martes, octubre 04, 2005
on the ball
tonight i met up with a couple co-workers to vent and lesson plan. one of my co-workers refers to herself as "word-retarded" in regard to her inability to effectively use "teacherese." not very PC, but whatever. in that spirit, i will confess that i am totally lesson plan-retarded. i am absolutely incapable of planning my lessons ahead of time in ALL subjects, writing it all down, and actually doing it all. i am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants girl that keeps curriculum focus and themes in mind at all times. i am a leap-up-and-grab-a-book-that-has-to-do-with-a-kid's-random-anecdote kind of teacher that will completely rearrange my morning to accomodate a teachable moment. i base the following day's activities on the current day's performance. ALWAYS. sure, sometimes i do exactly what i plan to do in math or guided reading, but never never NEVER have i gone an entire day doing things as planned on paper.
for some people, i'm sure it's just a matter of style. the ladies on my first grade team have a wide variety of styles, and mine happens to match that of the teacher next door who has been teaching for 8 years and is still in a perpetual state of open change* and paper craziness. our rooms aren't messy, per se, (some have even been so bold as to call me organized, although surely they are smoking crack and are therefore missing the multiple piles of random shit i have everywhere) they just seem... actively used. i'm an anal-retentive person, but teaching has made me realistic. and a bit lazy. i expect the students to consider the classroom theirs, from their stuff on every wall to the fact that they have access to all materials, books, etc.
hmm, got a little lost there. my point is this: big changes are happening to my class (tiny perfect class, goodbye...) and i think it is imperative that i get my lesson plans (or lack thereof) in check. as soon as humanly possible. BUT... considering i am lesson plan-retarded, this will be quite a challenge. any advice???
*she/we are constantly rearranging her room/student seating/organizational systems/behavior management approaches to best meet students' needs. she's rearranged her centers four times this year. and yes, it's only the first week of october.
for some people, i'm sure it's just a matter of style. the ladies on my first grade team have a wide variety of styles, and mine happens to match that of the teacher next door who has been teaching for 8 years and is still in a perpetual state of open change* and paper craziness. our rooms aren't messy, per se, (some have even been so bold as to call me organized, although surely they are smoking crack and are therefore missing the multiple piles of random shit i have everywhere) they just seem... actively used. i'm an anal-retentive person, but teaching has made me realistic. and a bit lazy. i expect the students to consider the classroom theirs, from their stuff on every wall to the fact that they have access to all materials, books, etc.
hmm, got a little lost there. my point is this: big changes are happening to my class (tiny perfect class, goodbye...) and i think it is imperative that i get my lesson plans (or lack thereof) in check. as soon as humanly possible. BUT... considering i am lesson plan-retarded, this will be quite a challenge. any advice???
*she/we are constantly rearranging her room/student seating/organizational systems/behavior management approaches to best meet students' needs. she's rearranged her centers four times this year. and yes, it's only the first week of october.
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I think flexibility is a good thing. It shows that you are responsive to your students as well as to the curriculum.
lesson plans...
advice- I have a "template" on my Teacher Computer/Word Processor/ that I made for my lesson plans. That way I don't have to write out everything, especially the day to day stuff/week to week, etc If any changes need to be made, I make them on the template...
There is little writing that I actually do on my lesson plans! : )
I have it on AppleWorks...
If you want me to send you a copy via e-mail,
let me know.
Take Care!
advice- I have a "template" on my Teacher Computer/Word Processor/ that I made for my lesson plans. That way I don't have to write out everything, especially the day to day stuff/week to week, etc If any changes need to be made, I make them on the template...
There is little writing that I actually do on my lesson plans! : )
I have it on AppleWorks...
If you want me to send you a copy via e-mail,
let me know.
Take Care!
I have a template for my lesson plans do, I print them out every week and put them in the "official" notebook. Do I always follow them - of course not. The week of hurricane Rita my plans called for me to teach how the fiction is arranged (I'm a librarian). Did I teach that?
Hell no, I pulled up hurriance tracking charts on the internet and we tracked hurricanes. The next week I wrote a lessonplan for that lesson and stuck it in the book, changed the date on the "finding books" lesson plans and taught it the week after.
Hell no, I pulled up hurriance tracking charts on the internet and we tracked hurricanes. The next week I wrote a lessonplan for that lesson and stuck it in the book, changed the date on the "finding books" lesson plans and taught it the week after.
In my education classes now I'm practicing writing lesson plans (currently, social studies ones). It is definately not my favorite thing to do - it's difficult! Good luck writing the lesson plans!
If you feel that you need lesson plans to keep you straight then you should do them. If not - don't. I do a rough sketch of the week, month and year. I also do a detailed lesson plan but ONLY because I have to turn it in. Do I follow it 100% - no. Kids are so predictably unpredictable. You have to run with them where they are at on any given day. It sounds as if you are a focused teacher even without the lesson plans. Do what feels right.
By the way, I like the blog!
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By the way, I like the blog!
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