The Big Giant Lesson Plan…

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The main tool I need as a substitute teacher, is a good lesson plan from the teacher. It is my security blanket. I usually carry it around with me or stick it in my pocket for reference. I experience mild sensations of panic if I put it down somewhere and forget where it is.

I NEED that plan.

I have noted in past posts instances of less than ideal plans. I’ve encountered the range of plan formats that include professional word processed plans, handwritten plans, no lesson plan, Post-It Note lesson plans, 2nd hand plans, bad lesson plans, private lingo plan, minimal lesson plan, the audio lesson plan, and "things I can't do" plan.

So you can imagine my amazement, or should I say dismay-zment, when I walked into this 4^th grade classroom to confront the BIG GIANT lesson plan. Written on, not one, but TWO 3’x2’ sheets of chart paper. TWELVE SQUARE FEET of lesson plan.

While I’m just gawking at the gargantuan plan, the teacher next door drops in and greets me with. “How’s it going?” I just point at the deceased tree of a plan with a few mumbled words about “...just reviewing the lesson plan”. She looks to where my quivering finger is pointing and her single comment is “Oh My!”

I, of course, cannot carry this thing around all day. I could, possibility, use it as a sail for a small boat, but anything else is just useless.

So I take the next 15 minutes of my prep time to transcribe the BIG GIANT PLAN onto a single manageable sheet of note paper.

I thought about leaving her a BIG GIANT DAILY SUBSTITUTE TEACHER REPORT, but I just didn’t have the energy to write that big.

Maybe I should have left it on a Post-It Note?