planning
Planning is always good, but sometime off the cuff works out better.
It is my experience that if each day of instruction is planned ahead of time, both student and instructor know exactly what to expect, therefore producing a better learning environment.
I find that planing ahead makes teaching easier, and the work day goes by alot faster.
Using a Lesson Plan is always wise. It helps to keep you on the right path so that you, as well as your students, know where you are going with the information you are presenting. Ocassionally, it's acceptible to "work off the cuff" provided that you remember that the students are expecting all the information that you provide them to relate back to the Lesson Plan.
As long as you are following the Plan the end result will be that you accomplish what you set out to do, and the students should get what they came to you for. Education.
Stu,
I agree, at least a little bit. As long as you have a lesson plan, and goals in your head for each day's objectives, it's ok to go "off the cuff," provided that you don't get sidetracked. We all know that students will try and get us going the wrong direction about stuff that may be more exciting than the subject material, we just need to be able to bring it back.
I'm not saying that there should be no planning, but i just think that every class is different, and you cannot teach the same way to each class, so a lot of the time, you have to just roll with it
A well-developed lesson plan by planning ahead will help you provide students with directions towards their future goals, and manage the learning environment of that class.
I find that as you are teaching you are always changing your way to teach it the next time
Sometimes you have to go with the flow.
I agree to a certain extent.