3.13.1 A Review of Steps In Lesson Preparation

Preparing a lesson is no easy matter, particularly for those teachers who are new to the calling. There are those, of course, for whom reading an assigned chapter through constitutes a preparation, but to the successful teacher this preliminary reading is only the initial step in the process. Adequate preparation involves the following questions:

What aim shall I select out of the material available as the focus for my day’s work?

How shall I build about that aim a body of facts that will establish it as a fundamental truth in life?

How shall I illustrate the truths presented so that they will strike home in the experiences of my boys and girls?

How shall I make sure that members of the class will go out from the recitation to put into practice the teachings of the day?

What questions ought I to ask to emphasize the outstanding points of my lesson?

What method of presentation can I most safely follow to make my lesson effective?

How may I discipline my class so that no disturbances will interfere with our discussions?

Reduced to simple terms, the matter of preparation together with presentation, involves the problems of

• Organization
• Aim
• Illustration
• Application
• Methods of presentation
• Questioning

It is difficult to single out any one factor and treat it as if it were independent of the others—teaching is a complex art with all of these factors inseparably contributing to the results desired—but, for purposes of clearness, may we not proceed to give attention to each in its turn that in the end the teaching process may the more definitely stand out in all its aspects?

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