Success

 I often think that my job would be much easier if I could just learn to leave well enough alone. That said, I also know that I don't want to be one of those teachers who just reuses the same lesson plans over and over again (if those teachers even still exist) without considering whether or not there's a better way.

The trouble is, there's almost always a better way. Consequently, much of my prep time is spent finding the sweet spot between "this is fine, leave it alone" and "this needs to be completely revamped."

Lessons that fall into the latter category are typically the ones where the content is just not that exciting to begin with -- things like developmental theorists. I've tried multiple ways to address the topic of these old dead guys in a way that's relevant to my students. The easiest ones to prepare were the least interesting and the most relevant (so far) were incredibly time-consuming when it came to grading, leading right back to the revamp ramp.

I'm happy to say that I think I've found a solution -- an approach that builds on the discussion-centric atmosphere I try to build in my classes without being overly onerous to my students or to me (when it comes to grading). An informal thumbs up/thumbs down poll taken at the end of today's class leads me to believe that my students feel the same way.

And that's a win. A success that makes me smile broadly, call my family, and write a blog post. 

Silly? A little. But when a lesson can generate engagement and meaningful discussion about a bunch of people who were coming up with theories a century ago, that's a successful endeavor.

Even if it took me a decade to get here.