A Change of Plan: When Group Lesson Turns into a Tutorial

In teaching, you learn quickly that no plan goes accordingly. You could have an airtight lesson plan filled with objectives and clever transitional steps leading you to the next activity. Of course, you've planned brilliantly! It's what we had to spend a month to a year training to do. Yet, life always finds a way to wreak havoc on your plans. Especially, when dealing with human nature (specifically young children and teenagers. They have their own agenda.)

When your plan is failing.

For you, maybe, students have a very weak awareness of the past participle verbs during your present perfect lesson. Or a good chunk of students have missed lessons and you have to update the others to carry on to the next unit. 

Or worse, the internet shuts off. The computer decides to have a rest day and you are unable to use the tips and materials I have for you here. Ultimately, a complete nightmare with 13 to 25 students staring at you for instructions into what to do next.

Either way, disaster is known to strike. So prepare for the worst and pray for the best.

If you can't get anything to work out the way you've planned, its time to channel your creative flexibility.

As such, teachers must learn two things: when to divert from the plan and how to create an effective learning activity. Thus, welcome to my segment: A Change of Plan.

(Refers to the time before lockdown. Some nostalgia and words of wisdom for when we can go back to a normal classroom.)

I have an hour every Monday dedicated to B2 students who want extra practice in writing and/or speaking. Usually, I get anywhere from 3 to 8 students showing up. But last week I only got 1!

Personally, I can't stand tutorials. For one since it is only you and a student, it means you need a stack of material to work with. For two, you have to rely on one student to generate ideas that you guide them into. If you have a quiet or shy student, this can be like pulling teeth. And three, a tutorial turns out to be having a conversation for an hour. I don't talk to my closest friends for that long! Imagine doing that with a teenager. Plus, I'm sure its hell for the student too.

So what do you do when you find yourself in an impromptu tutorial?  I took my creative writing plan. I sat next to her and we did it as if I was a second student. That lasted 30 minutes and this is with me going off-topic and talking about random things in my life and in her life.

Then, before I wondered what tv series I could show her on my Netflix account, I had an idea. I went to a teacher with B2 students and asked to borrow a student for 10 minutes. 

Back in my class, the student heard the story and gave ideas to make it better. Our on personal Beta Reader. A Beta Reader is used with independent novelists who need someone to give notes on the content of the story. They say what works, what is good and what should be changed. I use it as a version of peer revision.

When my single student made the changes, I grabbed another Beta Reader. After the second round of changes, we had 5 minutes left so my student read the story aloud and we discussed what she thought about it.

Tutorial disasters avoided by stealing students from other sources. You may not be in an academy where this is easy to do. Or maybe you have private classes where other students are not in your area. In these cases, I suggest making Tic Tok or Powerpoints or memes with your one student in the publishing/independent producing stage of your lesson.

Either way, there is another activity put to in your teacher's toolbox which helps when the lesson plan has changed.

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A Change of Plan: From Worksheets to Exciting Learning

In teaching, you learn quickly that no plan goes accordingly. You could have an airtight lesson plan filled with objectives and clever transitional steps leading you to the next activity. Of course, you've planned brilliantly! It's what we had to spend a month to a year training to do. Yet, life always finds a way to wreak havoc on your plans. Especially, when dealing with human nature (specifically young children and teenagers. They have their own agenda.)

When you plan is failing.

For you, maybe, students have a very weak awareness of the past participle verbs during your present perfect lesson. Or a good chunk of students have missed lessons and you have to update the others to carry on to the next unit. 

Or worse, the internet shuts off. The computer decides to have a rest day and you are unable to use the tips and materials I have for you here. Ultimately, a complete nightmare with 13 to 25 students staring at you for instructions into what to do next.

Either way, disaster is known to strike. So prepare for the worst and pray for the best.

If you can't get anything to work out the way you've planned, its time to channel your creative flexibility.

As such, teachers must learn two things: when to divert from the plan and how to create an effective learning activity. Thus, welcome to my segment: A Change of Plan.

This week, during my movers' class, I had planned to finish the grammar point for the infinitive of purpose. 

I had been using the book exercises to lead students into an alternative way of giving a reason to do something. Example: I went to the bookshop to buy a book. 

The energy in the room was dropping and there was a clear division in who understood it, who got the grammar yet came up with unclear content (I had one student say: "I look in the dictionary to play football". The grammar is right even though it made no sense.🤷🏾‍♀️) and I had students who were completely lost. So instead of my original plan to have a mountain of more worksheets. I changed it up.

First, I wrote on the board: "I go to school to..." Then, I elicit phrases to complete the sentence. We stayed with "I go to school to learn more things." Next, I took the last phrase to create a new sentence. "I learn new things to..." I pointed to a student to complete the sentence. Then I used her last phrase to create a new sentence for the student next to her to complete.

A chain was developing and I went around the class following that chain format. Some sentences were crazy ideas but it didn't matter I was trying to get the structure down. In this way, I could fix the mistakes certain students kept making and they were getting models of corrected phrases from their peers.

At this point, the students had verbally practiced it with a good amount of success. They were getting it but they needed more exposure to the grammar and making the content connect. 

The next step was writing relays. Writing relays work with students sitting in rows of 4 or 5. The first person in each row copies and completes the sentence I provide for them. Once done they pass their notebook back and the second person writes a new sentence with the last phrase of the previous sentence. What we had done in our chain format. 

When the last person in the row completes it, I check for grammar and reasoning. If any of those mistakes are there, I underlined them. Then I'd hand it back and tell the group to get together and fix it. 

This does three things: trains students how to self- correct, peer teaching is established (classmates explain the process in their young folk language) and this process also gives others a chance to finish, in hopes I will see theirs before the other group fixes their mistakes.

The point goes to the team that has completed all their sentences correctly before the other teams. Once that round is done, I point out the mistakes the other groups were unable to fix. I do three rounds of this. And the team with the most points win.

Now, the class needs to settle and I have to access if any of these activities have worked by doing independent practice. So, I give them a couple of exercises. 

I monitor and support the weaker ones. Through my encouragement guidance, I remind them of some example phrases. And with patience, they complete the task. Their ideas are unconventional but the structure is there. 

Plus, I feel confident to move to the next unit for the following class but I've noted that this grammar will need to be revised in warm-up exercises in the future. this way the students don't forget it and it will improve their concept of how the relationship of purpose should be between the two clauses.

This particular class ended on a good note. And, with creative learning tools from my teacher's toolbox, the aim of my lesson objective was met, regardless that the plan had changed.

And if you like to know about some more FREE opportunities, sign up for our FREE newsletter and get monthly updates by email about: 

• *find out which new worksheets, lesson plans, craft sheets, flashcards, games, tips and so on have been added to https://forteachingesl.blogspot.com/  

• 
  
• *ESL teaching tips and ideas about teens and kids.  
• 
  
• *materials and resources  
• 
  
• *promotions and offers on resource books 
• 
  
• Click here to join