Ever wondered how an educator is able to effectively deliver lessons day-in and day-out without faltering. There are so many topics to be covered and concepts to teach the class, but the subject teacher does it with precision and grace. She knows how to pace the learning and estimates the grasping power of students. All this is only possible with the help of proper planning and a bit of back-end effort.

What is a Lesson Plan?

A lesson plan is put together by the teacher so that she can navigate through the loads of lessons she needs to deliver in class. It is prepared in advance and serves as a blueprint for referencing, whenever required. Just like in the corporate environment employees have some targets enlisted clearly on the goal sheet, teachers have to refer to the lesson plan to set their teaching goals and achieve them in a timely manner.

Importance of Lesson Plans

• It provides a step-by-step guide for the teacher to know what to teach in class
• The plan guides the teacher to keep the materials ready for the session in advance
• The ‘objective’ of the lesson is ‘penned down’ clearly, so there is no ambiguity on what the student should know by the end of the session
• Teachers gain confidence and are less stressed about delivering the lecture
• You can also be prepared to answer queries that might be asked by the students
• Effective time-management is possible; as teachers know in advance how to divide the one-hour class cycle and devote time to teaching, conducting activities, and also allowing students to ask queries & do some brainstorming
• Avoids repetition of topics or forgetting to introduce a particular lesson in class
• Reference for a substitute teacher, in case the main teacher is absent
• Helps to strategize teaching and encourages educators to use innovative learning aids, to make the sessions more interesting

Steps for Preparing a Lesson Plan

As a general thumb rule, the lesson plan is designed to include three steps:

• Learning Objectives
• Learning Activities
• Assessment to check for student understanding

Learning Objectives

The objective for a lesson plan must be in sync with the learning readiness of students in class. To device the objectives, ask the following questions;

• What is the topic to be covered?
• What should the students learn from this lesson?
• What are the skills that students must be able to grasp and apply?
• What is the primary objective and which is the secondary objective?

Example:

Topic:

‘A detailed lesson plan of teaching Pronouns’

Objectives

• To be able to understand the concept correctly
• Read the phrase and identify the pronouns
• Complete the assessment on pronouns
• Participate in group work and discussions

Learning Activities

The learning activities should be related to the objective. You also need to understand the level of involvement children will have if you present that particular learning activity to them. Choose an activity that offers an immersive experience to students. Make sure it isn’t boring and alongside learning, children enjoy participating in the activity. Prepare for the following tasks;

• How will I explain the topic to students?
• How will I present the illustrations to them?
• How will I make the topic engaging?
• Are there any relatable examples that I can cite, for kids to understand the concept in a simpler manner?

Writing Objectives for Lesson Plans Using Bloom’s Taxonomy and Associated Action Verbs:

Learning level Associated action verbs

Knowledge

define, describe, state, list, name, write, recall, recognize, label, underline, select, reproduce, outline, match

Comprehension

identify, justify, select, indicate, illustrate, represent, name, formulate, explain, judge, contrast, classify

Application

predict, select, assess, explain, choose, find, show, demonstrate, construct, compute, use, perform

Analysis

analyze, identify, conclude, differentiate, select, separate, compare, contrast, justify, resolve, break down, criticize

Synthesis

combine, restate, summarize, precise, argue, discuss, organize, derive, select, relate, generalize, conclude

Evaluation

judge, evaluate, determine, recognize, support, defend, attack, criticize, identify, avoid, select, choose

Assessment to check for student understanding

This is the final step in the process, but the most important one. Regular assessments are to be conducted to understand the child’s retention capacity and clarity of the topics. Teachers can give homework, conduct quiz, take a surprise class test, and even assign project work, to evaluate and measure the child’s progress. Now that you know how to prepare a ‘lesson plan’ you are all set to take over the classroom session with confidence! However, as we can see preparing a lesson plan is pretty time-consuming, especially when it has to be mapped on paper. To make this process simple for teachers, the Next Learning Platform (NLP) – a school ERP tool, provides ready-made lesson plan templates. One has to simply input the pointers under each category and get started. Also, once the plan is made, it is saved on the system and can be retrieved, thereby saving time & effort to create it all over again. Tech-advanced regions like Dubai and other GCC counterparts, have already adopted NLP and are happy with the enormous time-saving benefits that it offers.

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We thrive in a world that is rapidly evolving in terms of digitalization. New inventions are transforming the way we work, connect, and live, thereby positively transforming the quality of our lives. The buzz word ‘AI’ (Artificial Intelligence) continues to trend as smart machines furthermore develop with human-like intelligence to improve efficiency and save man-hours.

What Are Chatbots?

A chatbot is powered by AI and is used by businesses to engage with their audience through the exchange of automated messages. There are more than 300,000 chatbots on Facebook which are majorly focused on marketing and customer support processes. These virtual agents assist customers with their concerns and tend to queries of potential users. Nearly as many as 40% of internet users worldwide prefer interacting with a chatbot, rather than speaking to agents. Whatever industry you cater to, whether it is healthcare, consumer goods, or even banking, chatbots are taking over and are here to stay.

Categories of Chatbots

Some categories of Chatbots that have become popular:

#1 Menu Chatbot

In this fast-paced world, users don’t have much time to navigate through a website and read the content on each tab. They want the required information, without browsing through too many pages and opening numerous links. The ‘menu bot’ basically gives the audience a chance to choose from several drop-down options an item which they want to learn more about and later showcase some more options – based on what you clicked on, ultimately helping the user reach the required info. A nicely drafted welcome message and presenting the correct data with every click are the key to designing a helpful menu bot.

#2 Smart Chatbots

What if a chatbot could understand emotion and have a free-flowing conversation with you, just like a human would do? It is now possible to devise a ‘smart robot’ that can understand intent, language, and sentiment. These chatbots are slightly complicated to program and it requires skill to make the Robot react the way it should in an appropriate scenario. They work as a virtual assistant, in a real-time manner.

#3 Voice Bots

‘Alexa play my favorite tune by Ed Sheeran’, ‘Alexa when is my next meeting scheduled?’…We have become so dependent on Alexa and Siri, our friendly virtual assistants, that we can’t imagine our day without them. Voice bots are convenient, they are pretty smart, and they speak in a language that we understand. Also, it is way more convenient to speak or give out instructions rather than type them out. Hence, voice bots present a rather favorable experience to the end-user.

Advantages of Chatbots

Chatbots are indeed very versatile and user-friendly and they boost engagement by 3X levels, thereby bringing some obvious benefits such as;

Better Service Experience

Chatbots act as a guide and answer relevant questions related to a product or service, that probable customers are interested in. Having a satisfactory response enables the buyer to make a more informed decision and thereby feel happy in making the purchase. A multi-lingual chatbot communicates with people in their local language, thus improving the level of comfort and free flow of communication. Example: Customers from Dubai or other parts of the Middle East, speaking only Arabic, will find ease in sharing their concerns with the bot in their own regional language.

Keeping A check on Budget

Having to hire employees at a service center and set up a 24×7 hotline, is indeed a costly affair. Rather than paying hefty salaries and spending money on rent, it makes sense to automate the process by replacing human efforts with a chatbot. Chatbots can be customized to play a role under different scenarios, and fully tend to the query, or at least answer it partially, before passing on the ‘ticket’ to an employee within the organization.

Seeking feedback

The fastest and most authentic way to get feedback from the customer is to allow the chatbot to do it on your behalf. The bot collects MCQ data and passes it on to the sales & marketing teams, to take it forward from there.

Code Monkey was introduced to challenge the old-fashioned way of studying, by introducing learning aids that are engaging & fun for the learners. With an in-depth understanding of technology, Code Monkey designs modules’ for teaching coding to students, as young as fourth graders. Schools across the world, especially in tech-advanced countries like the UAE and other regions of GCC, encourage parents to make use of the Code Monkey platform. Amongst many of its interesting modules, the most prominent one is ‘create your own chatbot’. Here children 13+ years, build their own chatbot in Python language and solve real-world problems by using their skills.

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In addition to the limited vocabulary kids learn or pick up from others in preschools, parents must take extra efforts to introduce children to a bank of new words, every now and then. As per a recent survey, studies show that many students who graduate from preschools have limited vocabulary, and this affects their performance in elementary school and beyond.

Words are empowering, they give the student a gateway to understand the world around him and make sense of everything. Therefore, introducing children to a vast ocean of vocabulary, across varied topics, is the key to success for students.

How to build a robust vocabulary:

Here are a few exercises that can be incorporated to build a robust vocabulary:  

#1 Converse as Much as Possible

Often parents make a mistake by speaking to the child at home in their mother tongue. While it’s important for the child to know his regional language, it is equally or even more important to learn English. Young children can grasp new words passively while having a conversation with someone, and hence make a rule of communicating in English 60% of the time, even when the child is at home. As parents, you also need to use different words or increase the complexity of the words in a sentence, so that children are constantly learning a new ‘word’ without even realizing it. Note that repetition is the key, and hence use this newly introduced word a couple of times before you phase it out and replace it with a new one.

#2 Read a Book Together

As much as your child enjoys flipping through a storybook and admires the colorful illustrious characters on the pages, he also needs to be instructed to read the text. The best way to practice this is to read to your child once or twice aloud and then make him do it. Draw the child’s attention to the book and run your finger word-by-word below the text while you are reading. The trick is to read slowly, clearly, and be mindful of the pronunciations. Pause after reading one page and then ask the child if he needs an explanation of any word that he wasn’t already aware of. Explain the meaning in simple words and then proceed with the story. You can use an e-reader or subscribe to the vast library featured by this famous reading portal called – Reading Eggs. Alongside e-books, Reading Eggs has a plethora of gamified exercises and a dedicated ‘phonics learning section’ to support the learner’s reading skills & vocabulary. This multi-award-winning platform has many loyal subscribers in Dubai and other Middle East countries.

#3 Create A Word Wall

This is a great way of constantly reminding children of the words they are learning, as they look at it every time they pass through the living room door. Place the board at a prominent position and affix a chart paper with 5 to 6 words that the child has recently learnt. Keep the word wall as-is for a couple of weeks, and then change the set of words. By repeatedly looking at the words, the child learns to process the information, such that from his short-term memory, it gets etched in the long-term memory, thereby never to be forgotten.

#4 Sing Rhymes

Together Nursery rhymes are fun, they are peppy, and have catchy tunes which make children dance. In a four-liner rhyme, think of how many new words you can accommodate to teach youngsters some additional vocabulary. It is not necessary that you need to stick to conventional ones; ‘Twinkle – Twinkle, and Humpty Dumpty’. Be free to make your own rhyme and add words that you might feel would be helpful for learning. You could also tweak sentences of an existing nursery song, to introduce synonyms and words that are unusual. Most K-12 schools in UAE and other GCC regions introduce a lot of rhymes in the Primary Year’s Program (PYP), because rhymes are easier to recall, and it helps the child in remembering words and their meanings, associated with the rhymes. Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream, And If you see a Pelican, Don’t forget to greet him!

Besides the above methods, you could also introduce a thesaurus to your child, once he’s old enough. An enriched vocabulary will give your child the confidence to communicate freely at school and in a social circle, thereby benefiting him manifold in life. The most important thing to remember is to be positive and support your child’s progress by motivating him.

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