THE PRINCIPLE OF PRAPARATION
The first and perhaps the most important of the six principles is the principle of preparation. A teacher who takes enough time before a class to make sure he is ready for the class will have a good class. Both the teacher and the student will enjoy the lesson. Effective teaching depends on careful and conscientious preparation.
It is a general rule in teaching that the more we prepare, the better we teach and the less we prepare the worst we teach. A lesson well prepared is 90% delivered. Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘’failure to prepare is preparing to fail’’. A crucial feature in successful teaching is an iron determination to do a great deal of hard work in preparation for your lesson each week.
If only we could grasp the importance of lesson planning and preparation, we will have an easy and enjoyable teaching career and profession. Here are some importance of lesson planning.
1. Lesson plans enable the teacher to identify and gather materials required for teaching. This is because you have the opportunity to think of what you are going to do and therefore what materials you will use to do it. You will then find out where to get such materials in advance. You will not begin the lesson and wish you had some materials in the middle of the lesson.
2. Lesson plans also enable the teacher to arrange what is to be taught in an orderly manner. As you begin to write the lesson plan, it provides you with opportunity to determine which activity should come first, which should follow, and so on. You can make changes in this sequence and come out with the best.
3. The teacher becomes confident in presenting the lesson. Confidence is important in lesson delivery. You can only be confident when you know what to teach and you can only know what you are about and what you are going to do next when you are well prepared.
4. Lesson presentation becomes precise as irrelevant information is avoided. Once you have planned for the lesson, your presentation becomes more focused. You know exactly what to impart, therefore unnecessary issues are reduced. As a result, pupils do not become bored.
5. It makes the teacher read and consult other sources of information. Once you have to write down a lesson plan, especially when you know the head teacher and other people may have the opportunity to look at it, you will find out more about the topic so that will not be found wanting. In the end however, teacher and pupils all benefit from more interesting lesson.
6. A well prepared lesson plan enables another teacher to take over the class in the absence of the regular teacher.
7. Finally, lesson plans serve as a written record of work done by teacher. Such a record has several uses. Official of the education service can use it to assess the work of the teacher or even the head teacher who is supposed to be vetting it. Also, when pupils go on to the next class, the lesson plan of the previous class can tell where they reach so that the new teacher will know where to continue. Sometimes a teacher is changed in the middle of the term but a new teacher can continue with the class since the lesson plan is available.
Having looked at some importance of lesson planning, I believe we will all make a solemn vow to always plan ahead of every lesson.

HOW TO PREPARE A SCHEME OF WORK
Before any teacher can teach a lesson, he or she needs to first prepare a scheme of work. The teacher can then use this scheme of work along with the syllabus and other relevant textbooks to prepare an expanded scheme of work or what is usually referred to as lesson notes. What then is a scheme of work?
A scheme of work is a clear and orderly statement of a teacher’s proposed work in particular subject area over a given period of time. A scheme of work can be prepared to cover a term, a year, or a week. However, it is advisable to prepare one to cover a term.
It should be noted that a scheme of work should be prepared at the beginning of the term. It should also be flexible so as to accommodate any unexpected eventualities or changes.
Before you prepare a scheme of work, there are some materials you need. These include:
i. The Syllabus for the given subject and class.
ii. Relevant textbooks
iii. Workbooks to be used.
iv. Teaching and Learning Materials.
STRUCTURE AND ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF A SCHEME OF WORK
Just as with most records, there is no common structure. However, since the content of a good scheme of work is known, a standard one should be structured as follows.
WEEKLY FORECAST
SUBJECT:…………………………………. CLASS:…….. TERM: …………. YEAR: …………..
WEEK WEEK ENDING TOPIC REFERENCES T/L MATERIALS REMARKS



PREPARING A GOOD SCHEME OF WORK
The teacher, apart from the fact that he or she is the captain of the class, can also be considered as the god of the class. This is because the teacher knows the end from the beginning. He knows exactly when the term is to begin and when it is to end. He also knows the number of weeks and even days to spend in school.
This is however not the case with some private basic schools as the heads or in some cases the proprietors or proprietresses do not have any particular plan ahead of the term. This does not however auger well for any educational institution.
Let us discuss the various components of a good scheme of work. This will guide you to prepare one.

WEEK:
Here, the teacher is expected to write the week for which a given topic is to be treated. It is advisable to write this in figures not in words. Example 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc.
WEEK ENDING
This is the last working day – which is usually Friday – of the given week. The teacher should make an advance research to check whether the week actually ends on Friday and that no public holiday prevents it from ending on Friday. In the case of the latter, the date of the day which actually serves as the last working day of the week should be written.
TOPIC
This can be found in the syllabus. If you go through the syllabus carefully, there is a page where the topics to be treated at each stage for the academic year are outlined. Some subjects like Creative Arts have topics divided into terms.
The teacher must carefully study the topics and try to see its content whether it is broad or not. This will help him determine the number of weeks to allocate to it. He or she must consider the number of weeks to be spent at school. The teacher can do this by taking a quick glance at the provisional lesson plan provided in the syllabus and consider the type of objectives set. The objectives play a major role in determining how long a teacher will take in completing a given topic. Thus the number of weeks it will take to complete a topic will be determined by the teacher based on the above factors. It is advised that if a given topic takes two weeks to complete, say weeks 4 and 5, the teacher should write the same topic twice and avoid using ( “ “ ) to indicate a repetition of topics.
REFERENCES
Having written down the topics, it is now time to look at the reference materials you are going to make use of. As a teacher, your first and perhaps most important of all reference materials should be the syllabus. All other text books come from the syllabus. The type of syllabus you are using and the exact page you will be referring to must be indicated. Next comes the type of textbooks, workbooks and teacher’s handbook. Don’t forget to indicate the title and page numbers of these reference materials.
TEACHING LEARNING MATERIALS (T.L.M)
After the reference column comes the teaching learning materials you will need to make your lesson successful. At the lower primary level it is advisable to use real objects. It must however be noted that the names of these real objects must be stated. All other materials the teacher will need in his or her lesson delivery will have to be stated in detail here. This will later help the teacher to identify what type of materials he or she will need for the term and make demands if need be from the administration. It is always advisable to state materials that are realistic and which the teacher actually intends to use. These materials must be readily available.
REMARKS
This is the last in the table of scheme of work and is mostly left untouched. It must however be made use of as it serves as a guide to whoever is assessing the teacher or takes over from the teacher. After every week, the teacher must indicate whether the lesson was delivered successfully or not.
Phrases such as, “lesson delivered successfully”, “lesson not delivered due to staff meeting” can be used. These are just examples. The scheme of work is a record material and every good teacher must learn to keep his or her records well.
THINGS TO NOTE
• Always make sure you are well informed about the number of weeks you will be spending at school in a given term.
• Make sure you note all holidays in the term – this includes mid – term breaks.
• If you will need any material from your administration to use in preparing your T.L.M, you must put it into writing early enough for administration to work on.
• Read a lot and make use of the numerous search engines on the web.
• Develop a good circle of friends who can help you anytime you do not understand something.
• Avoid using words or symbols which are known only to you. Don’t forget, anybody can use it in your absence.
Let us now take a close look at the expanded scheme of work or lesson plan.
HOW TO WRITE A LESSON PLAN
Below is a structure of the traditional lesson plan used in Ghana.
Week Ending: ………………………………
Subject: ……………………………………..
Reference: ………………………………….
Day/duration Topic/sub-
Topic/
Aspect Objectives/R.P.K Teacher Learner Activity Teaching Learning Materials Core Points Evaluation and Remarks




Having prepared a good scheme of work, writing a lesson plan shouldn’t be a problem at all. One will however need the following materials in other to write a good lesson plan. They include the following:
• Syllabus
• Scheme of work
• Other relevant textbooks, teacher’s guide and workbooks, etc.
BELOW ARE EASY STEPS TO FOLLOW IN PREPARING A STANDARD LESSON PLAN

a. First comes the week ending. This represents the date of the last working day of the week – which is usually Friday – for which the note is meant. E.g. 9th Week Ending: 201th April, 2017. You can get this information from a good scheme of work.
b. Next, you write the particular subject for which the lesson note is being prepared. E.g. English Language.
c. You then proceed with quoting the various sources of information you will be using in your lesson delivery. This, you will write at the space marked reference. A good scheme of work or forecast will once again make it easy for you to fill this space. All you have to do is to copy.

Now we will proceed to fill the table which has about seven columns
1. In the first column is the heading (Day/ Duration). Here you are expected to write the day in the week and duration (how long) the lesson will last. E.g. Monday, 60 minutes (10:00 am – 11:00 am).
2. You then proceed to the next column which has Topic/ Sub – Topic/ Aspect as its heading. This is where the topics in the forecast to be treated are written. For subjects like the languages, the specific aspects should be stated such as Listening and Speaking, Grammar, Writing, etc.
3. Next comes the column where you are expected to write the objective. This shows the focus, target or scope of what is expected to be achieved by the end of the lesson. It is usually begun with the opening clause by the end of the lesson, the pupil will be able to. A good lesson objective should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. In short a good objective should be SMART. In stating the objectives, performance verbs such as: list, state, name, sort, create, read, identify, and calculate, draw, label, etc. must be used. Example, by the end of the lesson, the pupil will be able to measure distances and length in meters and centimeters.
4. Under the objectives you are expected to write the R.P.K – which stands for Relevant Previous Knowledge. This refers to the real life experiences, knowledge and skills which the children have and which is related to the new lesson to be taught. It is the body of knowledge which the teacher can use as a starting point to build a new lesson. For example, in teaching fractions, the R.P.K. could be children can share items equally among themselves.
5. In the next column is the Teacher Learner Activity. This refers to the task or activities which will be carried out by both teachers and learners in order to achieve the set objectives. It is the heartbeat of the teaching process. It is also the area where learners interact with learning materials in order to carry out activities to enhance understanding or discover concept in the topic under consideration. Under the Teacher Learner Activity, variety of teaching methods and pedagogical competencies like questioning skills are adopted to achieve set objectives. All the activities can be organized into three (3) main groups.
i. Introduction
ii. Activity
iii. Conclusion

INTRODUCTION
This is where the interest of the pupil is aroused for the lesson. It is also called the set induction. Here, the teacher can begin by reviewing the pupils R.P.K. Example; Teacher introduces the lesson by asking pupils to share eight oranges among themselves equally.
ACTIVITY
Here, you are expected to write down all the various teaching activities that will take place in the class. It is advised that you write these steps and be very brief about it. Also if you stated any teaching learning materials, this is where you are expected to state how to use it. For example:
i. Step 1: Pupils, in pairs share eight oranges among themselves (meaning this teacher might have written oranges down as his TLM).
ii. Step 2: Pupils discuss how many oranges each will receive.
iii. Step 3: Pupils now try to share one orange among eight pupils, etc.
These are all activities to teach fractions.
CONCLUSION
Also known as plenary or summary. Here, you will be expected to write down what you will do to bring your lesson to an end. It may include taking the pupils through the chalkboard summary, asking pupils to summarize the lesson or answer questions for clarification. Remember, lessons must never end abruptly.
6. Under the Teaching Learning Material, write down any material you may want to use in the teaching process. They include real objects like plants, oranges, sticks or pictorial images, flash cards, audio visual aids, etc. they should not merely be mentioned but  their usage should reflect in the presentation stages of the lesson plan. TLMs should be prepared or obtained prior to the lesson.
7. Next comes the column where you are supposed to write your Core Points. These are brief notes on the central or main ideas/concepts in the lesson. They are not activities therefore activity verbs must not be used in this column. The core points should have a direct relationship with the objectives and subsequently your evaluation. In short, a very concise summary of the notes you’ll give to your students.
8. Evaluation. These are activities you’ll carry out to find out the extent to which children have acquired the knowledge, skills and attitudes stated in the objectives. Evaluation also helps us to find out whether teaching methods have been effective. It is mostly done in the form of questions, either oral or written. In case of the latter, the exact questions of a written exercise must be written down. In situations where pupils are required to answer a set of questions from a textbook, the exact number of questions should be stated including the page numbers. Example, answer questions 1 – 5 on page 5 of Graded English Workbook 4.
9. Finally, you are expected to write down your Remarks. This refers to the comments on the effectiveness of teaching and learning that took place. The remarks should also state the specific problems or weaknesses observed during the lesson in the performance of both the teacher and the pupils for further action. Teachers should also state whether the lesson was taught and set objectives achieved. If the lesson was not taught, an explanation should be given. Example, lesson was delivered successfully and pupils can add fractions with the same denominator.
The principle of preparation therefore states that “failure to prepare is preparing to fail”.