Pacing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pacing - Essay Example In addition, the paper will cover learning for difficult subjects in English language learners’ class. Pacing Introduction According to Alan Hofmeister and Margaret Libke, pacing entails both curriculum and lesson pacing. A pacing guide is a written schedule that contains the concepts, topics and skills that are related the curriculum to be covered within a specified period of time (Richards & Lockhart, 2006, p 126). Curriculum pacing is concerned with the rate at which progress is made in delivering the curriculum while lesson pacing is concerned with the rate at which a teacher conducts the individual lessons. From past research, it is evident that low-achieving students learn effectively when lessons are conducted at brisk pace since more content is covered in classroom (Hofmeister & Lubke, 1999, p 19). However, it is assumed that the lesson difficulty will permit the learners to attain a higher rate of success since highly difficult lessons or contents cannot well learned at instructional pace. Good pacing provides the students with the right rhythm of the lesson and creates a perception that the lesson is progressing at the right speed (Richards & Lockhart, 2006, p 127). Lesson pacing is essential in classroom learning. Lesson pacing acts an indicator that students use to gauge the speed and progress of learning in a particular lesson. Accordingly, pacing enables the instructors or teachers to align the method of teaching with the objectives of learning and level of difficulty of the lesson (Richards & Lockhart, 2006, p 131). Effective pacing enables the teacher to hold the attention of the students thus contributing to effective attainment of the learning objectives in a particular lesson. In this regard, students have prior perception of the amount of content that will be covered within a certain period thus enabling them to concentrate during the entire lesson period (Hofmeister & Lubke, 1999, p 27). Lesson pacing helps in advancing from one lear ning topic to the next during the lesson. In this regard, pacing ensures that teachers deliver knowledge in a coherent and sequential manner since no interruptions such as missing instructional materials occur. Lesson pacing arouses learning curiosity and controls students’ behavioral problems during the lesson. Lesson pacing facilitates contribution from the learners through asking for clarifications, quality questioning and coverage of sufficient content within the lesson period (Richards & Lockhart, 2006, p 132). Pacing for a class that includes English Language Learner (ELL) students and for a class that does not include ELL students will differ significantly. For ELL class, explanation of certain vocabularies and key terms is essential before teaching the students new concepts (Hofmeister & Lubke, 1999, p 52). For English Language Learners (ELL), the teacher must move at a slower pace while demonstrating the concepts through body language in order to maintain the attenti on of the learners. For ELL students, the teacher must present learning materials and instructions visually through issuing handouts and not relying entirely on oral instructions (Richards & Lockhart, 2006, p 139). The pacing must facilitate language mastery through clear outline of lesson objectives and definition of the language objectives. The lesson content must be aligned with English language proficiency and lesson activities must integrate lesson concepts with English language practice opportunities such as writing poems (Hofmeister & Lub