Lesson planning
Should You Use an ESL Curriculum or Make Your Own Lessons?
Making your own lesson can be satisfying. Making every lesson from scratch, week after week, is a different commitment. At some point, you start wondering whether your real job is teaching English or moving pictures around on slides.
The part that takes time is often deciding how everything fits together: what students need next, what to review, and how to check whether they can use the language. A suitable curriculum gives you a starting point for those decisions.
Start with the work you actually need help with
If your school already provides a clear sequence, you may only need occasional activities. If you teach independently and are building the whole course yourself, a curriculum may be more useful.
Write down what you spend time on during a typical week. Separate choosing learning goals, finding materials, making slides, adapting tasks, and reviewing student work. That makes it easier to judge whether a subscription would solve your particular problem.
Look beyond a good-looking sample
A sample lesson shows you the presentation style. To assess the curriculum, look at the lessons before and after it too.
- Is the starting level suitable for your students?
- Do later lessons revisit earlier language?
- Are students asked to listen, respond, and ask questions?
- Can you adjust the pace or simplify a task?
- Can you tell what a student has learned by the end?
You’ll still need to preview the materials. “Ready to teach” should mean less work building the lesson, with room to make teaching decisions.
A useful test
Choose one student and teach a sample lesson. Record how long you spent preparing, which parts needed adapting, and what the student could do afterward. Compare that with your normal approach before committing to a longer plan.
Keep the parts that make the lesson yours
Change the examples to match a student’s interests. Give more practice where they need it. Replace a task that doesn’t fit the class. You can follow a sequence while still making those choices.
For example, a lesson about preferences can use the student’s favorite sports instead of foods. The question pattern stays the same, but the answers become more personal.
When making your own materials makes sense
A student preparing for a specific interview or a class working on a local project may need something very specific. Your own materials can be a good fit. The important question is whether the extra preparation serves a clear learning goal.
Where Super English ESL fits
I created Super English ESL to give teachers an organized base for their lessons. You can explore the free lesson below to see how the activities and language practice are presented.
If it fits your teaching, the membership page explains the current plans and access. Choose based on the students you teach and the materials you’ll actually use.