Lesson planning
How to Spend Less Time Planning ESL Lessons
A lesson can last 30 minutes and somehow take an hour to prepare. If that sounds familiar, I’d start by looking at the work you’re doing twice: choosing another game, rebuilding slides, or hunting for a worksheet that almost fits.
I’ve taught in English centers and online, with learners at all levels. My advice is to keep the planning routine simple enough to use on a busy week. You still need to know your students and prepare for class, but you don’t need to create everything from scratch.
1. Plan around one useful outcome
Before opening a resource site, write a sentence describing what students should be able to do. For example: “Ask where an object is and answer using in, on, or under.”
That gives you a way to judge every activity. A beautiful worksheet that doesn’t help students reach that outcome can wait.
2. Reuse the lesson sequence
Try a familiar flow: review, model, practice together, use the language, and check. Keep the sequence flexible enough for students who need more support or a faster pace.
The routine can stay the same while the language changes. You don’t need to invent a new lesson format every time you introduce a topic. Your students haven’t seen your planning folder; they aren’t judging you for using a good idea twice.
3. Keep a small bank of speaking tasks
A guessing game, a picture comparison, and a short interview can cover a lot of ground. Save a clear version of each task with instructions you can reuse.
One task, several lessons
Use “Find someone who…” for food preferences, daily routines, or past experiences. Change the question frame and vocabulary to match the class. In a one-to-one lesson, take turns interviewing each other instead.
4. Prepare options without rebuilding the whole lesson
For one picture task, offer a word bank to students who need it, a sentence frame for guided answers, and a follow-up question for students ready to say more. Everyone can work with the same picture.
Choose the support from what students can currently do. Recheck as they improve; a support that helped last month may no longer be needed.
5. Leave a note for your next lesson
At the end of class, record three things: what the student managed independently, what needed help, and where to begin next time. Keep it short enough that you’ll actually do it.
A note such as “Under/on secure; still needs a model for asking Where…? Start with the bedroom picture” is more useful for planning than “Good lesson.”
A planning note you can reuse
Copy these five prompts into your lesson notes. A few clear lines are usually more useful than a page you won’t look at during class.
Next lesson: a quick planning check
- Goal: What will the student be able to do?
- Review: What needs another short practice?
- Main task: Which picture, conversation, or activity will we use?
- Support and stretch: What help can I offer, and what can I ask if it’s too easy?
- Final check: How will I see what the student can do independently?
Measure the difference for your own schedule
Track preparation time for a week, then try one change the following week. Include time spent adapting purchased materials so the comparison is fair.
For illustration, saving 15 minutes on each of 12 lessons would free up three hours. That’s an example calculation, not a promised result. Your saving depends on your classes, materials, and planning responsibilities.
A ready-made curriculum may help if creating and sequencing materials is the part that takes most of your time. Look through the Level 2 lessons or speaking lessons, choose something that fits your students, and read it before class. Adapt the pace and questions as needed.
For more classroom examples, see five practical ESL teaching methods to get students talking.