Another personal observation concerns the ebb and flow of a lesson. For example, it would obviously appear odd to have two consecutive listening activities; would it not be better to spread them out through the lesson?
It seems sensible to consider the style and tempo of the activities and materials when preparing a lesson, paying heed to the receptive vs productive activities, the written vs the spoken, the long vs the short, the pair-work vs the group-work vs the whole class mingle, the seated activity vs the standing, the practice exercise vs the creative task, etc.
I’m not advocating ringing the changes every 5-10 minutes (unless you have very young learners) but attention to rhythm and variety goes a long way to maintaining student engagement and raising their interest levels.
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