Understanding Lesson Aims to Plan Lessons Better

Thilini, a recent graduate with a degree in English Language, has just begun her career as an ESL teacher at a school in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Though she is passionate about teaching and excited to help her students learn English, Thilini quickly realizes that planning effective lessons is more complex than she had anticipated. One of her biggest challenges is understanding and clearly defining the main aim, subsidiary aims, personal aims, and stage aims for each lesson.

What was Thilini’s initial understanding of the main aim?
How did her understanding change after receiving feedback from her supervisor?
How did Thilini differentiate between subsidiary aims and the main aim?
What are stage aims, and why did Thilini find them challenging to create?

Let’s read how she mastered lesson planning in her own words.

Initial Confusion with Aims

When I first started planning lessons, I thought I had a good grasp of what I wanted to achieve. I knew that my main goal was to help my students improve their English skills, but when I tried to write out my lesson plans, I got stuck. My supervisor kept asking me to define the main aim, subsidiary aims, personal aims, and stage aims clearly, but I found it difficult to distinguish between them.

The Main Aim

The main aim seemed straightforward at first, for instance, if I was teaching a lesson on past simple tense, I thought my main aim was simply to ‘teach past simple tense.’ But my supervisor pointed out that this was too vague. She explained that the main aim should be specific and focused on what the students should be able to do by the end of the lesson. For example, instead of just ‘teach past simple tense,’ the main aim could be ‘students will be able to form and use past simple tense to describe completed actions in the past.’ This level of specificity was something I had overlooked.

The Subsidiary Aims

Understanding subsidiary aims was even more confusing. I wasn’t sure how they were different from the main aim. My supervisor explained that subsidiary aims are the secondary goals that support the achievement of the main aim. For example, if the main aim is for students to use past simple tense, a subsidiary aim might be for students to recognize regular and irregular verb forms or to practice using time expressions like ‘yesterday’ or ‘last week.’ These aims help build the foundation needed to achieve the main goal.

The Personal Aims

When it came to personal aims, I really struggled! I wasn’t sure how to separate my personal development from the lesson content. My supervisor explained that personal aims are about what I, as the teacher, want to improve in my teaching practice. For example, I might set a personal aim to give clearer instructions, manage classroom time more effectively, or increase student interaction. These aims are about my growth as a teacher, rather than the students’ learning objectives.

The Stage Aims

Stage aims were the last piece of the puzzle, and I had a hard time breaking down the lesson into smaller, manageable parts. My supervisor helped me understand that stage aims are the specific objectives for each part of the lesson. For example, in the warm-up stage, it might be to activate students’ prior knowledge of the past tense. During the presentation stage, it could be to introduce the structure of the past simple tense. Each stage has its own aim that contributes to achieving the main and subsidiary aims.

Seeking Guidance and Feedback

I started to write my lesson plans more carefully, making sure to define each aim clearly. I would write out the main aim first, then think about what skills or knowledge the students needed to achieve that aim—those became my subsidiary aims. After that, I would consider what I needed to improve in my teaching, which helped me set my personal aims. Finally, I broke the lesson down into stages and wrote specific aims for each part of the lesson.

Practice and Reflection

I also began to reflect on my lessons more critically. After each class, I would review my lesson plan and think about whether I had achieved the aims I set out. I asked myself questions like, ‘Did the students really understand the past simple tense?’ and ‘Did I manage the classroom time effectively?’ This reflection helped me identify areas for improvement.

Outcome

Over time, I became more confident in my ability to plan lessons with clear, focused aims. I still have a lot to learn, but I feel much more comfortable now. Understanding how to set specific aims has made my lessons more structured and effective. My students are more engaged, and I can see that they’re making progress. Plus, I’ve noticed that I’m getting better at managing the classroom and delivering clear instructions.

Over to you:

Meet the Trainer – Noel Perera

Noel loves helping new teachers improve their skills and grow their careers. He has worked with many TKTiers worldwide, guiding them for the exam and enhancing their teaching methods. AceTheTKT holds his knowledge and experience gained over 18 years as an English teacher and trainer.