Taking on the challenge of creating curriculum

The Past Week: 09.17.07 � 09.22.07

� Complete spoken English course overview for all twelve weeks and half of the first week’s lesson plans

Much of why I didn’t complete what I intended to was because of my own fears and inhibitions. While I changed what it was I wanted to get done in terms of the curriculum, I still only partially completed one day’s lesson plan, which isn’t nearly as much as I had hoped to get done.

Basically, I got stuck in trying to figure out how best to present material. I kept thinking in my mind, ‘Would an actual teacher choose this activity to start the class or to introduce this concept?’. Something I still struggle with is how students will perceive a classroom that promotes student interaction and participation versus rote learning. Will students know that through games and activity-based learning, there are still ambitious goals set for the students. Fun and games aren’t just fun and games � they have a larger purpose.

Another issue I have is that, with such a short course duration (four months), each class period has to possess substantive content so that the students learn all it is that is required by employers. While doing this, how do I make sure I’m not overloading students?

I think that when I look at the lesson planning template as a whole without breaking down each piece, starting the process of lesson planning can be daunting. But luckily I have team members and NGO resource people who have experience teaching and were able to supply me with the template in the first place. I think I also have to be okay with creating a lesson plan that I may not think is perfect. Because I have resource people who are willing to help me along the way, writing something � even if I know it’s not perfect, is a draft to work off of.

In the mean time, tips on spoken English instruction directed at those who can read and write in English but whose speaking capabilities are poor would be helpful.