I have spent a lot of time this fall observing and thinking about how one can be an effective teacher and am recognizing the importance and value of planning and preparation.
In my experience, success at anything centers around careful and deliberate preparation and planning. This can be as simple and trivial as going grocery shopping at the store or going on a vacation. It is possible, of course, to accomplish your goals and objectives without planning and preparation. You can go to the store impulsively and run around buying things you think you need or want. You may end up with things you need, but you may also end up with things you do not need or forget things you do need. You may find that you spend too much time or waste time running around looking for various items or spend time trying to remember what you need. You also may end up not having enough money or having your credit card or check. It may be extremely crowded as well and take longer to check out. You may also be starving and as they say, never go shopping when you are hungry because you will buy more and are more likely to buy junk food. I believe that this is not as efficient or productive as taking the time to compile a list of items and organizing them based on their location in the store. You can also save time by knowing when busy times are and plan accordingly to go when it is not crowded and busy. You can also make sure to plan to eat prior to going so you are not hungry and buy only what you need not what you feel like or want.
I have to admit that I often find myself improvising and going to the store whenever. I also know that I often find myself improvising when I teach ballet and I can do it. I have spent most of my life dancing ballet. It is second nature to me. I know the ballet vocabulary so well and am so comfortable with it that I am more than capable of putting together combinations for a ballet class while I teach, moment to moment, step by step. I am good at it, yet I am also aware that when I take the time to plan and prepare my class, the combinations are so much better and more fun. I also find that I do a much better job of connecting and explaining steps when I have taken the time to think a bit more about what my goals are.
In some ways this is ironic because the ultimate goal of learning any art is to master the technique so that you transcend to the point where you can be creative and are free to express your self. The epitome of which for many artists is the ability to improvise. This is the place where you rely on your technique by applying your creativity without restrictions. Preparation and planning have no place here, however what I have discovered is that to teach an art or knowledge successfully, preparation and planning are essential.
Upon reflection, I think that this is especially important in education because of student diversity and the enormous amount of information students are expected to learn in so short a time. Teachers have to make choices regarding what should be taught and then they need to find ways to teach it so that ALL their students learn and acquire the necessary skills and knowledge. Being well organized, planning and properly preparing is paramount in helping students in this process. I do not think that Teacher can “wing it” and expect their students to “get it”. In this type of model, there are no clear goals and no comprehensible plan on how to get there. Kids need guidance. They need a transparent map and it is up to the teacher to construct that map for them and this takes preparation and planning. A teacher should have very clear objectives and goals and then work back from there to design units and lesson plans that help students achieve those objectives.