This is the early stage of my lesson planning page but I intend to share my reflections and progress I make during planning lessons.

To me, lesson planning is somewhat paradoxical. I think I can best explain it with a metaphor.

I come from an Italian background. We love to cook. It is in my blood and in my culture. The center of our world is food, its preparation and its consumption. I am passionate about cooking. When I cook, I almost never follow a recipe. I find the process of cooking rewarding, exciting, and sometimes unpredictable. When you cook without a recipe, you focus more on the process. You notice details that you would might otherwise miss. When you cook without a recipe you can think of what ingredients go well with the dish you are preparing. You are not following some other person’s ideas about what any given dish should taste like.

I think it is a similar situation in teaching. For me, however, there is one important distinction.

I am an experienced cook but I have not an experienced teacher.

Thinking back to the early days of my cooking life I followed lots of recipes. And even today when I am trying something that I have never cooked before I will look up a recipe or a video on Youtube. Recognizing that teaching and education is a fluid and on-going process, I have to remind myself that I am just starting. Planning is a crucial part of the teaching process and despite being passionate about “teaching without a recipe” I have to remember that I am in the early stages of my understanding of teaching.

I have heard repeatedly that learning is messy. Learning to be a teacher is just as messy. Making mistakes and learning a style that fits you best takes time and will have bumps along the way. So, on this page I intend to share some of my lesson plans. I will share what has worked for me and other things that have not gone as well.