I seem to plan more than most people. I have a financial plan, a 401K plan, a living will, a health care proxy, insurance plans, and a college savings plan for each of my two planned children. I’m planning a great vacation in August (yay!) I used to earn a living managing staffing plans, research plans, business plans, and plans that did not deserve to be called plans. Now I’m up to my elbows in lesson plans. Eric and I started with a ‘day on a page’ lesson plan for each day of summer camp – somehow now it has grown to a ‘day on 3 pages’ plan. The scary thing is, we’re not done yet.
Don’t get me wrong – plans have a purpose & they are (sometimes) a must. But, as a dear friend once reminded me, “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans” (I think John Lennon originated this one). So, as I wade through this massive lesson plan, my inner voice is telling me – go ahead and make that plan, but don’t miss those wonderful, spontaneous & unplanned ”teachable moments” that students throw your way. Sometimes the best plan is not to follow the plan.
This post is really well written Donna! It really speaks to me because I, like you, tend to plan everything even though life frequently shows me that I can only control so much…. however, I also believe that “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity” and I have been rewarded numerous times for having planned and been prepared when opportunity knocked.
Remembering to take advantage of what life gives us when we’re busy trying to follow our “plans” is sometimes difficult to do and so important in teaching. Thanks for the reminder… don’t forget to keep reminding me next week
That’s interesting. Allison (one of the Warner people in class today) was saying how when she was in camp it was really important for them to be flexible and let themselves go where the kids wanted to go, even though it was an area they didn’t really know how to collect data for as teachers. In the end their data didn’t let them draw really firm ‘conclusions’, but I guess that’s the messy part of science. I’m struggling with there not needing to be an ‘answer’ to the question they choose to study. I guess that’s how science really is, though – you don’t always find an answer when you are looking for it, but sometimes you find interesting things out during the search!
So true. I can’t figure out if we are being wildly optimistic about what we can get done in the time allotted or whether we will need backpocket plans to fill extra time.
We did not fully accomplish our objectives in the Concept Interviews because the brainstorming part took too long. We didn’t get very much information about interactions and questions because we ran out of time.
I completely agree. Overplanning seems to be diametrically oppossed to the inquiry process.
hey donna – just wanted to say that i felt like i learned SO much from your and eric’s lesson plan. i know that you both haven’t been teaching all that long, but it is so great to have you both in the class, with the experiences and the angles that you can share with us.