MR. D'S NOTES ON TEACHING
Rev. Stanley L. Derickson Ph.D.
COPYRIGHT 2001

Chapter 9

LESSON PLANS

This section uses an outline I adapted from Eavey's "PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING FOR CHRISTIAN TEACHERS. I trust I won't give undo distress to Mr. Eavey's thoughts with my own comments.

VALUE OF A LESSON PLAN

A plan will assist in attaining the ultimate goal of the lesson.

Unless you plan toward your goal you will never be able to attain it. If you have no plan then you will never know where you are going within your lesson until you get there.

A lesson plan will clarify the main goal as well as assist you to set some sub-goals for your ministry.

As you plan you may find that your goals are unclear or unreasonable. You can then clarify them as you proceed.

A plan will help relate the past and future lessons to this one.

One of the hallmarks of teaching is review. In the college situation you will find that there is little review for there is little time for it. Most review is in the form of tests.

When you are teaching in a church situation, the review is very needed. The student needs to know how this lesson relates to what he learned last week. He also will be a step ahead if you let him know how it relates to next week's lesson.

The plan will assist in selection of materials, activities, procedures and methods. You will know what you want to do and will be able to do it because you have prepared before hand.

If you have not planned ahead and you realize that the students do not have anything to do the last fifteen minutes you will have to refresh yourself from your panic attack and think quickly!

A lesson plan will encourage the use of better methods and techniques.

If you don't know where you are going how can you know what mode of transportation to take. If you plan to take a car and in the middle of the trip decide to go to Japan you are going to get wet. Likewise in education, if you don't know what methods you are going to use until the middle of the lesson you are going to be all wet.

The plan will give confidence to the teacher and assist him/her in future lesson preparation. As they develop in planning many of the items will become automatic to them.

If you know how to get to a destination in the city, you drive with confidence and are always in the proper lane at the proper time. When I was in Bible college one semester I took 18 hours, was working 25 hours per week, drove 20 miles each way to work in Denver traffic. I always took the same route to work. I was very tired due to the heavy load and I was also very active in a local church.

I had the bad habit of going to sleep at times on the way to work. One day I found myself sitting in the left-hand turn lane where I needed to turn north. The last thing I remember was about eight blocks back. My eyes must have been open and my subconscious had to have been helping me control the car. My turn signal was even on.

If you don't know for sure where you are going you will be driving slowly and be very nervous about every intersection. Not only are you nervous, but the poor people riding with you and in the cars around you will be very nervous, wondering what you are going to do next.

So, the students will be uneasy if you do not know what you are going to do.

A lesson plan requires proper preparation. To have a plan you need to do some very important steps that will allow you to set up a plan. You will have to consider many things before you can set down a plan.

A lesson plan will allow the teacher to plan for special students and needs of the class.

If you have a hearing-impaired student, you will need to be sure that your lesson won't be a problem to him. If you are going to use a tape or record you should make special provision for his hearing or have a copy of the script so that he can read it.

A plan will assist the teacher to see problems before they get to the classroom.

If you realize that you have five minutes free time for some of the students you need to program in something for them to do or they will find something to do.

A plan will demand some forethought to the lesson and not allow the teacher to put off planning to the last minute.

You cannot set a lesson plan down at 10:00 P.M. Sat. night. You will have to start very early in the week. Most suggest that you spend Sunday afternoon reading over your next week's materials to get things into your mind so that you can be thinking about them.

The lesson plan should be started in the early part of the week to allow for gathering of information and materials.

I met an adult SS teacher that prepared his lesson in the car as his wife drove him to church Sunday morning. That is not teaching. Sad to say you could tell that was the type of preparation he had.

A plan will give time to acquire needed lessons and materials.

If you do the plan Friday evening during the late movie you may find Saturday morning that the crafts shop is closed and you are in trouble.

A lesson plan will give the teacher time and ease of setting down a summary for the end of the class.

To set down a summary you need to know what you have taught or at least what you are planning to teach. If you do not know what you are going to do then there is no possibility of summarizing.

A summary can be done at the end of a session on the spur of the moment, however some planned thoughts would be much more effective.

A plan gives basis to evaluate the lesson and presentation. If you had a plan you can look back and know if you hit or missed.

To form a plan you must take into account many things.

What age group are you working with? If you are working with the nursery you will have to plan in lots of drink and diaper breaks. If you are working with teenagers, you will have to have a completely different plan of attack.

What classroom facilities are available? Get to know your room and the equipment that is readily available to you. Even when I'm asked to speak in a strange church I ask for the size of the group, if there is an overhead available etc. It may help know what I want to do.

Know what you can do and not do before you plan to do it and find that you can't do it.

What amount of time you are trying to fill? Another must when I talk to people about speaking. Many Sunday School publishers plan for an hour and you may be in a church that has a half hour opening exercise and a 20 minute class time.

Adjust in advance!

What particular physical needs your students have? If there are general needs in the age group, then plan ahead. If there are special needs of only some of the students then you also need to plan.

What materials and activities are required by the Sunday School or church you are ministering in? Again, I often ask if there is a special topic they would be interested in. At times it is very specific - other times anything will do.

If they only allow the use of Baptist press materials and you show up with your own homemade materials you might have a problem. Some churches can be very sticky in what you teach.

In general you need to know about everything that you can possibly know about before you set your plan and then when you are finished be sure to plan for some unexpected things to come along to help mess up your neat plan.

We went to speak in the A. M. and P. M. services at a church about five hours away. We left home about three in the morning to arrive on time. We were just settling into the pew for the Sunday school lesson by the pastor. I had planned well so that I would be well prepared. My plan of attack was flawless. Indeed, it was except for one minor point. The pastor on the spur of the moment asked me to take the Sunday School class.

Planning will keep you in good stead as a teacher. Planning will force organization of your ministry. Planning will result in organized teaching of your students. Planning is probably a teacher’s best friend.