One of the problems that we educators face is that most of our own training in lesson planning and classroom management was (and is) based on instructional theory that was researched and designed for almost laboratory-perfect classrooms. They do not take the reality of our situations into account. More beneficial to me have always been those programs that have been through the rigors of actual classrooms and are based on real teachers' experiences. The same, too, is true for the overly test-focused environment that our schools are currently in. It assumes a one-size-fits-all model and pressures teachers to "teach to the data" rather than teach what the students really need at that moment. That is not good enough for me. My best moments in the classroom have been when I've gone "off script" and reached deeply into my student's lives. Then again, as an art, my method of teaching is not appreciated by everyone ...
Philistines.