Title: The ideal teacher

Lesson plan elaborated by: Magdalena Trysińska

Topic: Perfect teacher. Is Mr. Keating really there?

Target group:

7th‑grade students of an eight‑year elementary school.

Core curriculum

I. Literary and cultural education.

1. Reading literary works. Student:

8) defines the aesthetic values of the literary texts being studied;

9) uses in the interpretation of literary works references to universal values related to social, national, religious and ethical attitudes and makes them hierarchy.

III. Creating statements.

1. Elements of rhetoric. Student:

1) functionally uses rhetorical means and understands their impact on the recipient;

2) collects and organizes the material material needed to create statements; edits the compositional plan of his own statement;

4) uses the knowledge of the principles of creating thesis and hypothesis and arguments in the creation of the essay and other argumentative texts;

6) carry out the inference as part of the argumentative argument;

7) agrees with other people's views or polemicizes with them, substantively justifying their own opinion.

2. Speaking and writing. Student:

4) performs a voice interpretation of texts read and delivered.

IV. Self‑study. Student:

8) develops the ability to think critically and formulate opinions.

The general aim of education

Students reflect on the literary example of the ideal teacher.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• social and civic competences;

• cultural awareness and expression.

Operational objectives

Student:

• gives different terms of the word „teacher”, recognises the differences in meaning;

• in the interpretation of literary works uses references to universal values:;

• collects vocabulary to evaluate good and bad teacher;

• develops the ability to think critically and formulate opinions about a literary work;.

Teaching methods / techniques

• problematic: directed conversation, discussion;

• programmed: using a computer and e‑textbook;

• practical: objective exercises, work with literary text.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• collective activity;

• activity in pairs and groups.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher defines the purpose of the course, which is to search for the features of an ideal teacher. Together with the students, the teacher sets the criteria for success.

2. The teacher asks students to think about the features of the ideal teacher. Students write their proposals on the board or attach them around the teacher's picture (self‑adhesive cards needed). The task is available as an interactive board in the abstract.

Realization

1. Students do task 2 from the e‑textbook, which aims to broaden their vocabulary. Students pay attention to dictionary definitions and meaning differences of given nouns.

2. If there is enough time, the teacher may propose the students the word association game or charades, and at the same time remind them of the teachers they met in lower classes.

Description of the task:

Recall various film and literary teachers. Write down their names, surnames, nicknames on cards (one character on one card). Put the cards into the box. Make sure everyone knows all the characters proposed.

Then, in pairs, draw one card and determine the features of the drawn character. Present this character to other students without mentioning his/her name or pseudonym. The names of other characters or the title of the work must not be mentioned either. The students’ task is to guess the name of the presented character.

3. The students read the text in the e‑textbook – an excerpt from the novel “Dead Poets Society” by Nancy H. Kleinbaum. They pay attention to the teachers mentioned in the text.

4. The next part of the lesson is devoted to the discussion about the text:

The students characterise the teachers mentioned in the text. They pay attention to the features of a good and a bad teacher. They can use the table from the task 4. in the abstract.

- The students explain how Mr Keating's method differed from the methods used by other teachers. At the same time, they pay attention to the feelings of the students during the meeting with the new teacher.

The students explain what the phrase carpe diem in the excerpt of the novel means. They define the context in which Mr Keating interprets these words.

- Working in groups, the students wonder what poetry is for Mr Keating.

- Students interpret the last dialogue in the novel (between Cameron and Charlie) - they wonder why Charlie stated that Cameron did not understand anything from Mr. Keating's lesson.

Summary

1. The teacher asks the students what they have learned today and if they found the lesson interesting. The teacher asks the students to perform self‑assessment of their individual work during the lesson. For this purpose, the teacher can use a previously prepared questionnaire or a decision tree, or can carry out the assessment orally.

2. Students propose their own order of keywords for this topic. They give reasons for their proposals.

Homework

Is the carpe diem principle still valid? Write a few sentences on this subject. You can also add how you implement this principle.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The ideal teacher

The ideal teacher is the master – an unrivalled model of virtues and treasury of wisdom, the mentor and the guide, the inspirer, educator and friend. Is this always the case?