The goal isn’t just to teach a language, it is to create effective language users. If you’ve ever watched a student shrink into their seat when asked to speak, you know the frustration of a lesson that hasn’t built true confidence in them. But why do we plan lessons in the first place?
Jeremy Harmer (2015, p. 210) says that planning is beneficial because it provides the teacher with a clear direction and helps them decide on the best activities for the students. Furthermore, learners value the fact that their teacher has thought carefully about their learning needs. However, Harmer cautions that “overzealous planning” or its rigid execution can be stultifying (inhibiting growth or enthusiasm). He highlights that strict adherence to a plan can mean missing out on crucial, unplanned “magical moments.” These moments include spontaneous, engaging conversations, unexpected peaks of student interest in a topic, or sudden, pressing desires from students to communicate outside the scope of the planned material.
If we want to build true confidence in students, we need to deliver good lessons. But what is a good lesson? Tessa Woodward suggests a practical and teacher-centered perspective on defining a good lesson. She argues that what constitutes “good” is not like a mathematical formula in which all variables are meticulously controlled, but rather a situational achievement based on the teacher’s current reality. In essence, Woodward empowers teachers by asserting that when they do the best they can under their unique circumstances, creatively solving problems presented by their class and resources (or the lack of them), that effort and resulting plan is what should be called “good.” The definition of success is anchored in resourcefulness and adaptation, not perfection.
Another aspect we should not ignore is the perspectives we bring to the classroom. Are we only mentioning great deeds by European white men or are we mentioning deeds such as Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician whose manual calculations were critical to the success of the first U.S. manned space flights, including the trajectory for Project Mercury and the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon? It might not seem like a big deal, but acknowledging diversity is important to address the issue of school dropout rates. Valuing diversity is fundamentally important for keeping students engaged and in school. Every choice matters.
I understood the importance of planning, but how can I do it? If you work at a strong institution, they probably have offered you a template to help you plan your lessons. Thornbury (2017, p. 151) says that a lesson plan should have: (1) the aims for the lesson, (2) anticipated problems: problems that are specific for that lesson aim; the plan should also mention some strategies to deal with these problems, (3) materials, (4) the aim of each stage, (5) a brief description of the activities, (6) the time that the activity is predicted to take and (7) the interaction patterns for each stage (Teacher-Whole Group/ Teacher-Student/ Student-Student/ Individually).
Also, when designing tasks, you should take the TITO ration into account. TITO is a practical consideration for lesson planning that emphasizes efficiency and proportionality in the classroom. It requires teachers to ensure that the “time in” (the time spent preparing, setting up equipment, or getting students connected to a digital resource) is in proportion to the “time out” (the time students spend actively engaged in and benefiting from the actual activity). The core message is to avoid spending too much time on setting up an activity that is quickly completed, such as spending 20 minutes getting ready for an activity that only takes three minutes to perform.
Now it is the moment to move beyond seeing the lesson plan as a mere administrative checklist. The goal is to integrate all these perspectives. You may use Thornbury’s checklist to design and structure a lesson plan and TITO to ensure efficiency, but always hold Harmer’s idea of not ignoring magical moments and Woodward’s situational realism at the forefront. Ultimately, effective planning is an act of proactive empathy. It’s about anticipating the students’ need for both clear guidance and genuine belonging.
References
Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching (2015). 5th edition. Pearson.
PINHEIRO, Bárbara Carine Soares. Como ser um educador antirracista. São Paulo: Planeta, 2023.
Thornbury, S. (2017) A new A-Z of ELT, Macmillan
Woodward, T. (2001) Planning Lessons and Courses: Designing Sequences of Work for the Language Classroom, Cambridge University Press
Jonas Ishikawa é um eterno aprendiz que atua na área da educação há mais de 8 anos. Já foi professor de inglês e hoje atua como formador de formadores de professores.
