Introduction
Teachers play a key role in ensuring that learners imbibe their intended lesson objectives. As such, they should ensure the appropriate combination of teaching and learning strategies to realize this deliberate process. The process starts from lesson preparation, appropriate content selection, making the lesson interactive and learner-centered, catering for learner’s differences, utilization of the available technology, locally available instructional resources and employing appropriate assessment techniques. It helps to determine the extent at which the lesson objectives have been realized. Therefore, teachers should realize the enormous impacts of these strategies that make teaching and learning effectively. The main aim of the paper is to discuss a best strategies which would help in the development of a perfect lesson plan.
Discussion
How did you change your mentors unit to make it your own?
To start with, lesson preparation starts with teacher preparing the lesson plans that spell the activities that will take place during instruction process. Also, teachers should consult various teaching and learning resources for them to be fully equipped with the content. These resources may include the internet that is today the greatest resource, textbooks by various authors and resource persons (Carpenter et al, 2017). This thorough consultation is relevant to teachers since it protects teacher credibility. As such, students will develop trust and confidence of the teacher hence fostering learning.
Similarly, content selection is paramount. Therefore, it requires giving appropriate balance to course knowledge, process skills and the development of the student as well as the learner to detail and realm. The content selected should be to the level of learners. Also, teachers should develop the inductive-deductive approach in content delivery (Taylor, 2017). This will develop learner’s curiosity to learner new experiences.
You are to recorded (put in a different color) your mentor’s instructional unit in the Planning section of the “COE Lesson Plan Template.”
Making the class interactive is the sole responsibility of the teacher, and this is key to any learning environment. This can by teacher relating the day content to their lives as this creates a real-world connection to what they are learning and explains why they need to learn. Also, the teacher can introduce classroom games as it makes learners engaged, incorporate and use technology as a teaching strategy instead of giving notes and lecturing (Carpenter et al, 2017). The further teacher can initiate discussions amongst students, therefore, making learners learn from each other since they have a diverse understanding of the content. There are many factors and considerations which help in implementing the perfect lesson plan including the diversity, technology and the curricular emphasis which helps in the development of a perfect lesson plan and are explained underneath:
Diversity
Also, learner’s diversity in class cannot be assumed and seen as problematic by teachers but a valuable resource for promoting teaching and learning. Teachers, therefore, should develop mechanisms for reaching every learner for better realization of the lesson objectives (Kober, 2015). This can use of classroom discussions, sharing experiences by grouping learners of higher ability to those of low ability, using varied instructional materials and methods, assigning flexible responsibilities and assignments, ensuring individual attention and provision of remedial lessons, workshops and educational clinics (Taylor, 2017). These varied strategies will ensure that learners move at the same pace, therefore, making the teaching and learning feasible.
Technology
In the utilization of educational resources, teachers should consider incorporating technology and much use of the locally available resources in teaching. The locally available resources cut extra costs, are more familiar to teachers than commercial resources, and they make teaching and learning quite enriching (Kober, 2015). Also, appropriate technology can also be utilized. This technology can be the use of projectors, playing films and videos in class to explain given facts, use of electronic boards. Technology in class makes learning enjoyable and lively, prepares learners for the future since it introduces them in the digital economy, improves the retention rate and enables students to learn at their own pace.
Curricular Emphasis
After the teaching and learning process has been done, assessment is key since it demonstrates student achievement in the whole process. This assessment can be done by asking questions that are in tandem with what was taught, giving class exercises, which the teacher can check, while in class or after class. Assessment is key to teaching since it communicates to the teacher the extent at which the objectives have been realized (Carpenter et al, 2017). This gives room for teachers to plan remedial lessons and to address the individual differences manifested, change the teaching strategies and prepare lessons adequately for the benefit of the learners.
Conclusion
To sum up, teaching and learning become feasible when the teachers prepare adequately, use relevant lesson resources, use appropriate teaching methodologies, and incorporate technology in instruction. Also, individual differences should be catered for, and assessment must be done to determine the extent to which the objectives have been realized. When all of the specified strategies are employed effectively, learning takes place that is the ultimate goal of any educational institution.
References
Carpenter, B., Ashdown, R., & Bovair, K. (Eds.). (2017). Enabling access: Effective teaching and learning for pupils with learning difficulties. Routledge.
Kober, N. (2015). Reaching students: What research says about effective instruction in undergraduate science and engineering. National Academies Press. 500 Fifth Street NW, Washington, DC 20001.
Taylor, E. W. (2017). Transformative learning theory. In Transformative Learning Meets Bildung (pp. 17-29). SensePublishers, Rotterdam.
