How to Bounce Back from a Lesson Plan Fail with Dani Kennis
This blog post is brought to you by guest writer Dani Kenis of @StuckonEDU. Be sure to read her bio at the end!
When #adventurousteaching takes a wrong turn…
I am both a 12 year teacher and a first year teacher. How is that possible? I’ve been teaching World History my entire teaching career but this year is my first rodeo teaching United States History. It is both humbling and terrifying, to be honest. Teaching with fresh eyes while having the classroom experience of a veteran teacher affords me the unique perspective of feeling confident while simultaneously feeling a sense of content intimidation. The veteran in me is ready to jump in head first, eyes closed when it comes to taking risks and trying activities I wasn’t comfortable trying in my first few years of teaching. The newbie side of me keeps repeating ‘state test, teacher evaluation, graduation requirements.’ 😱 So I’ve found myself in a place where I’m juggling these paradoxical feelings.
In my U.S History class, our most important and challenging unit is The Constitution. The unit is intimidating and complex, plus it makes up a large chunk of our state exam, so I desperately wanted to hook my kids and create an atmosphere of excitement and wonder from the get-go. I settled on remaking an old game from the ‘80s to show the complexities of how a bill becomes a law. In the game, students roll a dice and try to move their game piece along a ‘stream’ that represents the often troublesome path that a bill often takes when trying to become a law. If a student rolls a 1-4, they continue to the next step in the law-making process. Rolling a 5 or 6 means they are stopped at one of the many obstacles that often prevent a bill from becoming law. At that point, students read about the obstacle and start the game over from the beginning while recording their losses on paper. I bought dice and game pieces, reformatted the directions to make it look pretty (I am who I am. I can’t not do this!), and spent time putting students into thoughtful pairs that I hoped would be successful. Despite my attention to detail and the prep work I put in to make this a rich and lively learning experience, the game fell completely flat.
Down By The Old Bill Stream recreated by @StuckOnEDU
Things don’t always work out as planned…
My hope was that I could be fairly hands-off and let my kids intuit the frustration that accompanies the process of how complex the lawmaking process is. But they didn’t get the point of the game like I was hoping they would. They bypassed directions and began rolling the dice, blindly moving their game piece without reading the accompanying information to learn about the many obstacles along the way. Impatient hands flew up every few minutes as they asked questions I had already answered. I wanted them to take a step back and see the big picture but they were caught up in the details… like I had been.
My immediate frustration and disappointment with the lack of impact and excitement the game had led me to stubbornly conclude that I’d never try it again. Following the tried and true 24 hour rule, once I calmed down I began to brainstorm solutions for next time. I questioned whether I should have introduced the process of a bill becoming law before trying the game or having students independently read the directions before I go over them. Next time I might even have students verbally explain the rules to their partners to show that they understand them. Beyond those ideas, I find myself in a place of uncertainty. I’m not sure what I could have done differently to make this a successful experience. What I am sure of, upon further reflection, is that issues that arose are not only mine to confront. Some of the responsibility falls on my students, too.
A full circle moment…
As a special education teacher, one of my strengths is scaffolding material for students. There have been a handful of occasions this year when pandemic-related fatigue sets in and independent critical thinking skills feel almost nonexistent. Maybe part of the problem is that students are still adjusting to post-pandemic schooling where it is challenging to focus and follow multi-step directions. Many of my students offer blank stares when they need to search through physical papers to find an answer rather than simply executing the beloved ‘Ctrl+F’ shortcut that was the MVP of remote learning. The term ‘learning loss’ has always felt offensive and belittling in my opinion. While there might be some learning gaps that have occurred due to the lack of in-person schooling, the past two years were full of progress that simply looks different than it previously had. My students gained independent time management skills, learned how to manage multiple tasks, become strong self-advocates, mastered technology skills, and exponentially thrived with social emotional learning growth. This year, as we attempt to pick up the pieces after two unimaginably difficult pandemic years of education, we must continue to persevere through the moments of stress and confusion. I think there is something to be said for letting students wade through the muck of confusion and uncertainty to reach a point of guided understanding. And as teachers, we need to do the same.
Adventurous teaching takes courage, reflection, and dedication. The failure of one lesson does not foreshadow the fate of every lesson thereafter. After all, failure is really just a first attempt in learning.
MEET OUR GUEST CONTRIBUTOR:
Dani Kennis is a high school Special Education Social Studies teacher and instructional coach in New York. If you are interested in learning more about her content and craft, follow her on Instagram at @StuckOnEDU. You can browse through her available resources here. You can also sign up for a history and/or social emotional learning freebie here.
