Lesson plan training workshop

Teachers - Educators Of the Heart and Shapers Of The Soul

(Teacher training workshop – 4 Salesian Schools of Mumbai)

-Ms. Sunita D’Souza

St. Joseph’s High School,

Wadala

18^th June 2014

There was a sense of mystery and adventure in the air as the teachers of the four Salesian schools of Mumbai gathered at Don Bosco, Matunga on 13^th June,2014 for the first teacher training workshop for the new scholastic year. It was an imaginary and visionary short trip with a train map in lesson planning, to help lead every teacher and student reach a common destination - the overall development of the child.

After breakfast, there was a short prayer service seeking God's blessings followed by an audio-visual presentation that presented the subtle difference between a teacher and an educator. Fr. Bosco D’Mello, Principal of Don Bosco Matunga, welcomed the members of the Adhyayan team, all the Principals and the teachers of the four Salesian schools for the day’s programme. The teachers of Don Bosco, Matunga then brightened the proceedings with a beautiful rendition of a specially prepared Welcome Song.

Ms. Kavita Anand addressed the gathering – made interesting with a special sign language to communicate collective positive and negative responses - and defined the purpose of this special journey. The 6 Key Performance Areas (KPA's) - The Child, Teaching and Learning, Leadership and Management, The Curriculum, Community and Partnerships, Infrastructure and Resources- were up on the screen for review and reflection.  The teaching community were then introduced to an insightful video clip titled 'Did You Know? Shift Happens 2014' depicting the rapidly changing pace of technology in the world and the need for teachers to skilfully adapt to the changing trends in education.

The teachers were then directed to different classrooms for group discussions on the different learning levels. In the allotted classrooms, the teachers were ably guided by the enthusiastic Adyayan animators. The first session based on 'Settle the Culture - Class Atmosphere' provided group work roles - the Time-Keeper, Record-Keeper, Facilitator and the Material Manager - for the group members. They were handed topics for discussion related to the desired class atmosphere they liked and sought to achieve.  

In the second session, the teachers were led through a PPT to understand the difference between Teaching and Learning Objectives and Outcomes. The two questions, ‘What is Lesson Planning?’ and ‘How do we know when a lesson plan is well planned?’ provided the basis for the group discussion at this time.

The basic steps in the Lesson Plan were then displayed -

* Learning Outcome

* Learning Objective

* Starter

* Introduction In A Lesson

* Development

* Plenary

* Key Words In A Lesson

* Formative Assessment

* Summative Assessment

* Classroom Display

The teachers were instructed about the structure, aims and philosophy of the programme. They were led to recognise the link between effective teaching and learning, lesson planning, peer learning and display. They were then provided with material for the preparation of  a lesson plan using the newly structured guidelines. The creative and well structured lesson plans were presented after the sumptuous lunch break. The best plan, named the ‘Gold Plan’ from each group was selected with the best part (in each plan) being highlighted.

After the last session in effective teaching and learning 'Self Evaluation and Group Evaluation', Ms. Kavita conducted a quick feedback of the day’s program, and thanked all the teachers for their active participation. She looked forward to a healthy and enthusiastic interactive teaching-learning experience with the teachers,

Kudos to The Adyayan Team for invigorating us with the step by step process (each station well designed!) of teaching and learning to make the journey of the teacher and child fulfilling and fruitful!