"Set them in the recycling bin. Your better off letting the city recycle them instead of attempting to recycle them with a new class."
"What if it was really good?"
"Then try it again."
"But what if I forget the lesson?"
"Then it was a forgettable lesson."
I thought he was crazy, but I'm glad I took his advice. Some would say I shouldn't reinvent the wheel. But for what it's worth, I'm glad my car isn't rolling around on Fred Flintstone tires.
I tend to fall in the middle, in that I keep the good and trash the bad. And even the good is revised before being used again. In fact--and this is completely contrary to the whole idea here--I wound up typing up the plans for a few units when the originals got so messy with erasure and crossing out that I couldn't tell what was going on. Then the typed copies start getting messy from cross-outs and rewrites.
ReplyDeleteBut I like the sentiment -- it keeps things from being static, and keeps us from being pack rats.
Sounds like good advice to me. I hang on to ideas and a loose collection of resources. My plans are generally pretty specific to the kids in the room, when the kIds change so do the plans.
ReplyDeleteI keep some resources in a folder related to lesson plans, but I have started from scratch with all of my lesson plans for 9 years now. I find myself going back to some of the resources occasionally...
ReplyDeleteAmen. I've got all my plan books in a file drawer - I don't know why, I've never once looked back at them. I do repeat some lessons and units, at least in part, but it's because I remember them so well because they were wonderful. Even then, they get adapted and modified for a new bunch of kids. Kids are people and people are all different.
ReplyDeleteMy plans live on on my blog. I will say that I don't do anything the same way year after year, I rarely do the same lesson from class to class. I'm not sure about the practicality of doing new plans all the time, but I get bored...
ReplyDeleteI agree with Will. I rarely taught the same lesson the same way from year to year. Each class has its own personality and I would think of ways to teach a concept or lesson differently.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I keep a large notebook with one copy of each activity but, the plan part...out it goes. I replan for each group of kids. Sometimes I dig out old stuff and sometimes I try all new things. The only thing I keep is the lesson book that my district makes us follow and even that I don't tend to do those lesson is the order it's written. I tend to rearrange so that it flows better for my kids...
ReplyDeleteI save a modest amount of resources to support learning concepts. I don't save lesson plans. I did in my first ten years, but rarely looked at most during the actual delivery. So much changes with a new group of people, and the world changes too!
ReplyDeleteThis brings a smile to my face. I love to see a dedicated teacher who isn't phoning it in -- yet. :)
ReplyDelete