Planning a class

Planning a class is a very important step of the teaching process which is constantly overlooked and taken for granted, not to mention much deeper how it seems.
Planning a class is preparing the activity, checking how long it would take, how and what it will be done? Yes, but for sure these aren´t all. Indeed part of the class plan are these aforementioned items, however other items must be considered.
When planning a class the number of students need to be taken into account, the average of daily absences together with the activities plan (individual, pairs or groups), even if a totally unpredicted scenario happens the teacher must have at least to know how he or she will modify the activity in order to maintain the goal and don´t lose production.
After planning your explanations some questions should be asked:
Was the group itself considered?
How can I use their background knowledge to help them and myself?
Were students socio-cultural background considered?
Have I checked which and why other strategies worked and/or failed?
Do my students like this subject? What can I do to arise their interests?
All these elements should be considered in every class plan and one thing must be noticed. You, teacher, have a class plan. Get ready to modify it during the class or right before the class starts since what we plan to do is based on what happens most in class.