Lesson plans play a very important role in the Planning Phase because they are detailed guides which provide the lesson conductors with knowledge of how to conduct the lessons. A good lesson plan covers both the content of the lesson, as well as the method to conduct the lesson effectively.

There are 4 main reasons why we plan for lessons instead of improvising on how to conduct the lesson on the spot:

• Clarity ~ Clear of what to teach, as well as how to teach it

• Unpredictable Events ~ Contingencies to prepare for the unexpected

• Flow ~ Smooth transitions within your lesson

• Reminder ~ Remember important details when conducting your lesson (Lesson plans are used as references for before and while you are conducting your lessons)

There are 3 important parts which you have to consider when creating an effective lesson plan--that is, the objective of your lesson, the lesson pedagogy and the assessment portion of your lesson.

Objective:

To put it simply, the objective of your lesson is what you want to achieve by the end of your lesson. These objectives can be broken up into 3 categories:

• Knowledge ~ What you want your participants to know by the end of the lesson

• Skills ~ What you want your participants to be able to do by the end of the lesson

• Values ~ Embedded learning (How you want to develop your participants' character)

To put things into perspective, take a typical tent pitching session for example; Knowing the procedure on how to pitch a tent would classify under knowledge. As for being able to physically pitch the tent in real life, it would be categorised under skills. Last but definitely not least, having the teamwork to coordinate with your teammates to efficiently pitch a tent would be considered as a value objective.

Also, do take note that there are certain pointers to take note of when deciding your objectives. Your objectives need to be:

• Clear

• Feasible

• Measurable

Pedagogy:

Pedagogy refers to the method of conducting the lesson. The pedagogy is important because everyone is different and a particular teaching style may not necessarily be effective for everyone. When planning your lessons, always consider the learning styles of your participants to maximise the effectiveness of training. The learning styles can be broken up into 3 groups:

1. Auditory (Approximately 30% of the population)

   • Able to follow instructions easily

   • Like hearing someone explain a concept to them

   • Like explaining to others

   • Like debating and discussing

2. Visual (Approximately 65% of the population)

   • Remember what they see very well

   • Prefer to read and write

   • Difficulty remembering instructions

3. Kinesthetic (Approximately 5% of the population)

   • Like taking notes

   • Like drawing pictures while listening

   • Remember things by doing them

   • Memorise by walking around and seeing

Once you have pinned down the learning styles of your demographic, it is time to decide the lesson methods which you intend to utilise in order to draw out your objectives as efficiently as possible. There are multiple lesson methods but the most commonly used ones are:

• Interactive ~ Engage your participants by encouraging them to get involved, typically through the use of mini activities or stimulating questions

• Direct Instruction ~ Mono-directional lectures

• Game-Based ~ Utilise games to facilitate and bring out the learning points

• Group Learning ~ Brainstorming ideas in your individual groups

Assessment:

The assessment is meant to test the participants' learning, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of the lesson (Are the participants able to grasp your concepts easily?). There is a multitude of ways to carry out the assessment; These are merely a few simple ways to assess your participants and the lesson:

• Setting Assessment Targets ~ Set goals to test the proficiency of your participants

• Observing Behaviour ~ Check the interest levels of your participants to gauge whether the lesson is too mundane or not

• Asking Questions ~ Test whether your participants have managed to grasp the knowledge taught

• Debrief ~ Observe the direction of the discussion and see whether your participants are able to pick out the learning points of the lesson

Lesson Plan Template:

Always remember that a good lesson plan is one that can be easily understood by someone who has no clue what the activity is about. It is also highly encouraged to include a linking activity (An activity that utilises past experiences to draw relevance to the lesson objectives) in your lesson plans in order to achieve your lesson objectives more easily.

1. Lesson Title

   • Succinct

   • Specific (Ensure that the reader knows what the lesson plan is about the moment they read the title)

2. Lesson Objectives

   • Knowledge, Skills and/or Values

   • Define the value objectives

   • Give a rationale for your value objectives

   • Explain how the facilitators will bring out the value objectives

3. Prior Knowledge

   • Hard skills which need to be mastered by the participants before the lesson

   • Do not include basic skills such as understanding the English language, knowing how to write in English, etc. (If there is no prior knowledge required, just put "NIL")

4. Lesson Information

   • The stages of your lesson (Similar to an event programme)

   • If there is a preparation phase before the lesson starts, include that too

   • Make use of sub-headings to provide more clarity

   • Use concise headings

   • Include the duration of each step, as well as the total duration

   • Include the targeted participants

   • Include the attire for both the participants and the lesson conductors

   • Include the location of your lesson

5. Equipment and Logistics

   • Quantity

   • Dimensions

   • Purpose

   • Source

6. Method of Instruction

   • Detailed instructions for each stage of your lesson (Similar to an admin programme)

   • Include the ratio of lesson conductors to participants

   • All lesson conductors should know exactly what to do at any point in time during the lesson after reading this portion of the lesson plan

   • Include any important information at the respective stages of your lesson

7. Safety Precautions

   • Predict potential risks and come up with preventive and/or counter measures

8. Contingency Plans

   • Contingency Plans are backups which ensure the smooth flow of the activity despite abnormal circumstances

   • Be very specific (E.g. If you are preparing a Wet Weather Programme, consider what you will do if it rains before, during and/or after the activity)

   • Contingency Plans can be broken up into 2 categories (Use the most probable ones in your lesson plan):

     1. Wet Weather Programme

     2. Evacuation Plans (Haze, Fire, Wild Boar, etc.)

9. Authentications

   • Done by

   • Vetted by

   • Date

   • When filling in the credentials of the lesson planner and the one who vetted the lesson plan, you have to include the rank, the word "(NPCC)" and the full name (E.g. Done by: P/CI (NPCC) Kho Jia Jing)

10. References

    • Citations (If applicable, if not then just put "NIL")

11. Annexes

    • Additional materials which cannot be fitted into the Method of Instruction without it getting too messy (Typically pictures or diagrams)

    • It is not compulsory to have annexes

There is not really much to say about the Conducting Phase because it is rather straightforward. There are only 2 main things which you need to keep in mind when conducting your lessons:

• Follow your lesson plans as close as possible, with your focus placed on achieving your lesson objectives

• Be flexible; If you need to adjust your plans in order to help you achieve your objectives, do not be afraid to make changes

Make sure to utilise your manpower to the fullest extent and the rest is up to your experience as a lesson conductor. Always remember that teamwork and communication are key when it comes to conducting an effective lesson.

Evaluation is paramount as it can not only facilitate learning, but it can also serve as feedback for improvement. Evaluation, for this matter, can be quite widely interpreted, but for simplicity sake, it is broken up into 3 degrees:

• 1st Degree of Evaluation ~ Evaluate the participants to assess their learning

• 2nd Degree of Evaluation ~ Evaluate the lesson conductors via their proficiency in hard and soft skills, with regards to that specific lesson

• 3rd Degree of Evaluation ~ Evaluate the lesson planner via the effectiveness of the lesson plan

Evaluation Template:

You do not have to follow this template strictly, but it helps you to better assess your performance as a lesson planner and/or a lesson conductor so that you have a better idea of how to ameliorate.

1. Verbal Communication

   • Volume ~ Consistently audible to your participants

   • Tone ~ Natural variation in tone

   • Clarity ~ Clear instructions and pronunciations

   • Communication Energy ~ Exhibit interest and enthusiasm

2. Non-Verbal Communication

   • Eye Contact ~ Sufficient eye contact with your participants

   • Gesture ~ Effective use of gestures to convey ideas

   • Posture ~ Display a sense of professionalism

3. Visual Aid

   • Purpose/Objective ~ Visual aid helps your participants to understand your concepts more easily

   • Effectiveness ~ Visual aid helps to make teaching easier

4. Partnership

   • Coordination ~ Effective teamwork and communication to achieve the lesson objectives

   • Lesson Allocation ~ All lesson conductors get approximately the same amount of time to teach the participants

5. Management

   • Time ~ Follows the duration of the lesson plan and does not under/overrun

   • Audience ~ The participants are kept under control

   • Environment ~ Effective environment to conduct the lesson

6. Planning

   • Linking Activity ~ Able to respond to questions posed by the participants and alter the linking activity to achieve the lesson objective

   • Value Objective ~ Constant emphasis on the value objective and effectively linking the value objectives to the lesson during debrief

   • Lesson Flow ~ Maintain the flow of the lesson (Smooth flow)

   • Lesson Pace ~ Appropriate pace for the participants to learn