Death to Lesson Plans
I'm still surprised (not really) by the focus on LESSON PLANS in most educational organizations.
Sure, you need to have a plan.
But absolutely no teacher in the world sticks to the plan 100% of the time...
And in my experience, the more you grow as a teacher, you more the plan becomes merely an outline...
And that outline becomes a bulleted list...
And that list becomes engrained in your mind.
So after you've done it a few times, you know that lesson like the back of your hand.
Lesson plans are useful for beginner teachers who need to a concrete process and structure to follow.
BUT...
If creating the lesson plan takes more time than teaching the lesson itself...
And you're getting paid for the teaching time... not the planning time...
Houston we have a problem...
It makes sense that teachers would spend less time planning.
Then they required teachers to submit their lesson plans...
*Sometimes I wonder if they think of teachers as children, turning in their homework and hoping to get an A+*
And in extreme cases, they penalize teachers for not "planning" according to their standards...
It can be infuriating...
Because...
(I really wanna say - because ChatGPT can make your lesson plan in two seconds)
The teacher is on the front lines, in the classroom...
They have more personal interaction with the student...
And they ACTUALLY want to help the student!!!
So, in most of the companies I've consulted, the educational organizations / apps / platforms / websites / academies / schools...
They are really just a middleman causing problems...
The students want to learn from the teachers...
The teachers want to help the students learn...
And then you've got this other person saying, "It's my way or the highway" and "give me the lion's share".
That's why the culture at most of these places feels...
Icky
Because for them, lesson plans are nothing more than a means of control and conformity...
Which is the opposite of the open-mindedness that serves students best.
Lessons shouldn't have plans.
Lessons should have frameworks.
And those frameworks should be flexible...
So the teacher can play to their strong suit and give the students 150% of their passion and energy...
Which will translate into more motivated students...
Who will learn on their own, outside the classroom (you know, that place where the real learning happens)
To your success,