Syllabus connotes the subjects as well as the topics covered in the course of study. On the other hand, curriculum

Lesson planning: anticipated problems

As promised, this post will be about solutions to anticipated problems in the English language classroom in relation to:

· topic/theme/context
· classroom management / learners / resources

More posts will follow on suggested solutions to anticipated problems related to other areas of teaching, e.g. reading/listening, grammar, speaking, etc.

You must remember that the two lists below are not exhaustive, and each solution can and should be adapted to the learners’ needs and, obviously, your own teaching context.
The solutions in these two tables below are pro-active; in other words, they are part of your lesson planning and preparation. However, there are solutions that cannot be prepared beforehand; this is simply because there are problems that cannot be foreseen. But, that’s expected! (excuse the pun)
NOTE: If you have any specific anticipated problems in mind which have not been listed below and you have not been able to solve so far, feel free to leave your comment and I’ll do my best to help!
So, without further ado...
Problems & Solutions related to the theme/topic

Problem	Solution(s)
It is not interesting to the learners.	· If you cannot change/skip the text/unit, add some sort of authentic material, e.g. a short video, a short newspaper article, etc to give it an interesting twist.
The learners do not know much/anything about it.	· Build on the learners’ knowledge by giving them the information they need to deal with the tasks in the lesson; again, this could be done through short exercises based on topic-related texts, videos, news stories, etc followed by interesting discussion activities
It is outdated.	· Change the parts which are outdated replacing them with something current, e.g. different visuals, etc · Create activities for the learners to practise their speaking by talking about how this outdated topic is different presently, whether this change has been good or not, etc.