Ditching the Plans

I have to admit, at times I can be a bit of a perfectionist. Okay let's be real, most times I can be a huge perfectionist. I love spending hours setting up my classroom, planning cute little surprises for my students and for my lesson planner to be color coded in my best handwriting. But there always comes a time where it's time to ditch the plans. Earlier on this year I had this great lesson all planned out. It involved students collaborating, technology and more! It was going to be "perfect"... until it flopped. My poor kiddos were lost. Their thoughts just seemed to be bouncing around in their heads but they weren't connecting quite like they were supposed to. So what did we do? Scratch the "perfect" lesson! They don't always come out like they're supposed to. However, they usually lead to some of the best teachable moments; for the teacher and the students! We all switched gears and I went straight to my closet where I keep all of my extra paper and art supplies. We needed to take a step back and allow our ideas to jump around on paper! So instead, each of my groups activated their prior knowledge of the topic and created a poster together.  They were still collaborating! They were still making connections! Sure, it didn't work out how I had originally planned but it was so much more. Because we ditched the plans that day, my class was able to gain a much better understanding of what they were learning and make connections I hadn't even thought of. Sometimes things don't turn out like we plan. And quite often the most memorable experiences aren't always on the map but in the detours we take on the way.