photo credit: Robert Banh
I just read this statement on a new teacher’s blog about lesson planning:
It is better to be over prepared than under prepared.
I disagree.
Over the last two weeks, I have been scheming and plotting school year plans on the back of napkins, in GoogleDocs, on paper bits, and in Evernote. A planner by nature, I want to have well-defined plans for the school year- an overall umbrella plan, a plan for each subject, a plan for each student, a plan for our day, a contingency plan.
And then, I stopped.
I realized that my planning does not allow for personalization.
I do not know my students yet.
Therefore…
I cannot plan.
I need to wait, to learn them, to find what works for them.
Simply stated- I need to be underprepared in order to be better prepared.
Benefits of being “underprepared”?
- Teachers are lead learners, modeling how to learn and process new information.
- Natural strengths and areas of interest become apparent as students contribute to discussion.
- Freedom (and willingness!) to diverge from a path without ‘flushing’ hours of teacher preparation.
- Student ideas paired with teacher thoughts to create powerful learning moments.
- Ability to jump on new resources as they are shared before they become ‘stale’.
- Teachers embrace their unique learning community.
- Students are important contributors and own their learning journey.
What would happen if you were a little more underprepared this school year? I have yet to meet a teacher who knows the meaning of that word, so I’m not worried about heading ‘too far’ that direction. I am worried about myself, and others, planning our days into oblivion to the detriment of our students. What would really happen? Would your space look different? ((http://mrspripp.blogspot.com/2011/08/recipe-for-my-school-year.html)) Would your conversations be different? Would your students be different? Would you feel different in the evenings?
