PLANNING AND PREPARATION FOR LESSONS: SCHEMES AND RECORDS OF WORK

INTRODUCTION It is necessary to plan activities for every institution because it serves as guide and monitoring device. Once this has been prepared, it is very necessary to follow the plans. The skill of planning instruction involves fitting work planned into available time in the term, allowing for holidays, testing periods, indicating what is to be taught and the like through Schemes of Work (SoW) as well as statement of work actually done in Records of Work (RoW) in terms of objectives or content. SCHEMES OF WORK - DEFINITION It can simply be defined as a sequence of topics broken down into teachable units per week. A scheme of work is a plan of what will be covered in each week or session of the learning programme or course. Nicholas Twoli (2006) defines a scheme of work as a document containing topics from the syllabus broken down into sub-topics which can be taught in a specified period of time usually a school termp.140. A scheme of work defines the structure and content of a course. It maps out clearly how resources (e.g. books, equipment, time) and class activities (e.g. teacher-talk, group work, practicals, discussions) and assessment strategies (e.g. tests, quizzes, Q&A, homework) will be used to ensure that the learning aims and objectives of the course are met. It will normally include times and dates. The scheme of work is usually an interpretation of a specification or syllabus indicating the amount of work to be covered during the term or year and can be used as a guide throughout the course to monitor progress against the original plan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_of_work From the definitions time, structure and content are key component of Schemes of work. From the syllabus teachers make schemes of work which goes together with Records of Work which is what has been accomplished or statements which indicates actual work pupils were discussing to learn and how well it was done.

WHEN SHOULD SCHEMES OF WORK BE PREPARED

Schemes of work are prepared before the term begins to maximize the use of the available time for teaching and learning. What should be done before drawing schemes of work and what is the role of the Head teachers and heads of Department? Holding Departmental and Staff meetings to plan for the coming term. Subject/ period allocations in the departments and approval during staff meetings. Purchase of Scheme books, pens and other stationary required.. Planning together dead line for the submission of Schemes of work for checking by the HODs and approval (stamping) by the DHT/HTs to be an Official document.

Many schools, teachers and head teachers committed to teaching and learning recognize the importance of schemes and records of work. Schemes are planned and prepared by all teachers well ahead of time before the term begins and checked (validated) by the Heads of Departments HoDs before being stamped by the Head teacher or Deputy. REQUIREMENTS IN PREPARING SCHEMES OF WORK AND RECORDS OF WORK

When designing a scheme of work, there are a number of factors that should be taken into consideration. The following questions may help you to focus your thoughts.

Who is the course for? Is there a syllabus? What resources are available? What resources can be "begged, borrowed or stolen"? What resources can be designed or developed? What topics/subjects need to be included? What practical activities are integral to the course? What assignments have to be completed? What essential elements need to be included? How will students be assessed? How much time will students need for this? What additional activities might be included to broaden students' experience or understanding? Do you need to take account of holidays and festivals etc.?

In preparing Schemes of Work, teachers must have adequate knowledge on the following areas of requirements; when a teacher is preparing to teach, there are a number of things that he/she needs to do. These are preparing Schemes of work and Lesson Plans. The schemes of work are based on the syllabus, textbooks and the school calendar. From the schemes of work the teacher prepares lesson plans to guide him or her when teaching. These are tools for necessary for effective teaching. The subject syllabus

Core (Recommended) Textbooks Subject matrices School Calendar Available resources Identification of students needs

Syllabus familiarization Teachers need to be familiar with the syllabus and use it as an effective tool in the teaching and learning process. Teachers should teach everything as guided by the syllabus, should not assume that students have knowledge. It is clearly important that teachers should be familiar with the syllabus documents so that they can find their way around it. Have a deeper understanding of the Content of the Syllabus. Teachers must be familiar with the teaching syllabus so they can decide what and how to teach and so that they understand what is expected of them. A teacher cannot plan for valid teaching and learning activities for her or his classes in the absence of the syllabus. He or she must acquire the syllabus which should be the basis for scheming of lessons. ACTIVITY In your groups, list the major sections of the syllabus and their use. Syllabus section a. National goal of education; use guides the teacher to what the society expects education to achieve at different levels. b. Secondary school education objectives; c. Subject rationale; guide the teacher to what pupils are supposed to have achieved at the end of course. explains the purpose of offering the subject at secondary school Level. d. Subject objectives; guides the teacher about specific knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that students acquire in the subject. e. Themes (list of skills and values); guide the teacher on major areas that the syllabus covers. This provides him/her with a framework on which to plan his /her work. They also useful when it comes to supplementing textbooks with articles form available resources. Teachers must ensure that they develop the skills and values listed in their lessons. f. Scope and sequence chart; this show the depth and breadth of subject matter in order to avoid digression or omission and to ensure full coverage of the curriculum from known to the unknown. g. The actual teaching syllabus; it contains the details of what should be taught.

ACTIVITY In groups, look at the national goals of education and secondary education objectives. Single out those that relate to your subject. COMPONENTS OF THE TEACHING SYLLABUS ACTIVITY In groups explain the importance use of the different columns of the actual teaching syllabus for lesson preparation and actual teaching process. Syllabus column/ component I. II. III. Importance or use Theme guides the teacher on the major areas the subject covers. This provides him a framework on which to plan his/her work. Topic it helps the teacher to break the theme into teachable units. Objectives guide the teacher to achieve the intended objectives for each topic and they spell out knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to be achieved at the end of each topic. Content gives the teacher a guide on the material to be used and covered to achieve the objectives of each topic. Suggested Learning activities guide the teacher on a variety of activities that could be used in the lesson according to the nature of the class and lesson. Suggested teaching and learning materials use in their lessons. suggest some materials teachers may

IV. V. VI. VII.

Suggested modes of assessment suggest various methods of assessment based on particular skill, objective and content. It is important in every lesson the teacher should determine learners achievement.

Core textbook familiarization All core textbooks have been approved by MoEST and will cover at least 80% of the syllabus. Schools should buy a class set of these books with TRF though little. However, no core textbook will be perfect for any one class. Teachers must therefore supplement the core textbook with other supplementary materials where necessary. The core textbook should therefore be evaluated in terms of syllabus coverage by looking on table of contents and look through the whole book in detail. Teachers should do this before scheming so that they can find out how much they need. Teachers should know where the gaps are in core textbooks they can easily supplementary materials. Other textbooks should also be used when the core textbook does not deal with an area adequately or is unsuitable for a particular group of students.

COMPONENTS OF SCHEMES OF WORK AND RECORDS OF WORK

After the teacher has familiarized himself/herself with the syllabus and the core text books, he/she can go on to plan a scheme of work. Pre-planning stage The teacher has to consider the groups of students he/she is going to teach in conjunction with the objectives of the syllabus, materials available in core textbooks and other resources. Then the teacher chooses appropriate content and activities to match the objective, the skills, the values and attitudes that learners need to acquire. Teachers knowledge of the syllabus Teachers knowledge of the students Teachers knowledge of core textbooks Objectives- knowledge of skills, values and attitudes- content- activities Planning Schemes of work Lesson Plans

DESIGNING SCHEMES OF WORK. Experience shows that there are some Schemes of work which are quite detailed while others are quite outlined (sketchy). Furthermore, for many teachers, completing records of work is pausing serious challenges. Nevertheless, detailed schemes of work are recommended because they give a lot of guidance to teachers and other stakeholders as well as right balance between curriculum interpretation and implementation as a policy. ACTIVITY In groups prepare a weeks schemes of work for any form on your subject. Think about the students that you have, look at the syllabus, what is available in the core text books you are using. You can also use supplementary materials. (Activity time 30 minutes, reporting time 5 minutes per group). IMPORTANCE OF SCHEMES AND RECORDS OF WORK

Ensure that all topics are drawn by going through the syllabus topic by topic, and subtopics in the SoW are sequentially arranged (logical sequence) to ensure meaningful learning.

Guide teachers on what, when and how to assess teaching and learning (content / objectives and assessment criteria). Provide continuity in the work and the learning process during handovers especially during the school year. (Remarks on RoW). They help teachers to have smooth handovers when they are on posting or official duties. A teacher who takes over a class will know where to start. Regulate teachers to apportion time proportionately, giving more time to difficult topics than simple ones. Demonstrate accountability to their employers and learners. Help the Ministry officials, education advisors and Head teachers to evaluate the work of the teacher (check what the pupils are learning i.e. what they have covered or not). Assist to evaluate and determine the quality and quantity of teaching and learning taking place in the school in terms of appropriateness of content, approaches and meeting needs of the pupils. Help to keep the teacher updated (abreast) with suggestions and reviews every term and year. Helps a teacher to draw better schemes of work for the following term/academic year. Create room for improvement on the previous years work due to influx of new knowledge. Help / guide in making Lesson Plans. Guide the teacher to identify teaching methods and prepare T/L Aids in advance. Enables teachers of different subjects to coordinate their efforts. Shows successes and failures of the lesson and on what should be done if a lesson is a failure. Helps to indicate how much time has been spent on each lesson (pace of teaching).

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN CHECKING SCHEMES OF WORK BY HoDS

One of the role/duty of HoDs is to supervise teaching and learning in the department by a) Checking Schemes and Records of Work and Lesson Plans. b) Observing teaching to ensure that the syllabus is being followed correctly and that appropriate methods of teaching are used. So, the HoDs should check Schemes and Records of Work to ensure that; 1. Guided by the national syllabus (based on the syllabus). 2. Prepared for the entire term (in accordance with an official academic calendar. 3. Use of recommended textbooks as priority. 4. Planning a variety of methods relevant to the learning tasks and content.

5. Schemes of work are fully prepared in detail. 6. Important details of preamble (preliminary details) are filled omissions of important information are seen. 7. The subtopics are related and are sequenced logically. 8. A scheme of Work is followed to the letter by checking the RoW. 9. RoWs are updated properly and remarks are evaluative. 10. Continuous assessment (means of evaluation) is planned and done. correctly and no