The problem with timing activities happens when students become seriously engaged in the activities and can't move on to something else.
I remember those lessons in the early years. I was so busy trying to squeeze in enough activities that would be motivating and interesting for the learner. It was hard to know in advance which activities would be motivating. Not having enough classroom experience made me feel uneasy. Three main questions guided me through my
lesson planning:
- How long would the activity take?
- Would the activities be done in 1-2 lessons?
- What would students need to do at home?
The type of activity (
group work, pair work, individual and the task involved) was the main consideration for assessing how much time students would need. Different tasks need different time orientations. But at the time however, I did not know that too many activities in one lesson would spell d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r. Students felt they were sentup the wrong pipe; many suddenly became confounded when they were introduced to a new activity rather quickly.
So to all those new teachers reading this and do yourselves a favor: Keep the amount of activities you do in class to a minimum and organize your lesson properly via time
strategies and techniques.
