I got some advice once that was unfathomable at the time and took a long time to swallow: you may think your Plan A is perfect, but that's insulting to reality, so be sure to have a Plan B on hand. This is valuable advice for a teacher. I know what you may be thinking, that it's the very first day of student teaching, how can Plan A have gone out the window already? But stay with me, it isn't what you think.
Headed into the teacher education program, but especially into student teaching, I was very worried about my health. I have a tendency to be anxious and hyper-analytical, and did I mention that I'm a "brittle" type 1 diabetic with a hemoglobin A1c of 8.0? Going into Green Run this morning I was far more worried that my health would let me down and make this important day more challenging than it might otherwise be. This wasn't entirely incorrect, but here's the thing: my day wasn't ruined, it was actually great, and despite the range in blood sugar levels today (54 min/334 max) I have a solid idea of how to prevent a repeat of this. And while it continues to boggle my husband, I actually love data. The simple explanation for this is that I am a walking data set and I most likely always will be. Every new blood sugar read, carbohydrate consumed, or calorie burned gives me now information on how I can work to help alleviate my health concerns. Headed in for student teaching today, I was confident that I had a solid Plan A: I packed enough carbohydrates (116g) and had the right insulin distribution rates set up on my pump. I was mistaken, but that was okay, because I lacked a critical piece of data: estimated number of calories burned (411, according to MyFitnessPal). With that information, I can craft a new and improved Plan B. This is a valuable lesson to have learned both for my personal health and for my career of choice. I can change the number of carbs I pack into my adorable lunch bag or how much insulin I give myself, but like I can change a lesson plan that isn't working so hot or create an alternative assessment when the original one won't do the job. I'll be tested on my ability to generalize in this way soon enough, but in the meantime I'm feeling pretty confident in my ability to look at a situation and accept that, despite my best efforts, nothing will ever be perfectly-perfect, and it is more than okay to have a Plan B.
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AuthorTrue stories about teaching and learning in Hampton Roads, VA Archives
May 2016
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