Last week I dealt with an unforgiving migraine headache which left me doing nothing until I won the battle. You know what? Sometimes life gets in the way of things we want and need to do, however, the world did not crumble around me and I woke the following day alright.
So it is back to the subject of purposeful planning for student success with you this week.
I have continued to support 2 new teachers in my building and in 2 weeks we have spent 8 face to face hours together planning during our NTI pandemic. I have seen 2 intelligent adults struggle as new educators, I have seen them question the process, and I have seen them overwhelmed.
I've dug deep into my bag of tricks to support them while encouraging the long process of planning. Ensuring them it won't always be this laborious. But, will it get easier? I do believe it will as they become more versed in the ways of backwards planning, gain more content knowledge, and understand what it means to be a teacher.
Now, even the most seasoned teachers/educators take hours each week to plan. We must think about our students, the content, standards, expectations, data, assessments, reflect on our practice from the following week, school expectations, and on and on.
One of the biggest commitments we agree to make as teachers/educators is planning. Our greatest moments are generally well planned for even when students take a route we didn't precisely plan on that effective plan lead us there. Seeing students take our hard work and make it their own is invigorating. "Yes YES YES", I have wanted to scream and often did. "I hadn't thought of it that way but you are right! Wow, that's really interesting, not what I had planned but still headed in the right direction so let's go for it!"
What do I mean? When we take the time to consider all the factors listed above we are ready! Being ready gives us the tools and tricks to direct our students towards the end goal for the lesson/unit. On days when those plans go awry our preparation and effort provide us with the context to allow for student freedom while maintaining the focus. Make sense? Think about a vacation that has been mapped out and scheduled. You have done all the research on the location, know the hot spots, where the most delicious food can be found, where to stay, and what entertainment you wish to seek out. Then you get there...your hotel is overbooked...that's okay you know multiple locations to meet your needs...the local restaurant specializing in local lobster has closed for remodel...no sweat you know 10 more places and you discovered an outstanding local cuisine you didn't come across during your research! Turns out it ended better than you planned! Remember, YOUR PLANNING efforts ensured even when it didn't go exactly as planned it turned out just fine, maybe even better. And to top it all off you learned more about the area than anticipated. Way to go!
So, as we continue to strive for perfection (wink,wink) do not give up on the long hours you need to plan for your classes and students. Know that your efforts will pay off and you will be better for it.
Before I sign off for this week, consider student choice in your planning and how it could make a positive impact on your classroom. During NTI is a great time to provide choice to students as a way for them to have buy into your content. As we all know being at home creates a multitude of choices and often school doesn't make the top of the list. I am reading another book, The Classroom of Choice by Jonathan C. Erwin and am enjoying it thus far. He discovered when he incorporated choice into his classroom through intentional practices, that he did not give up on, his classroom became a joyful place for both his students and himself.
I will be sharing more about this next week...feel free to do some "planning" of your own by researching student choice!
Have a blessed week!
Sincerely,
Holly
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