Introduction
Planning for learning refers to the consideration of the learning objectives as a starting point to planning for any lesson. There are two types of planning, which are long- term planning and short-term planning. Both types are designed to allows teachers to approach planning from a holistic perspective and create assessments align learning objectives to achieve the overall learning outcomes of the course.
Reflection
Long-term planning
It is an annual plan, which is an overall summary of the goals to be accomplished usually in one year. Actually, we did not have the opportunity to create long-term plans because of the short durations of our teaching practices. However, even teachers do not have this opportunity because the MOE takes this responsibility and teachers are responsible of implementing these long-term plans. These plans consist of outcomes describe what students must be able to do at the end of the course or semester. Based on semester eight, where I practiced my online teaching in, the MOE has established the outcomes of each semester and provided them to my MST. For example, during the second semester in which I practiced my teaching, there were a set of outcomes for the whole semester in the long-term plan. The outcomes were that by the end of the second course students will be able to listen, read and comprehend the overall meaning of simple texts, ask and answer question on familiar topics and recognize the unfamiliar words. I believe that log-term planning is very important because teachers use it to ensure that a broad and balanced curriculum is taught. Moreover, it allows teachers ensure that progression is promoted throughout each term of school year.
Shor-term planning
It is a daily or weekly plan used to provide opportunities for students to grow and interact socially. It allows teachers to set particular goals and structures to be followed to accomplish these goal per day or week.
However, during our teaching practices, we had the opportunity to create short terms lesson plans because our period of teaching practice was only one month. Thus, I used to use the template of the lesson plan provided by our MCT to plan for my lessons. My lesson plans included all the required information such as learning objectives, activities or assessments, differentiation strategies and resources. I believe that short-term planning is essential because it allows teachers to plan the appropriate materials that support and expand students' learning process at various development stages. Additionally, it gives teachers an opportunity to look for suitable approaches that should be implemented with students to enhance their learning process in order and make connection between the topics they learn in each lesson. However, I have provided five of my best lesson plans including the assessments and resources that I have used in each lesson.
Lesson plan 1
Lesson plan 2
Reflection 1
I taught grade six girls students and the topic of the lesson was "Football Crazy". My learning objectives were to deduce the unfamiliar words meaning from context, read and identify specific information in simple texts. I believe that I achieved my learning objectives because students were able to answer my oral questions about the text that have read correctly. I differentiated the activities based on students' abilities and levels, which was one of my strength points. Asking Questions is a powerful tool that teachers can apply to assess students' comprehension and improve their critical thinking skills (Moss, 2019).
Moreover, I implemented Kahoot game, which was relevant to the new vocabulary that students learned. It helped me to ensure achieving my first learning objective because the majority of students were able to perform the questions provided in the game correctly. Students were actively engaged and I believe that was because students preferred learning through playing. However, I need to improve some areas. I had some grammar mistakes and I need to simplify my language to be suitable for students' level. Therefore, in my future lesson, I will try to use simple language and practice more to improve my grammar.
Reflection 2
I taught grade six girls students and the topic of the lesson as "Describing films". My learning objectives were to describe films using adjectives, to recognize the new vocabulary, to read and identify specific information in simple texts. I believe that I achieved my learning objectives because by the end of the lesson, students were able to choose types of films and describing them using adjectives. In addition, they were able to perform the questions of the word wheel game correctly. I believe that I was able to achieve my learning objectives because of the effective strategies that I followed. I prepared an activity that consisted of pictures, which attracted students' attention and helped me to engage them.
Moreover, informing students about the game that they will play by the end motivated them to actively participate during the lesson. Games are powerful tool that supports students learning process (Wheadon, D. 2017). However, the class was not appropriately managed. Students were very excited and they were opening their mics without permission to participate. Therefore, in my future lessons, I will use a strategy that helps me to manage students like rewarding the students who behave politely.
Lesson plan 3
Lesson plan 4
Reflection 3
I taught grade six boys students and the topic of the lesson was "The first films". My learning objectives were to recognize the new vocabulary, to read and identify specific information in simple texts about first films. I believe that I have achieved my learning objectives because students were able to answer my oral and written questions about the facts correctly. Additionally, they were able to perform the answer the questions of the game. I think this was because of the pictures that I used to introduce the new vocabulary, which helped students to understand their meanings. Pictures are a beneficial device that can be used to engage students and support their learning process (Ferlazzo, 2012).
Moreover, I was molding them by providing examples to simplify the new concepts. Educational modeling provide for students a demonstration of a skill that students can imitate to improve their own understanding (Linsin, 2015). However, students did not understand the instruction of the game and I had to repeat the instruction several times. I believe this was my instruction was not clear. Thus, in my future lesson, I will ensure providing clear question, so I do not waste the time of the lesson.
Reflection 4
I taught grade six girls students and the topic of the lesson was "Films that I like". The learning objectives were to recognize the meaning and the function of relative pronouns "that and who" and to construct sentences using relative pronouns. I believe that I achieved my learning objectives because students were able to comprehend the meaning and function of "that and who" relative pronouns. Additionally, they were able to construct sentences describing their favorite films using relative pronouns correctly. I believe this was because of the assessments that I prepared to assess students' understanding.
I asked the students some oral questions to engage them and check their understanding. Questioning is an essential factor that can be used to assess students' knowledge and engage them during the lessons (Moss, 2019). Moreover, asking students to write sentences and present them, allowed them to improve their writing and speaking skills. Unfortunately, I could not apply Kahoot game because of the time. I spent long time in explaining the relative pronouns. Therefore, I will make sure to manage my lesson time in my future lessons; hence, I can implement all of my activities.
Lesson plan 5
Reflection 5
I taught grade six girls students and the topic of the lesson was "What makes a good film?". The learning objectives were to recognize the new vocabulary words, to listen to a conversation describing and recommending a film and identify specific information. I believe that I achieved my learning objectives because students were able to perform activity one and two, which were relevant to the audio that they listened to correctly. In addition, they were able perform the questions provided in the games about the new vocabulary correctly. I believe this was because of the repetition strategy that I follow while explaining the new vocabulary.
I provided definitions and examples using the new vocabulary and repeated them several times to make sure that they understood them. Moreover, I allowed students to listen to the audio twice, so they can hear the information clearly. Repetition strategy is an important key of learning, which conveys ideas and information easily by repeating them several times (Louw, K. 2018). However, the high achiever students were able to answer all activities easily and they finished before the time. Therefore, in my future lessons, I will ensure differentiating the activities by providing more challenging activities for the high achievers. I believe this will make them engaged and will keep them busy until the others finish their tasks.