“Organising is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” A.A. Milne
When I worked in a corporate environment, HR organised a personality assessment programme which ‘revealed’ how people best work and how one’s behaviour changes under stress. Actually it was really interesting and different to many of the typical diagnostic tools I had experienced before. Now my own diagnosis did highlight something I was already well aware of – that I have perfectionist tendencies. This has always been the case – teachers at school would ask at parent evening “Why does it take Emma so long to write up an essay?”. Well because I wanted it to look perfect is why – doh!
I’ve relaxed since those insecure and stressful teenage years, but I know full well that I’ve carried an element of this anally retentiveness over into my adult life and it’s alive and well in my work all too often. When it comes to lesson planning, this can on occasions be an issue. It’s easy to get carried away looking for the ‘perfect’ image for that warmer; the ‘perfect’ video; the ‘perfect’ news article.
We’re taught during CELTA classes how to plan and quite rightly so. This lays good foundations upon which we can develop our own ways of planning and techniques for effective lessons. However, I know a number of students during the CELTA course who spent hours of an evening (myself included) putting lessons together, justifying our procedures and estimating TTT. I am not for one moment criticising the process, rather I wonder at what stage we stop doing it. Sometimes I’m aware I’m still doing it (see above and my quest for the ‘perfect’ this or that). Does a more relaxed approach come with time, experience or a sudden realisation you know what you’re doing?
What about putting entire courses together? This is something I do again and again and the more I do it, the easier it is becoming. But how do the ‘old hats’ and even the ‘not so old hats’ among you work it all out?
- How long do your lessons take to plan?
- What is your procedure?
- How do you go about finding materials?
- Are there any particular things a new teacher should be keeping in the back of their mind whilst planning? (e.g. for me and one-one classes it’s always the needs analysis and student objectives – then everything I do is justifiable).
- What about when you have to put a year’s course together?
- Is there somewhere you like to sit or things you like to have around you?
- Do you do the whole lot in one go or take a few days/weeks to mull things over?
- Are your lessons planned ages in advance or do you wait until nearer the time before finalising things in your head?
Please, please share your own techniques, however unique to you or trivial you might think they are. What advice would you give to the ‘in their first three years’ teacher who hasn’t yet found the way to break out of the CELTA tendency to over-plan? Is there such a thing as ‘over-planning’? For me there sure is – it makes me feel like Migraine Barbie.
Migraine Barbie
Keep the new teacher in mind. I would like them to be able to come and read your suggestions and to feel that they are not alone. I’d love for them to have some strategies from the experts which they can try out for themselves.
So many questions – but I’ve taken a pill handed to me by Karenne Sylvester at http://kalinago.blogspot.com/
THANK YOU!
