I believe it is essential to remember to be flexible, when planning my lessons.  What I mean by this, is that some of my my best instruction has been when I altered my plans the night before or even that morning!  It is easy to become comfortable with your plans and have them prepared well in advance (new teachers may not agree), but new idea can change that. 

 

I have to admit that personally, it provides a rush as if I am trying to meet a deadline in a newsroom.  I am not encouraging this to be common practice.  I am simply saying is that there is nothing wrong with always being on the lookout for something exciting to add to your classroom.

 

I have two recent examples, both from a unit I just completed on the Industrial Revolution (Global Studies, grade 10).  I found a website one day during my prep, literally 40 minutes before the start of class.  It was an internet lesson that had several game-like activities where students matched the invention/technological advancement with its purpose (http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/inventor2/lesson.cfm).

I wrote up a brief paper to guide them along and record their information and off we went to the computer lab.  I also (different day), stumbled upon a "Dirty Jobs" episode where the host Mike Rowe, worked in a coal mine built in 1890 (http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/dirtyjobs.html).

 

Both ideas gave my students visuals that pictures from books and lectures CANNOT provide!  Their essays they wrote on the Industrial Revolution proved this. 

 

I understand that it can seem chaotic or never the right moment to change a well thought out lesson plan.  All I am recommending is that if the opportunity presents itself, it will result in a better experience for both the student and the teacher!