A common theme that appeared throughout the weeks of observations was adaptability. I lost track of how many teachers said their day was unusual for one reason or another. Sometimes they said it because their class was quieter than normal or because there was a special event happening that day. This was especially true on Hallowe’en. There were times that it was related to staffing, whether it was not enough substitutes or just substitutes that weren’t familiar with the school or students. Other times it was due to students being away. Regardless of the reason, teachers adapted accordingly and moved forward with their day.

One week in a kindergarten class, the students were working at different literacy centers. The teacher had predesignated pairs and had each pair assigned to a station. Towards the end of their time at the stations, the teacher mentioned that she normally uses that time to work on literacy with small groups. She would pull groups from the stations while the others continued what they were doing. On that particular day, she was getting over a cold and was struggling with her voice, but did not have any other lingering symptoms. Due to this, she skipped the small groups for the day instead of hurting her voice more while attempting to speak over the background noise from the literacy stations. It was enlightening to see that her day was flexible enough that the routine did not actually change for the students as a whole and she was able to meet her current needs. As far as we could see, the students hadn’t even noticed that the literacy small groups weren’t happening because they were busy working independently at their stations, which still provided literacy practice.

Another example of adapting to circumstances was when a teacher realized at the last minute that the math worksheet she had planned had addition and subtraction on it. Although her grade 2 students could handle the two concepts separately, she knew they struggled to switch back and forth between the two and they just weren’t ready for that particular worksheet. Since she had a full week prepped, she was able to take the math game for the next week and use it in that moment. Her preparedness meant the students didn’t have to struggle with something they weren’t ready for or miss math for that day. The day continued on smoothly and the students had no idea it was the plan for next week.

During observation this past week, the school our pod was at was struggling due to many unfilled staff absences. There were teachers and educational assistants missing. This included EAs for high-needs students. One of the ways that they adapted was by the resource teacher taking on one of the high-needs students for the day. Although it isn’t part of her job, she considered school to be most important for that student and would rather have her day altered than have to send the student home. One of the things she told us is that if you go to work everyday with certain expectations, they probably won’t be met and you’ll be disappointed. Everyday is different and unexpected things happen but that is the nature of working in a school. There are too many different factors for everyday to go precisely as planned, so it is important to recognize when the plan needs to be flexible and change. She also said she was exhausted and it’s only 9:30 but that was okay because it was important for the student.

What I’ve learned through seeing teachers adapt is that it helps to have plans. If a lesson can’t happen for various reasons or a school event gets changed, it helps to have those future lessons as a back up plan. Additionally, there are few weeks that don’t have at least one schedule change. There are many holidays and professional development days, along with meetings that a rotating substitute is required for. Expecting the anomalies and being prepared for the unexpected will make the days and weeks a lot smoother, for yourself and the students, than having the expectation of perfection.