours for re-emphasizing past concepts when necessary, will help the teacher succeed. For example, if a teacher introduces a new topic of superlative / comparative adjectives, he or she must first know that the students understand different adjectives and the words they modify. If the students do not, then the teacher must be flexible and detour the lesson to build confidence in the students for recognizing and using adjectives at all. The lesson planning provides more confidence for the teacher. Having a set plan, knowing what is next, and perhaps having used a specific lesson plan before, instills a greater chance for success and limits the amount of time wasted during a class. A confident teacher is a better teacher. Having a legitimate and thought-out plan will instill confidence in other areas as well, such as in the teacher’s knowledge of the subject. Forming the plan may test the teacher’s abilities with the content and make sure that he or she is prepared to instruct the content and answer questions that may arise. A teacher without lesson plans is doomed to fail, especially when considering teaching English as a second language. The number of unknowns is magnified when teaching a language. Lesson planning provides opportunities for predicting possible roadblocks, making sure that the students learn at least something by the end of the class, and reassuring the teacher of his or her abilities.
