As a teacher educator and former (future?) high school educator, I wonder about lesson plans. A lot. Too much, maybe. You can dig through university websites and find countless examples of how to write them; there are even more commercial sites devoted to these items.

This morning, though, I was wondering what narrative lesson plans might look like; what it would mean if a lesson plan was a short essay, say 750 words, describing how you wanted the lesson to go, what your objectives were, how the day related to what came before and what was coming the next day…It wouldn’t be that much more work, probably just a different kind of work. I know that when I’ve had to complete lesson plans I’ve struggled to understand different components (Mr. Clapper, you’ve confused goals with objectives — shame on you). Writing about a lesson would much more rewarding and would force a kind of reflective component on the teacher.

Certainly every vice-principal would hate this idea — it’s dreadfully inefficient for those charged with the ridiculous, odious task of reviewing vast piles of lesson plans — but it would give teachers something real to hold onto. Hmmm….