5. Student talk and teacher talk Give careful consideration in your lesson plan to the balance between student talk and teacher talk. Our natural inclination as teachers is to talk too much! As you plan your lesson, and as you perhaps script out some aspects of it, see to it that students have a chance to talk, to produce language, and even to initiate their own topics and ideas.
6. Adapting to an established curriculum As you plan lessons, your first concern is that this class hour must contribute to the goals that a curriculum is designed to pursue. Consider the following two factors that contribute to curriculum planning:
Learner factors:
(a) Who are the students (age, education, occupation, general purpose in taking English,
entering proficiency level)?
(b) What are the specific language needs of your students (e.g., to read English scientific
texts, to serve as a tour guide, to survive minimally in an English speaking country)? Break those
needs down into as many specific subcategories as feasible.
Institutional factors:
(c) What are the practical constraints of the institution you are teaching in (consider budget, equipment, classroom space and size, philosophy of the institution, etc.)?
(d) What supporting materials (textbooks, audio-visual aids, overhead projector, and other equipment) are available?
By paying primary attention to the learner factors above, you will have a good chance of pointing your students toward pragmatic, communicative goals in which their real-life needs for English will be met. You will focus on the learners and their needs rather than on your needs or your institution's needs. However, taking the institutional factors seriously will add some administrative practicality to your goals. After all, every educational institution is limited in some way in its capacity to deliver the very best.
7. Classroom lesson "notes" A final consideration in your lesson planning process is a very practical one: What sort of lesson "notes" will you actually carry into the class with you? If you have pages and pages of notes and reminders and scripts, you could get too focused on details and never free yourself for spontaneity.