Goal-Driven Lesson Planning for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (Michigan Teacher Training (Hardcover)) Illustrated Edition

I used this book as a resource with a group of volunteer ESL teachers. They found it very helpful in giving them a structure for their teaching. The authors have provided step by step ideas for novice teachers to reflect on what they know about teaching and what they could do in the classroom to be effective with students who are trying to learn English. Their underlying principle is that teachers need to have a plan based on a clear picture of the needs of the students and the goals set by the teachers. Teachers should work backwards from the goals to design the lessons. The authors provide very practical tools, templates, guided questions, examples and explanations to lead the teacher through a process of making effective lesson plans. One thing I particularly liked is that they identify lots of situations of what could go wrong or be challenging to a teacher and then provide solutions, or at least ideas for how to move forward. I could imagine this book being used as a text for teachers in a TEFL certificate program or by teachers on their own who need a resource to help them create effective lesson plans. Although the authors' definitions of objectives, outcomes and goals may vary from what is found in other sources and disciplines as pointed out by another review, the framework for their model is clear and the structure is effective.

Like many "goal oriented" texts, this book consistently confuses purpose, vision, principle, project, and action under the single, all-purpose directive of "goal." While the ideas presented are probably an improvement over simply "winging it" in the classroom, the improvement is only slight as the lack of distinction among critical aspects of planning generate unconscious resistance to the whole topic. As a result, individuals with project management training and experience will immediately perceive the book as deficient and the untrained will just as quickly perceive the book as overwhelming. Neither will benefit from the only valuable aspect of the text, which is the considerable experience of the authors in their discipline.