Module 3 · 15 min read
Designing a Session
An unplanned lesson becomes a conversation. A good lesson is a designed structure with an opening, a rise and a close — and that structure is built differently one-to-one than in groups, online than in person.
- Cambridge framework: Teaching, learning and assessment
- Turkish MoNE competency area: Professional skills — planning teaching and learning
In this module
- Write a measurable can-do objective for every session
- Plan the full arc of a lesson and budget time honestly
- Apply the design rules specific to online one-to-one teaching
Objectives: not 'I will teach', but 'they will be able to'
Most lesson plans are topic lists: “Present Perfect”, “motivation techniques”, “perspective drawing”. These are headings, not objectives. An objective is something the learner can observably do by the end.
- Weak: “I’ll teach the Present Perfect.”
- Strong: “By the end, the learner can describe three experiences from their own life in the Present Perfect, unaided and accurately.”
The difference is not cosmetic. The strong version tells you when the lesson is finished: if the learner cannot do it, the lesson is not over. The weak version has no completion test — the lesson ends when the clock does.
You can read the opening section of the module below.
This module is open to registered educators
The first module is open to everyone. For the remaining seven, the certification exam and the certificate, all you need is a free educator account.
- All ten modules and the certification exam
- Your progress is saved — continue on any device
- A certificate with a verifiable code, and the educator badge
- Free; no card or payment details are asked for