Planning with the End in Mind

I know a lot of teachers.  It's my job to teach teachers.  But teaching is a tough racket.  Imagine trying to get someone to do something that they didn't think they could, that they didn't understand, nor want to do, that was really hard, and that they had never previously attempted.  It's your classic resistant reader in the primary grades.  And learning can be hard at any age, in any circumstance.

There are lots of models for how to teach, like HOT PEPPERS which guides teachers planning lessons through a process for hands on training, preparing, examining, reviewing, etc.  Then there are other models for teaching within organizations, such as the ADDIE model which begins with analysis, moves through design, development, implementation, and winds up with evaluation.   Many many other models for instruction or implementing change exist, but none seems to help me as much as simply planning with the end in mind.

What I see so many teachers struggle with is the minutia.  They seem to think that prior to, say, teaching someone how to use a recipe to bake brownies, it might be helpful to learn all measurement conversions for every possibility of conversion such as how many pints in a quart, how many quarts in a 1/2 gallon, etc.  None of this helps me combine the wet and dry ingredients of baked goods in the right proportions, at the right temperature, mixed to the right consistency, and then baked until done.

It seems much more helpful to decide what proficient looks like, what's the goal?  Once that's established, say gooey brownies is our goal, then I can share an example of the finished product before we even begin the learning.  My students, who now know what success will look like, discuss strategies for getting there.  Some will have a favorite recipe, and simply need help interpreting amounts or locating ingredients.  Others will want to find the best recipe available on-line.  Some of those students will want help filtering their searches.  Yet other students may know a thing or two about baking already, and wish to experiment while they invent their own recipes.  My teaching strategies will be different with each student or student group, but we will all end up with brownies.  Then it's my job to focus on what I need to pay attention to as a teacher.  In this case it would be supporting a variety of learning styles in order to reach a common goal.  This idea of working backwards may seem counter-intuitive, but it truly simplifies the task of teaching anything, while allowing for maximum flexibility for learners.

This idea of working backwards is popping up in other fields, like psychology.  Check out Shawn Achor's "Happy Secret to Better Work".  For some the idea of deciding to be happy prior to reaching the goals identified to make us happy seems backwards.  After watching his video, if you're not already feeling pretty happy, I challenge you to try it out for  just one hour - decide to feel happy regardless of your circumstances, and then share comments about your experience on this blog.