Plan more, worry less

Reading Tchudi and Mitchell's chapter on creating instructional units, I could feel myself getting tenser and tenser. I actually had to stop reading and walk away. Five times.


Finally, I just started skimming the article, forcing myself to finish it, without reading too deeply. I felt that if I slowed down and thought about the reading in too much detail, I would panic. It felt too big, too overwhelming. It felt like I would never, ever be able to do it all.


Imagine my surprise when I (finally) reached the end of the chapter and there were concrete suggestions for small units! Manageable units without too many "moving parts." Units that sounded like fun! I know it sounds cheesy, but I felt like a big load had lifted. In theory, planning a unit felt like an impossible task. But once I saw it "broken down" it seemed much less daunting.


This got me thinking about the utility of a syllabus. Generally, I love having a syllabus at the beginning of the year, because it spells out all the expectations of a class. But I have to admit, when I see a syllabus, sometimes I react the same way I reacted to the Tchudi & Mitchell article: I freak out. I see all the work I have to do, and I just freeze.


I think my dual reaction to a syllabus represents the kinds of reactions students might have to class assignments. Some of them will be excited about the projects, class discussions, readings, etc. Other students will feel overwhelmed. Many students will feel a combination of these reactions, depending on their interest in the assignment, the rest of their workload, and their confidence in the class.


Thinking about this made me reflect on what Tchudi and Mitchell said about maintaining flexibility in a unit. On one hand, teachers need to be able to respond to the needs, interests, and abilities of their students. On the other hand, "good teaching happens when we plan rather than improvise."


As a teacher, I need to have a plan for my instruction, but I also need to give myself enough leeway to make changes depending on how things are going. Knowing that I have a plan, but it isn't set in stone will help me avoid the "freezing up and freaking out." Hopefully, it will have the same effect on my students!