This past week was my second-to-last at Central Columbia. I don't understand how my time here went as quickly as it did. It seems like just yesterday I was on a bus to Farm Show with a bunch of unknown faces, and today I am making small talk with those same faces in the hallway. My final visit from Dr Foster took place on Tuesday, which also represented the final day of my primary instruction. With these events, I got some closure to my ongoing concern of lesson planning.For most of this year I was unable to articulate the problems I was having with lesson plans. It was so clear in my mind, but I could not say it so my cooperating teachers could understand. On Tuesday, I finally felt like I was able to do so. In short, it is an issue of sequence vs timing of lessons. My issue came when I needed to modify future lessons due to current situations. What I thought was a rigid structure of lesson sequence is actually more loose. Timing can, and will frequently, change. What is important is that I plan out what topical areas are covered, and in what order. Randomness can be confusing to students, so this helps prevent that. Throughout student teaching, many changes and teachable moments have occurred. These events should be made deliberate and purposeful by following the lesson structure, but writing a lesson to adapt to a current situation does not not automatically make the rest of the sequence obsolete.
The end of student teaching will not mean the end of my careful lesson planning. I know this is my area of improvement, and for good reason. Better planning will help alleviate stress, misunderstanding, and other general headaches that I give myself. No matter where I end up, I will continue to improve on this mark. As for now, I will enjoy my last few days as a bluejay, watching my master teacher mentors take the reigns back. I am starting to reflect back on just what all has occurred, and I look forward to sharing those big ideas with you soon.
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