UNIT B6: SESSION OR LESSON PLANS
LESSON OR SESSION?
In schools, units of teaching are usually called lessons. These usually take place in a classroom, laboratory or workshop in a period of 45 minutes or less than 2 hours.
Lesson may not be the most appropriate word to use in RTCs because much of our teaching will be done through activities which take longer than normal school lessons. These may include activities when the teacher is not present, and may be done outside in a farm, on a building site or even on the beach. As part of their learning, students may be looking after a chicken farm; keeping bees in hives; demonstrating to villagers how to cook different kinds of vegetables; or repairing an outboard motor on the beach. Students are also learning when they take part in work sessions on the RTC farm, or grow vegetables on their own plots.
All of these activities are part of teaching and learning and all need planning, but many do not fit into the normal idea of a lesson.
We suggest, therefore, that the word session is better than lesson to describe what we do in RTCs. A session can be any kind of activity by which students learn, and can last for any length of time.
ACTIVITY B6.1: WHY PLAN SESSIONS?
All sessions must be planned, including those when a teacher is actively teaching, those when the students are working and the teacher is supervising, and those when the students are working on their own. Planning should normally be done in writing, not just in your head.
In your groups, suggest reasons why it is important to write a plan for all sessions.
Read summary sheets B9, Why plan sessions and B10, Planning a session.
WHY ARE YOU TEACHING? AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
You can express the reasons for teaching or organising a session in terms of aims and objectives.
AIMS are general statements of what you as a teacher are trying to achieve in the session.
OBJECTIVES are detailed statements of what you want the students to achieve or be able to do as a result of the session.
ACTIVITY B6.2: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
a. Read the following statements. Using the definitions above, decide which are aims and which are objectives.
1. To help students to understand the importance of a balanced diet.
2. Students should be able to select the best foods for a diabetic person.
3. Students should be able to measure the level of oil in a motor vehicle.
4. Students should know names and uses of three types of saw.
5. To teach students how to sharpen a saw.
6. Students should understand the need to keep saws sharp.
7. To encourage students to appreciate that traditional weaving techniques are still valuable.
8. Students should be able to cut pandanus into the correct thickness for weaving mats.
9. Students should recognise different materials from which mats may be woven.
10. To teach students the ways that soils may be classified.
Read summary sheet B11, Aims and objectives.
DETAILED OR SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
Sometimes, especially when teaching a skill, it is useful to break your objectives down further into detailed or specific objectives, sometimes called learning outcomes.
These will be actions you can see the students doing. For example:
Objective: To be able to measure the level of oil in a motor vehicle.
Specific objectives:
Find the dip stick.
Pull out the dip stick.
Wipe the oil off the stick.
Check that the dip stick has no dirt on it.
Put the dip stick back into the engine.
Press it firmly down.
Pull it out again.
Observe the level of the oil on the stick.
Check against the ‘full / empty’ marks.
Replace the stick.
These are all verbs of action, so we can test by observing whether the student can do them.
ACTIVITY B6.3: AIMS, OBJECTIVES, LEVELS AND MATERIALS
Choose any two topics from your subject area which you might teach in one session of about an hour.
Decide what level of students you might be teaching e.g. first year RTC: mainly standard 6 leavers.
1. For each one state
a. the aims of the session;
b. the objectives of the session.
2. For two of the objectives involving skills, break the objective down into
specific objectives or learning outcomes.
3. After deciding on your aims and objectives, the next thing is to plan
- where your session will take place;
- what equipment, tools and materials you will need.
For each of the above sessions
a. state the best place for the session;
b. list the equipment, materials and tools you will need. Remember even classroom teaching needs chalk and perhaps other things!
c. Imagine you do not have everything you need, as is common in RTCs. Is there anything you could substitute, or would the session prove impossible?
Read summary sheet B12, Materials, tools and equipment.
Note: During the next few activities you will gradually complete all the parts of plans for the two sessions you have started to plan above. You will write them up in the correct format and then you will teach at least one of the sessions to students in St. Dominic’s.