Unfortunately, there are lessons to be learned as a teacher that can only be learned the hard way, and no amount of wonderful mentoring can truly prepare you for it. As a student-teacher at a high school in southwest Washington, I was recently given the reins to lead my first series of lessons in a History class. My assigned topic was to teach a comprehensive unit about FDR’s New Deal and the Great Depression. Interesting topic, lots of information to draw from, several creative angles to take, but, the planning of this unit really took on a life of its own over the winter break.
I spent afternoons and evenings planning and re-planning. I spun my wheels trying to create a unit that flowed logically and incorporated as many of the teaching methods I have learned in my MAT program as possible. My husband—an AP Biology teacher—looked over my shoulder with amusement, warning me to “not get too married to this lesson plan because things don’t always go the way you want them to, and you may need to make changes as you go.”