LESSON PLANNING

A teaching unit generally contains a number of lessons. Careful planning of lessons is essential for experienced as well as beginner teachers. Experienced teacher use loosely structured lesson plans, wheres beginners use highly structured lesson plans. Lesson Planning in fact is fundamental to effective teaching.

Meaning and Definition

Lesson plan is a plan prepared by a teacher to teach a lesson in an organized manner. It is plan of action and calls for an understanding on the teacher's part, about the students, knowledge and expertise about the topic being taught and her ability to use effective methods.
         According to Lester, "a lesson plan is actually a plan of action, it, therefore, includes the working philosophy of the teacher, her knowledge of philosophy, her information about and understanding of her pupils, her knowledge of the material to be taught and her ability to utilize effective method".
         Thus, Lesson plan is the title given to a statement of the achievements to be realized and the specific means by which these are to be attained as a result of the activities engaged during the period of 45 minutes or one hour. It points out what has already been done, in what direction the pupils should be guided further and helped and what work is to be taken up immediately. Lesson plan is the teacher's mental and emotional visualization of the classroom experience as she plan it toimplement. It is in many ways, the heart o effective teaching.

Purpose of Lesson Planning

Careful lesson planning is the foundation of good teaching. It performs the following functions.
1. It demands adequate consideration of goals and objectives, the selection of subject matter, the selecting of teaching methods the planning of activities and the planning of evaluation devices.
2. It keeps the teacher on the track, ensures steady progress and a definite outcomes of teaching and learning procedures.
3. It helps the teacher in effective teaching. The teacher looks ahead and plans a series of activities with an intention to modify students attitudes, habits and abilities in the desirable directions.
4. It prevents waste. It helps the teacher to carry out the teaching  activity in a systematic and orderly fashion. It encourages proper organization of subject matter. It prevents haphazard teaching through eliminating disorder and other ills of thoughtless teaching.
5. It provides confidence and self-reliance to the teacher. It can ensure that the teacher does not 'dry up' or forget a vital point. A teacher can enter the class and carry out the teaching activity without anxiety.
6. It serves as a check on unplanned curriculum. It provides a framework to carry out the teaching at a suitable rate. The hierarchy of lessons becomes well-knit and interconnected. Continuity is assured in the educative process. Needless repetition is avoided.

Principles of Lesson Plan

The following principles will help in the preparation of a good lesson plan.
a) The teacher should prepare a careful but flexible plan. The lesson plan is to be a used as a guide rather than as a rule of thumb to be obeyed blindly . The teacher should have the courage to depart from it according to the needs of the students.
b) The teacher must have mastery of and adequate training in the topic from which the subject matter has been selected for a certain lesson.
c) The teacher must be fully equipped with new methods and techniques of teaching nursing.
d) The teacher must know his students thoroughly and organize the materials in a psychological rather a than merely a logically fashion.
e) The teacher must ensure active student participation.
f) Since monotony is a detect, different teaching learning methods have to be employed while teaching instead of adhering to single method.
How to Write Lesson plan , purpose, principles etc.