Lesson Plan - Part 2: Help please...

I once received an email from my supervisor regarding lesson planning. She complimented a teacher for writing his lesson plan in detail where he provided her with a lot of information about the activities that his group does. Maybe due to my over-sensitivity, I felt a little offended by her comments because I'm the exact opposite--I write just enough in the prescribed lesson plan form, and once in awhile I write in great detail.

In my previous entry about lesson plan, I mentioned how writing a lesson plan can be an utter burden to a teacher as supposed to a guiding tool especially when he/she sees it as a mere unavoidable task for a teacher. Don't get me wrong... I'm all for lesson planning, in fact I think life goes smoothly when well-planning is done. But when writing a lesson plan becomes a "must-do-or-else" task for a teacher, the purpose of a lesson plan gets lost.

I understand the whole accountability of what's happening in the classroom, and a way for supervisors like program coordinators or departments heads to know the day-to-day of a teacher is by reading the lesson plans. That's a good start... But shouldn't there be a follow up or some sort of Q&A on the quality of the lesson plan? It shouldn't stop at "I have received your lesson plan. Thank you." email.

If you had a supervisor who comes to you with your lesson plan scribbled all over with comments, you're one lucky teacher! If you got called for a meeting with your supervisor regarding your lesson plan, you would be on your way to becoming a better teacher! I bet it's frustrating and annoying  because it might feel as if someone is constantly criticizing you... But hey, isn't that what helps you be more aware of how you are as a teacher, thus later makes you a better teacher? I call this kind of person a "superb supervisor!"



Unfortunately that doesn't happen very often... As a young teacher, more often than I'd like it to be, I run out of ideas. Lesson planning for a few class meetings can be stressful when I'm stuck and can't seem to find the ideas. So I often write whatever I have in mind then and hope for some miracle to come before entering a classroom. This is when I seriously wish I had that "superb supervisor" who comes to rescue me from the "Dark Age of Cluelessness" and bounced off some ideas with me until I find "the lesson!" It would be nice to have someone that has more experiences than me to give me feedback and spark some ideas so I'll have a better lesson plan, and ultimately a fun lesson!

Now as somebody who has been a supervisor, I was nowhere close to being a "superb supervisor." I honestly tried though... At the beginning, I went through the teachers' lesson plans and gave hopefully-useful comments to them. But as soon as other tasks piled up, I fell behind until I got to a point where I only skimmed through them in between my crazy schedule. I no longer have the time to give feedback unless I find something significantly odd or is a potential disaster when put in practice. Sad huh? You bet... I feel extremely guilty and helpless but perhaps this is why my lesson plans only became piles of papers sitting on the shelf of my supervisor.

So teachers... If you're ever like me where your "superb supervisor" is nowhere to be seen, after exhaustively asking Mr. Google and bugging your fellow colleagues for ideas, go up to him/her and tell them that you need help, you'll never know... he/she might actually be a 'superb supervisor" drown in a stack of administrative work. Believe me, I might have taught the lessons you're planning, I always believe that there's something to learn. So let's share :)