This might seem gratuitous. Jeff, Christian, and Chris have been fretting over my work habits and, because they’re smart guys, odds are good some of my new- and preservice teacher readership shares their misunderstanding of exactly what I’m endorsing here.

From Christian (fourth comment down):

Dan, ALL of us as young teachers (passionately attacking the opportunities with fever) proved that we could spend as many hours outside of the classroom (as inside it) prepping and constructing lessons that demonstrated OUR ‘gift of teaching’. Fear and excitement does that to a guy. So does ego. Just like a young varsity coach still believes she/he has to be able to one-up every one of his/her players to prove they ’still got game’, whereas experienced coaches aren’t breaking a sweat or worried about their 4/40 split on the sidelines.

…

The kids get it – you know more than they do.
The kids get it – you love the subject more than they do.
The kids get it – you are able to research and plan and all the rest harder than they can.
The kids get it – you’re the teacher.

…

Imagine back to a recent post-about-a-lesson of yours, for instance, if you had asked the kids to make their own graphing relationship movies (et al) first…maybe you’d do it alongside them…and then watched to see what happened as you ‘both’ learned from the other side along the way. Your expertise/instinct would have been ahead of them, to be sure, but the ‘process’ would have been centered on learning, not on the teacher’s performance or presentation.

If you’ve been reading this blog the same way Christian has, you see my lesson-planning efforts as:

1. a response to fear
2. an outcome of excitement
3. a result of insecurity
4. sharply focused but pointed in the wrong direction

Two right, anyway.

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Jeff registers his concern over the hours I work and the ethic I keep (third comment down; dunno why the anchors aren’t working):

I’m concerned that you’re going to burn yourself out before you can get in and make the kind of impact that I know you want to. 18 hours on a 45 minute lesson is NUTS, my friend, and though I know you and TMAO are all about the “bring it hard every minute of the day” approach, to which I say: respect. But we’re going to lose you guys to frustration, to exhaustion, to all the side effects of slamming your head into the wall to entertain adolescents who’d much rather be anywhere else, no matter how much they like (or you think they like) you and your class.

To which I say: thanks for the concern. I’d be a dunce to disregard the counsel of anyone who’s been at this longer than I have. Two reasons why your concern is misplaced and one important point of clarification:

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I’m not blogging because I’m not teaching. Not well anyway, which is enough shame to keep me from poking my head up around here. It’s not burnout and it isn’t laziness. Spring break was good to me and I’ve jumped back in with the same workaholic, 07h00-to-00h30 schedule.

My efforts at good planning are going wasted though. I’m making rookie mistakes like overestimating time-on-task, finishing lessons early, and spinning my wheels lamely until the bell rings. I’m under-scaffolding, under-engaging, just plain under-teaching my students. It’s embarrassing, that’s what it is. I’m not sure what’s up or how I’m going to get my mojo back, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen while blogging about it.

Sometimes I find something around that’s really interesting, but which doesn’t exactly conform to any of my content area standards, yet it’s just too cool to pass off to a more appropriate teacher and just trust they’ll do the right thing. That’s when I decide, what the hay, and cut loose and teach it. I know. I know. Reckless, right? But that’s how the Schmidt Sting Pain Index makes me feel. Watch this space for the slide deck, comin’atcha sometime around May 2008, if my current pace continues.