Teaching:Motherhood

Plan B

This is another similarity between teaching and motherhood. You should always try to have a Plan B {and C and D and...oh, you get the idea}. With each plan, you hope for the best, but know that in all actuality, kids are unpredictable, and things may not work out.

Sometimes, I try to predict the day's schedule. This never works. Ethan, without fail, naps for longer than I expect, stays awake for shorter times than I expect, doesn't eat as much as I predicted, etc. Thus, I always have to have another plan waiting in the wings, just in case.

As a teacher, I plan my week out, expecting things to go the way I see them going. Sometimes they do. Most of the time, they don't. Sometimes we have special convocations pop up at the last minute. Sometimes the kids need more lessons to nail a concept. Sometimes I slapped an unrealistic timeline on a project, and need to extend deadlines. Sometimes the kids pick things up more quickly and we need to move on. Regardless of the reason, the plans I make at the beginning of the week look totally different than the plans I end up with at the end of the week.

So, in this respect, motherhood and teaching are quite similar. You should {always} have a Plan B.