Reply to s/o Question for teachers - why do you rewrite your lesson plans each year?

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[quote=Anonymous]
[quote]Flexibility is really key and like the PP said, we're teaching students, not just curriculum. I work in classrooms with some teachers who send in all of their work to Copy Plus in August for the first two quarters and they're all smug about it. They have files on their computer organized by week so that they can just pull it up the week before and they're all set for the upcoming week because they don't change a thing from year to year. They don't reflect on what actually worked because they have a "this is what we're doing this year because this is what we have done every year" mentality. Is it easier for them? Sure. But they always have excuses for why students aren't grasping certain concepts and they don't question their own rigidity and one size fits all style as a contributing factor. [/quote]

Well said.  Just as kids are different, teachers are, as well.  I'm no longer teaching, and, by nature, I am kind of a "wing it" person--but, I did learn when I was teaching that I was more effective when I was prepared.  I usually stayed very late one day a week (Thursdays)to prepare lessons for the following week.  I would write the plans (which included evaluating the needs of each child) and prepare for each group.  And, the reading lessons for a group that had already read the same book might be quite different.  I would make lists of what I needed for each lesson and be sure I had it ready.  As a first grade teacher, you also need to prepare for the kids who are working on their own while you were doing direct instruction with others.  That requires a lot of creativity to be sure you do not just give the kids busy work, but activities that are challenging and productive.  (I often found this the most difficult part of preparing lesson plans.)

I had one colleague who had everything planned to the second.  She told me once that she would fall apart if she didn't have everything "just so".  (I did see her fall apart once on a field trip.  Then, I understood.)  I had thought she was just a control freak, but then I realized that she just could not adapt to unexpected events.  (Not a good trait with teachers, but she actually was a very good teacher.)
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