Lesson plans outline what you are planning to do in each lesson you teach. It is important for you to follow your lesson plans so that your classes go smoothly. If you do not make a lesson plan your teaching can suffer and your students will also notice. It is easy to spot a nervous teacher, it is even easier for children to spot this. If your students think you are nervous they will take advantage of it, especially if they are children. For most teachers lesson planning is a pain and a chore. However, if you get the hang of creating lesson plans it will help you in the long run. 

Don’t let lesson plans stress you out. Keep them simple and follow the tips below.  

1. Presentation Stage

This is an important element of any lesson plan. In this part you should be presenting the lesson to your students. There are many different way that you can do this. It is important that you change the presentation for each lesson so that students do not become bored. There are a number of things you can do. For example you can draw a picture, show a video, use flash cards or even tell a story. Any of these activities will work as long as it uses the lesson’s subject. If you plan great lesson presentations then your students will be more interested in the lesson. You can find a lot of resources on this subject online. 

2. Controlled Practice 

This is the part of the lesson where students have a change to practice what they have learned in the lesson. It is important to let students have controlled practice so that you can correct any errors in grammar or pronunciation. This is a good time to play a game or to do some activities that you can be involved in. This part of the lesson should help the students build their confidence. 

3. Free Practice 

This is the part where the students get a chance to use the new things they have learned freely. It is usually a good idea to have students work in groups or pairs. You should be moving around the classroom listening in on the groups or pairs. Before the end of the class you can discuss any mistakes or errors you heard. It is important to let students speak at this point in the lesson. 

If you keep in mind these three parts of a lesson it will be much easier to write lesson plans for your own ESL classes. Remember to use a variety of activities so that students do not become bored. You should also be prepared for each class with the lesson plan as well as extra activities. Sometimes classes go faster than you think and other times students are not happy with your lesson plan. Therefore you should always have extra activities planned so that in those cases you have a backup plan.