Keeping the End in Mind

One of the things I have to do as a teacher is get the end, the objective, what I want my students to learn, know and be able to do at the end of the lesson or unit, in my mind before I ever start teaching.

Well, that's what I have to do if I want to be a good teacher.  Sometimes the end goal is just to keep them from driving me crazy, but more often than not the goal is for them to reach some sort of learning objective.

For example, by the end of tomorrow's lesson in Social Studies, my students should be able to name the three western frontier trails that most pioneers used in the 1800's, as well as name reasons why the pioneers used those particular trails.  They will also be able to distinguish the pros and cons of using oxen vs. mules to travel to the west on the frontier trails, and provide logical reasons why they would choose one over the other.

So, knowing that's what I wanted my kids to get out of the lesson by the end of the period, I created a kick ass multimedia lesson integrating different learning styles and techniques in order to reach all my students at their level of learning.  Just so you know, I won't actually use the term "kick ass" during the lesson...that's just for your benefit.  And then later I will have a set of different assessment to test if those students acquired the skills and knowledge that were set forth in my objectives.

I try to consciously and systematically do this for all of my lessons.  So, for five days a week, I do this for math, science, social studies, reading, writing, handwriting, social skills, and spelling.  That's about 40 lessons per week that I am studiously crafting in order to reach the stated objectives.

NOW, IF I CAN DO THAT FOR 23 WHINY, SNOT-NOSED KIDS EVERY WEEK, WHY IN THE WORLD CAN'T I DO THAT FOR MYSELF?


I have the objective in mind, but it's somewhat vague and general:  GET SKINNY.
And I sort of have the lesson plan mapped out:  EAT LESS AND EXERCISE MORE.
But, I think I need to start being more targeted, and set more small goals, with specific steps on how I want to reach my objective.


So, this week the objective is:  HAVE A LOSS.  Last week it was .2 lbs.  The week before it was 2.2.  I'm just happy as long as it's a loss.  That's my goal: lose weight.


So, the hard part is focusing on the steps to get there.  I have only a few days left before Weigh-In Saturday, so I won't have to focus for too long.  I can do this!


Step One:  Track every BLT (bite, lick and taste) that goes into my mouth.  
I'm usually not a person that takes little nibbles of things, but Lily has these organic cheddar bunny crackers that are as good as Cheeze-Its and I LOVE THEM, so I have to be really careful to just not go there.  Mmmmm....cheeze-its.....drrrroooool.


Step Two:  Exercise EVERY day the rest of this week for at least 30 minutes, preferably 45.
I've been doing pretty good with this so far this week.  Saturday I worked out, Sun & Mon I took a break, but I worked out this morning, and I plan on doing it tomorrow, Thursday and Friday as well.  Just gotta keep on keeping on with it, even though I hate it almost as much as I hate throwing up through my nose.  Does that give you a good picture of what I'm feeling here?  Can you feel the depth of my emotion through that analogy?  I hope so, because I think I just really grossed myself out here.


Okay, so I have a goal, and I have some steps to get there.  I know there are other things I should be keeping in mind, like eating more lean meats, fruit & veggies, and drinking more water, blah, blah, blah...but my brain can only take so much, people!  I'll get there, I'll get there.  Baby steps.  We're going back to baby steps.

You can baby step with me, if you like.

Oh, and by the way, can you name the three most-used frontier trails to the West used by the pioneers in the 1800's?  Yes, well, then you may just be smarter than a 2nd grader.  NO?  Well then, consider yourself an average American.