Dr. t. lee

Reflections on Instructional Planning

In education, often what we "plan" for is the last thing that takes place... even still, it's important to have a plan or two on hand so that our students can reap the benefits of meaningful instruction no matter what surprises abound in the surrounding environment. One thing my service in Georgia reminded me of was the realities that educators everywhere face. We must make do with what we have and stretch it to the maximal limits in order to facilitate learning environments for our students.

Corporate executives and disconnected educational bureaucrats often expect teachers to create magical results or quantifiable outcomes based on a Standard they've concocted or a business model notion. This often fails because Education is not a business.

What is presented to us is what we "ought" to be doing, but little assistance is provided to manifest the dream. Because of the uneven access to resources for students and teachers alike, my co-teachers and I often needed to significantly augment the instructional activities featured in the English World program. So, the instructional activities you see in this portfolio are the result of using what resources we could find usually via the internet.

While our co-planning efforts were constricted by TLG managerial decisions, Teacher One and Teacher Two made significant efforts to co-plan instruction. Initially, my Georgian co-teachers seemed to plan instruction day by day; throughout my service, I observed none of them using a lesson planning book, a calendar, or writing/using lesson plans. But, even still Teacher One and Teacher Two were always enthusiastic about each school day and made efforts to engage the students with the resources available to us. While having teacher and student texts would have been nice, these tools are not a wand of some sort. Even with those resources we still need to plan instruction. Besides, when you teach in an environment where the people struggle against poverty and socio-intellectual oppression, the most powerful resource is the teacher and our collective passion for teaching. It is important that teachers remain unified and connected - working together to achieve our common goals irrespective of the present or forthcoming instructional du jour. When the door closes, it's just us and our students. This is why it is essential to maximize every moment of instructional time so that our students benefit the most from the time we have together.

And so, with a deep breath and determined resolve, my Georgian co-teachers and I rapidly moved into planning instruction by the week (see Figure 5) and by introducing Understanding by Design principles to them in an abbreviated format, we were able to implement five week plans of instruction towards the end of the semester (see Figures 6-9). The five-week plan I composed with Teacher One was created during a 20-minute passing period is included as an example of what can be done with limited time when two teaching professionals are committed to charting a course of action for a group of students. The plans were revised several times, but at least we had roadmaps for instruction that did not exist prior to this.

The bottom line is that we need to reflect and think about where we want to take our students. Yes, we all want them to succeed. No, it's not an easy task given many factors. But mindfulness about the purpose of what we are doing at every moment, collegial critiquing, and peer-to-peer mentoring/instructional supports will take us into the new light.

Figure 5. A weekly lesson plan book I used during my service.

Figure 6. Five week lesson plan with Teacher One.

Figure 7. Five week lesson plan with Teacher Two part one.

Figure 8. Five week lesson plan with Teacher Two Part two.

Figure 9. Five week lesson plan with Teacher Two part three.

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