Lesson Plan Reflection

Nick Dotson

UCR Extension
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Overall, my lesson went well. It wasnt perfect, however, and I fell short in my delivery

of the lesson. On that note, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the successes and

failures of my lesson plan and its delivery at a surface, pedagogical and critical level (Houck,

2017). Such reflections will help me improve my teaching and will hopefully help me create

stronger lessons as I continue on in the field of TESOL.

On the surface level, I failed to utilize all 15 minutes of the allotted time out of fear that

my lesson would exceed the time limit, and in doing so, I rushed through activities that could

have proved more fruitful for the students had they had more time. In the future, I need to work

though my lessons at a more relaxed, natural pace. I also made a mess of the board. I started off

well and attempted to organize my writings in the beginning, but because I moved to quickly, I

wrote things on the board in a rather disorganized and haphazard way, which likely confused the

students. To avoid this, I need to maintain organization next time and write everything on the

board before the start of the lesson if possible. In retrospect, I also failed to check for

comprehension throughout the lesson even though I included that step in my written lesson and

broke the golden rule when I erased the examples on the board that demonstrated the grammar

pattern. I was recently taught never erase the examples and explanations incase students need to

reference them during subsequent activities. It wasnt a disaster though. I felt confident and

composed in my delivery and made effective use of the materials and am proud of the result.

On a pedagogical level, I made certain to create a more communicative classroom that

was learner centered as opposed to teacher centered. I also incorporated total physical response

and because this was a grammar lesson, I made sure to use information that is both true and

relevant by asking the students for possible reasons for being late. This lesson was also effective

in that I used the pattern in context, provided a formal explanation and made use of mechanical
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drills, employed meaningful drills in the form of written exercises and finally allowed for

communicative practice (Paulston, C.B., & Bruder, M.N. Handout Received: (2017). Pp. 36-46.).

Next lesson, I will consider using a different seating arrangement given that room was quite

small and the students had little room to move around during the communicative activity. I could

have done a better job relating the target expressions to the lives of the students in ways that

could have better activated and made use of their background knowledge as well.

On a critical level, I failed to establish the level and context of the class for everyone at

the beginning and this affected my delivery in that I just saw my students as my classmates for

the most part and not students at a 500 level. On a more critical level, I also had to ask myself

whether the lesson was appropriate for my all the students. English is not the first language for

some of them and that could have affected their understanding of the pattern. I should therefore

have asked them additional comprehension questions. Lastly, as was pointed out in the feedback,

I targeted certain students in that I pointed them out for being late to class during the

presentation. I need to avoid this as it could embarrass, alienate or offend students, of certain

cultures, which could in turn affect their motivation to learn. Instead, I should look for

opportunities to praise and encourage them.

I was really excited about this lesson and was pleased with the end result. I chose to dress

professionally because I will need to do so and because I wanted to look professional in the

filming of the lesson. There are a few things that I could have done better and I know what they

are and will take the necessary steps needed to improve in those areas as I gain experience.
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References

Houck, D. (2017). Foundations of Reflective Teaching [PowerPoint] Meeting 4.

Paulston, C.B., & Bruder, M.N. Handout Received: (2017). Pp. 36-46.