Evaluation and Lesson Planning: Improving Learning in a Small English School

Although these notes relate to an assignment in Indonesia the comments, evaluation and approach to lesson planning do apply to the Chinese situation — especially in regard to private English schools. I recently completed a 3 month volunteer assignment under the auspice of Australian Business Volunteers. The posting was to a private English School in the town of Ponorogo, located in East Java.

Goal
The goal of the assignment was “To improve English teaching materials and methodologies used by the teachers.” This was further clarified under the following headings:


 * Objectives
 * To improve teaching materials used by the teachers.
 * To provide innovative teaching strategies using a variety of materials.
 * To improve teaching methodologies used to make teaching easier.
 * To improve the atmosphere in the class room for teachers and students.


 * Tasks
 * Provide a variety of English teaching materials for the teachers to use.
 * Provide the teachers with innovative teaching ideas using a variety of materials.
 * Monitor current teaching practices and demonstrate new methodologies.
 * Help implement new and improved teaching methods.


 * Expected output
 * Increase morale and motivation among the teachers.
 * The teachers to understand and implement the new methodologies.
 * Create consistent teaching practices among the teachers.

The English School
The private school was established in 1999; starting with two classes and, by 2008, had grown to a school with 7 classrooms, 10 teachers and some 300 students.

The tuition is based on modules of 3 months duration commencing with a Beginners level and progressing to Pre Intermediate, then Intermediate and finally, Advanced.

Courses began with 5 to 6 year old students, usually, with little or no English speaking exposure. The next level catered for 7 to 8 year old students followed by 9 to 10 year old learners. After that came the Junior High School level followed by some Senior High School students.

Class sizes varied from a maximum of around 20 students to an average of 12 to 14.

In addition, the school catered for some small groups of adult learners and the teachers were permitted to take on some private students as long as they didn’t interfere with the scheduled class arrangements.

The modules were based on two 90 minute periods a week making a total of 24 lessons. For all the teachers, this was a secondary job to their main employment at a Government School. As many of the students also attended normal schools, most of the lessons were scheduled for the late afternoon and running into the early evening.

Initial Assessment
My first request was to review the curriculum used for each of the modules at the various levels. This turned out to be a few pages listing 5 or 6 headings relating to each of the categories. The school had compiled a number of small photocopied booklets for some of the junior levels which, more often than not, were not coordinated with the brief summary outline given to me as the “curriculum.”

The next step was to sit in on each of the classes and get an idea of the teaching methods used by the teachers. From this exposure a number of observations were made.

Observations
1.	The Handbook applicable to the levels observed does not relate to the rudimentary syllabus provided.

2.	Most classes seem to rely too much on using Indonesian. By using Indonesian, the student is not being encouraged to think in English which is an essential aspect of learning any language.

3.	Greater student participation by having them write on the blackboard for example, helps reinforce what is being taught.

4.	Vocabulary should be taught lexically, that is in short grammatical sentences and not in single words.

5.	The lessons need to be broken up into shorter separate parts with a series of revision exercises spread throughout the lesson to help reinforce what is being taught.

6.	The use of larger coloured pictures relating to the topic being taught would help with the visual aspects of learning.

7.	Several of the classes had a number of noisy and disruptive students who impacted on the whole class.

8.	In all the junior classes, there was an obvious variation in the student ability and/or English knowledge.

Materials

 * Each book needs to have a set of Teacher’s Instruction Notes

Enrolment

 * Parents should be asked why they are enrolling their sons or daughter at the School.


 * Parents should also be asked to bring the English Course book being used at the child’s school.


 * The School’s Teachers need to know the level of English knowledge of each of their students and the reason they are coming to their classes. If the student is there to learn to speak better English then the teaching will be different to the students who are there to get better grades at their school.


 * It would be advisable to give each new enrollee a short test targeted at the level of their education. The test should include pronunciation  and comprehension. A simple word test would probably be sufficient for beginners.

Student Names

 * It would be useful to have a Name Card for each student so that the Teacher gets to know the names of their students and the students can know the names of their fellow students. These cards should be issued at the start of each lesson and returned to the Teacher at the end of the lesson.

Games

 * Games are a useful teaching tool as well as being a diversion from the routine program particularly for the younger age students. With 24 lessons in each course it is really only necessary to use about 10 games during the 3 month course. Most games can be varied by setting different parameters. Each teacher can develop a list of games that work best for their style of teaching and are appropriate for their class level.

Oral Opportunities

 * Teachers need to use every opportunity to encourage oral expression from their students. One simple example occurs when returning workbooks during class time. Hold up a book and say, "Whose book is this?" The student who claims the book is given the next one and told to ask the same question. They should then ask the claimant their name, "What is your name?" The reply should be, "My name is _________", and the next question, "Is this your book?" followed by, "Yes, that is my book." The teacher sets the question and answer routine to avoid mono syllable responses.

As the books are distributed, the teacher could give out 3 or 4 books at a time and have that many students going through the routine with the new claimants coming out to get the next lot of books.

Preliminary Notes
We learn in 3 ways – by hearing (Audio) – by seeing (Visual) and/or doing (Kinesthics).

Some people learn best by Audio, others by Visual and some can only learn by doing. Usually, most people use at least two of these ways but, the more we can incorporate all 3 methods into the learning experience, the better for the student.

The attention span of a young child is relatively short, about 10 to 15 minutes.

This means that the activities should be regularly varied on this sort of time frame. The purpose of learning is to acquire understanding – knowing how to say a word without comprehending its meaning and how it is used, is not acquisition.

It is better to have the students acquire the proper understanding of 5 things than to "learn" 20 without comprehension.

Motivation
To learn anything, one needs a reason for doing so. The teacher needs to understand the reason the students have come to the school to learn English.

If the reason is because the parents want their child to do better with their English at normal school then this, generally speaking, will be an unwelcome imposition for the child. This situation implies three things
 * 1) The curriculum needs to conform to the school curriculum as closely as possible with the emphasis on the practical use of the student’s English knowledge.
 * 2) The teacher needs to know exactly, the level of each student at their respective schools
 * 3) The classrooms need to be made as different as possible from the normal school classroom. This can be done by installing some indoor plants, mounting posters on the walls, using coloured pictures, remove chairs and desks and place cushions on the floor.

If the student comes to the School to improve their speaking ability in English then the curriculum needs to be tailored to the practical use of everyday English. This implies


 * 1) Getting the students talking for a majority of the lesson time
 * 2) Avoiding the use of grammar terms. Instead, talk about 'joining words', 'doing words', 'naming words' or 'describing words'. This makes more sense to beginners rather than the conventional grammar terms and is easier to explain and show what the words do.
 * 3) Immersing the student in an English environment through pictures, posters and sayings displayed in the class room (As mentioned above.)
 * 4) Setting some reading and/or listening homework between lessons
 * 5) Making the maximum use of the media equipment at the school.

It is a common maxim used in teaching – tell the students what they will be learning today – teach it – then review what they have learnt.

Both the teachers and the students need to be able to assess what they are learning and this can best be done by getting the students to apply what they are being taught in a practical way.

Each lesson needs to be planned as part of an overall program.

The typical format of a lesson might be
 * 1) A review of what was taught last lesson
 * 2) The introduction of something new
 * 3) The practical application of the new work
 * 4) A change of pace – some fun game or a team quiz, possibly on the last lesson’s work
 * 5) Review of the new work for this lesson
 * 6) The introduction of further new work
 * 7) Its practical application by pair work or group work between the students
 * 8) Introduce a short exercise based on correcting English written on the blackboard.
 * 9) Further revision of the new work for the lesson

Ideally, the Handbook for the class should contain a number of blank pages to allow the students to record the new things as they are introduced in each lesson but a separate notebook, or diary, is the alternative.

Again, ideally, the Handbook would be more valuable if it were divided into the program of lessons which conform to the syllabus.

It would seem useful to have a way to assess the English knowledge and ability of each student at the time of enrolment. It is relatively easy to design some simple, basic tests for the different level of the applicants, based on their school grade.

The school has a reasonable range of reference material and a small library of reading material for students at the different levels. Ideally, these resources need to be better utilized and, where possible, expanded.

Three of the most important words in the English language are please and thank you.

These words are used at all levels of Society and are used in almost every situation. Whenever we ask for anything we always use Please: Please can you do this? – Please may I have that? It is considered very rude to tell someone to "Do this" or "Do that" other than in an emergency situation where someone is in authority.

Whenever we ask for anything we would nearly always say, "Thank you," when we receive it or, even if it is not received, we would thank the other person for their service.

In teaching English this cultural aspect of the language needs to be stressed, particularly if it is not as strictly observed in the native language

Lesson Planning
As I became more familiar with the way the School operated I found there was very little preparation involved in the way of lesson planning. The teachers would arrive about 15 minutes before the scheduled lesson time and scan one of the books from the small library to find a topic which they would then have photocopied to use in the classroom.

There was no coordinated lesson plan for the teachers to work to or any useful syllabus covering the modules.

The teachers did keep individual log books with very brief information of the lesson taught but it gave no details. It often happened that a different teacher would take the class for their next lesson and there was no coordination with what had been taught previously.

To me, it seemed to be a very disjointed and haphazard way to run the school because there was no properly organise curriculum for any of the teachers to follow.

In view of this situation, I spoke to the owner and proposed compiling a set of detailed and coordinated lesson plans for each of the modules.

The proposal was based on drawing up a standardised set of 24 lessons for each module which would outline a program of activities for each lesson and be tied in with the previous lesson.

The idea was to make these lesson plans provisional so the teachers could amend them according the ability of their class and the rate of progress achieved.

A meeting was set up with the Owner and the teachers to explain the philosophy and concept behind the proposal and to seek their cooperation in establishing the level of content for each module.

The Philosophy of the Concept
Learning cannot take place without memory, and students are expected to process and recall a vast amount of information every day. Some simple strategies can be used to help with this.

The natural concentration span is the first consideration. A rough guide is that concentration span, in minutes, is equivalent to age in years, +/− 2 minutes. That means that even the most attentive 18 year olds need a short concentration break every 15–20 minutes.

Lesson planning should provide a brief break with a change of focus or activity, every 15 to 20 minutes.

Beginnings and endings of lessons are vital times in terms of review and recall.

Evidence shows that students remember most information from the beginning and end of a lesson. Breaking lessons into sections means the automatic creation of many ‘smaller’ beginnings and endings within a lesson.

If teachers can take this into account, along with proper attention to the recognised concentration spans of their students, their students have a better chance of retaining what has been taught.

Unfortunately, this is seldom incorporated into practical lesson planning.

Reviewing information is also vitally important for longer-term recall. Ideally, students should be reviewing key learning points from their work at the end of each lesson as it is a major factor in the learning process.

Teachers should develop good reviewing habits by ending each lesson a few minutes early and devote the time to reviewing the key learning points.

An effective technique that is proven to work is to get a student to verbally explain to another student what they have just learned. This relates to what is known about ‘learning’ processes – "we retain most information after teaching others". (UNESCO Suggestive, accelerative learning and teaching: A manual of classroom procedures based on the Lozanov method, RIE, August.)

Efficient brain performance The brain needs two sources of fuel to stay healthy and work efficiently – they are oxygen and water. Students (and their brains) need to be sufficiently hydrated which means they should drink 8 glasses of water a day. Sitting down for a 50-minute lesson, or longer, can decrease the amount of oxygen delivered to the brain by 15%. An activity as simple as getting students to stand up, or write on the board, will ensure a better supply of oxygen to the brain, and therefore more efficient brain performance.

(Trevor Brocklebank at Leeds cited in Lucas, 2001)

The Module and Lesson Format
Each module was made up of a set of 24 lessons which I compiled using Microsoft Excel as the format.

A set of notes for the Teacher’s accompanied each module and outlined the program and how it might be effectively used.

The notes included a recommendation for a basic word test that would be applicable to each level and summarised the principle topics covered in the module.

Each lesson commenced with a review of the previous lesson and ended with a 10 minute review of what was covered in the current lesson.

Each module included a related test for the 24th lesson in order to assess how well the students had improved during the course.

Teacher’s Notes for Elementary School Grade 1 and 2 Beginners Syllabus
This is a revised Syllabus for beginners in elementary school grades 1 and 2.

It assumes the student’s ages of 5 to 6 with a limited knowledge of English.

On this basis, it seems logical to commence the course with the English Alphabet, by making sure the students know the sounds of the letters and can pronounce a number of one syllable words.

In order for the Teacher to get an assessment of the new students to the course, it is suggested that each student should do a test of 10 words for pronunciation and comprehension of the meaning.


 * Recommended Basic Test for Elementary Grade 1 and 2 Beginners
 * Arm, Ball, Cat, Dog, Five, Gate, Hat, Ink, Kick, Long, Mine, No, Out, Pass, Run, Sum, Two, Up, We, You, Zoo

The Teacher should use any combinations of the one syllable words, preferably, in conjunction with pictures in order to check the student understands the word.

The course is designed with the limited concentration span of 5 to 6 year olds in mind – each lesson is varied and covers 2 topics with short activity breaks after about 20 minutes. The Teachers can vary this according to the student’s interest in the lessons.

The activity breaks may either relate to what the students have been taught or be something completely different. Basically, they are ‘change of pace’ activities and could be games, contests, exercises, listening to music, possibly reading a short story to the class either by the Teachers or from a tape.

Each lesson starts with a welcoming greeting and a review of the last lesson. Each Lesson ends with a short review of what has been covered in the current lesson.

The main purpose of the course is to encourage speaking of English by the students – the more the students can be encouraged to THINK in English the sooner they will begin to speak fluently.

What this means is the Teachers should try to limit the use of Indonesian in the classroom – it can be useful in the initial lessons for Beginners but it is better for the students to gradually eliminate the use of the native language in the English classroom as early as possible.

This proposed Syllabus for the 24 lesson module covers the following topics


 * 1) The Alphabet – ongoing throughout the course
 * 2) Simple Greetings - ongoing
 * 3) Self Identification – I –She – His – Her - He
 * 4) Introduction of Questions – What is this – What is that
 * 5) Introduction of Yes and No question and answers
 * 6) Focus on Vowels and the use of ‘a’ and ‘an’.
 * 7) Commence the use of Singular and Plural words through exercises
 * 8) Introduce colours
 * 9) Introduction of Family starting with Mum and Dad, Brothers and Sisters.
 * 10) Introduction of numbers – 1 to 10
 * 11) Exercises that combine the use of colour descriptions and counting.
 * 12) Introduction of sizes and shapes and comparisons.
 * 13) Comparing people by size, colour of their clothes and gender.
 * 14) Random test exercises for revision of knowledge.
 * 15) Introduce the names of face and body parts.
 * 16) Introduction of animals – sizes – colours – types
 * 17) Ongoing revision of past topics combining counting, colours, sizes and shapes and words from the Alphabet.
 * 18) Final Test based on the Alphabet, some Yes/No questions – some counting exercises and naming some animals and/or body parts.

By the end of the 24 lessons, the students will have been exposed to 300 plus words in English.

The focus of the course should be on acquisition of knowledge which means understanding the meaning and proper use of the words learnt. That is different from having a vocabulary of words where the proper understanding of the meaning and use may not be known.

It would be a great benefit, virtually for any class at any level, to make use of the multimedia material that is available. Even 30 to 45 minutes out of the 180 minutes a week would be a welcome and appreciated addition to the curriculum of any course. The teachers would need to coordinate this into the program even if it cannot be done on a weekly basis to begin.

The above Syllabus has been programmed into a series of 24 coordinated and connected lessons but can be changed by the Teachers to suit the ability and progress of their classes.

The idea of providing the 24 suggested lesson plans is for the Teachers to have a systematic program where they can make adjustments and comments in order to fine tune the program as it is used and applied.

Word Test to Assess Oral Ability
As there was no formal system in place to help assess the English language ability of the students, a simple word tests was developed to assist the teachers. These tests were particularly applicable to the younger students and students who joined a class after the commencement of a module.

Example:


 * Elementary Beginners Level (Basic)
 * At, Bat, Cat, Do, Fill, Go, Hop, Ink, Jam, Kick, Lie, Me, No, Out, Pass, Run, Sum, To, Up, We, You, Zoo

Students who cannot pronounce and read most of these words should commence their English Course with the Beginner’s level.

If the Student can pronounce a selection of the words correctly then they can try the next level.


 * Elementary Beginners Level 1 Pre Intermediate
 * Father, Mother, Doctor, Nurse, Child, Pencil, Monkey, Teacher, Queen, School, Farmer, Woman

Students who cannot pronounce and read these words should do a revision of the Beginners Book before starting the Pre-Intermediate Book

If the Student can read and pronounce the words, they can try the next level but the Teacher should also check that the student knows the meaning of most of the words.


 * Elementary Beginners Level 2 Intermediate
 * Afternoon, Basketball, Orange, Doesn’t, English, Finish, Green, Haven’t, Jumping, Letter, Mouth, Nose, Play, Sometime, Umbrella

Students who cannot read and pronounce these words should do a Revision of the Pre-Intermediate work before starting the Intermediate Level Students who can read and pronounce these words can try the next level


 * Elementary Beginners Level 3 Advanced
 * Cost, Cheaper, Dearer, Fewer, Sentences, Glasses, Packet, Pictures, Rubber, Cotton, Pineapple, Window, Cleaned

If the student cannot read and pronounce all these words they should do a Revision of the Intermediate level before starting the Advanced level. If the student can read and pronounce these words correctly they should be asked to explain the meaning of the words to ensure proper understanding before going to the next level which is the Beginners for 7 to 8 year olds.

Teacher’s Notes

Because of the different levels of abilities in most classes, the teacher can start testing the new student at any level they think appropriate.

If that level if too high for the student, the Teacher would then test at the next lower level.

The Teacher should check that the student knows the meaning of some of the words at each level.

Example Lesson Plan
5 to 6 Beginners

Teacher______________________. Class______________________. Date___________________. Lesson No.21

Start the lesson with a Greeting then Review the previous lesson
(10 mins)

Continue with an exercise
(20 mins)

Get the students to ask questions. "Where is _______?" "How many _______ are here?" "What is this?" "How old are you?" "What is that?" "What colour is a _______?"

Activity — a game, music, story telling or video clip
(15 mins)

Start a discussion about animals
(20 mins)

Have the class go through their picture book and talk about all the different animals they can find.

Talk about size, colours and try getting the students to ask questions about the animals. Use coloured pictures

Activity — a game, music, story telling or video clip
(15 mins)

Review of lesson
(10 mins)

Teacher's Notes
The above table is a sample of the information provided in the Excel lesson format. (IF ANY READER OF THESE NOTES WOULD LIKE A COPY OF THE ACTUAL EXCEL LESSONS, I HAVE THESE AVAILABLE FOR EACH MODULE AND CAN EMAIL A COPY ON REQUEST. Contact Guggzie.) Each lesson follows on from the previous one and expands the use of the language and adds new words. The teachers can adjust the Excel spreadsheet of the lesson plans to suit their student’ ability and can organise the change of pace activities as preferred by their class.