A teacher’s day begins with his lesson goals in mind. A seasoned teacher will know what realistic goals he or she will have set for that day’s class. While these goals are running in his head, he will also make sure he’s fully prepared to tackle on the day’s lesson.
He will make sure that his materials are well-prepared: all those songs, videos or written materials, or his props for the day will have already been placed on his desk.
He will anticipate what could possibly go wrong if his lesson goes south. He will think of some factors that might affect this possible, hopefully slight, change. Maybe one of his students will have been feeling sick and will have missed the class? If his activities require some individual, pair- or group work, will this student’s absence affect the flow of his lesson? He will have started to think about it.
He will see to it that his personal matters will not get in the way of his disposition once he enters the classroom. He then decides he will be a performer today.
If everything goes well in class, he will be all eyes and ears during the class. He will remind himself of his goals, but will know that he will have to be flexible should a more interesting subject come up from one of his students. He will know that not all lesson plans have to be followed like a script.
If things don’t go well, he will have been able to adjust and modify his lesson right there and then. That’s what teaching is, after all. Paradoxically, you also teach yourself.
He will take note of his students’ behavior in class as well as his. He will look at their faces and try to read out their emotions. Are they learning? Are they having fun while learning? As a teacher, is he talking too much? Does he allow his students to talk more than he does?
Because he’s the kind of teacher who likes to review how his class went, he will have initially set up a video camera somewhere inside the classroom if only to record how his class went. After the class, he will go and check the recording. He will take down notes.
Right before the class is about to end, he will have made sure he’d asked his students what they’ve learned. He will ask for feedback. What did they like about the class? What did they find interesting about the subject? What did they not enjoy about it? Did they feel they took some sense of responsibility while learning the lesson or did he take that responsibility away from them? He will encourage his students to speak up.
He will write this all down for future references. Tomorrow will be another day.
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