Mini-lessons - an example

A one-hour lesson might be made up as follows:

1. A five minute introduction followed by a ten minute drive out (Lesson Phase 1):

This might start with a discussion about the last lesson and any homework, goal setting and lesson planning.

The ‘drive out' would be a warm-up drive allowing the learner to settle in to the lesson.

During this warm up there might be discussion about issues from last lesson or background information for the main lesson subject. (The Drive-out is from the pick-up location or test centre to the main training area for the lesson.)

For example: If the lesson was pedestrian crossings the discussion could be around pedestrian safety – looking out for pedestrians during the drive.

For some learners the drive-out might be a short drive by the instructor in order to reach a suitable training area – this drive would be used to highlight key learning points (see the videos for an example).

2. A twenty minute mini-lesson on the core subject.

During this session you might give a demonstration or briefing followed by practise, or depending on the learner's readiness, go straight into practise after a brief discussion about what will happen and how it will be done.

Continuing the pedestrian crossing example from above you might park up in view of a Zebra crossing, discuss the rules and then practise approaching the crossing several times (driving around the block to repeat the practise).

Note that this phase might include further stops and discussion, this would be dependent on what happened during the drive.

3. A ten minute development mini-lesson with the same material in a more challenging situation.

After the learner has grasped the basic principles, knowledge or skill, it's time for the lesson to move on. This might be by doing stuff independently, tackling a harder situation or transferring the skills to a related situation. Again there might (or might not) be a briefing/demonstration. However, there will be a brief introduction to discuss what is going to happen and how it will happen.

For our pedestrian crossing example the lesson might move from Zebra crossings to light-controlled, school or other specific crossing type.

4. A ten minute drive back generally practising the learned material on different roads followed by a five minute debrief/recap/reflection session. (Phase 4):

he drive-back is an opportunity to discuss the key learning from the lesson, applying the learning to whatever situations arise en-route. In the case of an absolute beginner the instructor might be driving the car.

The lesson ends with interactive discussion aimed at helping the learner to reflect on the lesson and a look forwards to what will happen next time.

This is the end of 'Lesson Structure'

Next, the second part of the Lesson Planning element: Planning your lessons...