Blog Post 5 Prepared the night before or always be prepared for uncertainty?

I could not stop thinking about the smiles on K’s face every time when I wrote a lesson plan for her in the past several weeks. She was such a charming girl when we had our first activity night together. Unfortunately, she did not show up any more after the first CAPES! So when I prepared a lesson plan for her, also guessed I wouldn’t use it in the next lab. Most likely, I would work with another child or help my team mates with their students. Although it was not an ideal situation as expected, I still want to be helpful and prepared when other students’ needs arise. First thing I did was observing other children besides K, and keeping in mind of their needs and interests when other team members talked about their experiences. I believe that I need to know them well enough to be able to adjust or quickly come up with a new plan for them when unexpected situation happens. One night, when one of the team members could not come to the lab, I was told to work with her focused child. I introduced myself to him and chatted with him for a little while. I knew that not only I but also the child B was unprepared for a new teacher to work with him for that night. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable with the changes. When we were in the pool, B was quite nervous. Try to calm him down, I talked to him gently but firm, and let him know he is safe around. When he was settled a little bit, we played a few games in the water. I did not prepare those games ahead of time, instead, those ideas quickly pop into my mind, and I adjusted a few steps for B. Later, his mom told me he was so excited about the experience in the pool last time and talked about it often at home.

I think for a teacher, observation, collecting ideas, and organizing lesson plans are some work to do all the time from day to day. We observe children who around us, students who currently in our own class, and students in other grades. Children take years to develop in their life spans. To guide and teach them successfully, teachers should observe students often so they know students’ current development levels accurately. One thing I learned from the past educational lab experience was learn from teaching. We all experience successful and not so great teaching moments. It is important to collect the successful ideas and lesson plans, organize them and keep them in mind. Knowing students well and having a rich education resource in mind, we are prepared for uncertainty all the time even thouth we did not plan for it to happen the night before.