Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.
John Lennon

The unobserved lesson plan consists of 3 stages:

1. The Warmer (10–15 minutes)
2. Stuff from the book
3. The Game (20–30 minutes)

Stage C ensures that the students leave the classroom looking moderately cheerful.

Stage A: The Warmer

This is a filler—a little game or something to keep the few punctual students busy while you wait for all the late arrivals. Some fillers require no preparation at all.

Stage B: Stuff from the book

When you are not being observed, just tell the students, “Turn to page 104”, and work through the book until the time is up.

If you have your own copy of the tape (essential), do every listening. This saves you having to cue the tape for the next class.

Stage C: The Game

If you are not careful, this could take a lot of preparation. Jill Hadfield’s games are particularly notorious for lots of cutting-up beforehand.

You are supposed to play a game that relates to the grammar, topic, etc in stage B. However, games that aim to practise a particular language point are usually crap. In unobserved lessons, do not bother.

Padding

If the horrid little swots do everything too quickly, you will need to pad out the rest of the lesson. Try to do this before stage C.

Padding ideas:

• another filler
• tell a filthy story
• teach them some rude words
• gossip about the other teachers