This article will show you how to write
your standard operating procedure for your teaching process in the classroom.
Most of you work according to a set curriculum; many of you have detailed
lesson plans. So what is the difference?
Your standard operating procedure (SOP) is
not so much concerned with the content of each individual lesson, but with the
overall attitudes, routines and outcomes of your teaching. It allows you to
think on paper, establish your own quality standard and start a process of continuous
improvement. It may be further useful in case someone has to replace you during
a holiday or sick leave (if you want make sure your students get a comparable
level of service quality). Sharing it with your administration may make it
easier for them to sell your courses to potential customers and will make the
performance appraisal process more transparent, because now you are teaching
following clearly outlined principles and should be judged only according to
them.
Here are some chapters your SOP could
contain.
1. Goals
and objectives
What is my goal as a teacher? Apart from
applying a certain textbook, passing certain standardized tests: what impact do
I want to make as a teacher? What is my vision for change in my students and in
society at large? What cognitive and social skills should my students develop
during my lessons? How do I want to leave them better off? What experience do I
want to impart on them that they can get only in a classroom setting with me?
How do I want to develop and change myself? What cognitive and social skills do
I want to improve while teaching (e.g. posture, voice, persuasion, negotiation,
explaining)?
2. Your
teaching philosophy
Not all of us do openly subscribe to a
certain teaching philosophy. We just teach language X. We have studied
linguistics at the university or obtained a certification as teacher. Why
should we adhere to some “philosophy”? The problem is, every one of us has, at
least implicitly, a clear set of rules and principles on how to teach. Putting
that on paper forces us to consciously examine our belief system about
teaching, and eventually adapt it over time, in the light of classroom
evidence.
Questions to stimulate the writing process
are:
How do I think the attainment of the
above-listed goals is achieved? By what means, mechanisms do I provoke the
intended changes? Where from do I have these beliefs? What evidence do I have
that my teaching philosophy is right?
3. Classroom
management
Describe what you actually do in the classroom,
apart from working through the textbook, by completing the following sentences:
In a typical lesson, I speak
__ % of the total time.
Each of my students speaks __ % of the
total time.
My students work in pairs or small groups
__ % of the total time.
I ensure classroom discipline by …
In case, students do not respect the
classroom rules, my strategy is the following:
When students complain about my teaching,
and me, I have the following procedure:
How does my typical lesson look like? Make
use of flow-charts in the “Insert/smartArt” function. Identify blocks of
activities you regularly do: warm-up exercises, checking homework, translation,
games, dialogues, grammar, etc. This does not mean every single one of your
lessons needs to stick to this structure. It is just an orientation. You might
also make structures for several course levels.
List all things that, from your
experience, are detrimental to your students’ success in the classroom. It can
refer to a teacher’s strategies, activities or comments.
Make a list of activities, apart from
those in the textbooks, that you find useful and explain why. Include also
games or special dialogue exercises. Write down the short name of the activity,
for what level it is most suitable, describe it and explain what you want to
achieve with it as specifically as you can.
7. Ressources
List all the ressources you need/use apart
from the textbook. These may be additional grammar books, dictionnaires,
websites, video courses, special objects for certain games or activities.
What next?
Feel free to add any other relevant
category to your SOP. Change its structure as you see it fit. Set regular
intervals at which you go through the entire SOP and check where it needs to be
updated. Any time you have a new idea during lessons, make changes and
corrections to your SOP. Share it with colleagues or other persons (relatives,
students, professionals from unrelated fields) you trust and ask for their
feedback. Establish an auditing routine with colleagues, whether you adhere to
your own SOPs or not.
Stay tuned!
Gerhard
Please do contact me
at gerhard.j.ohrband@gmail, or visit my website http://thegomethod.mozello.com/
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