Mr. Thelen’s new school needed such uniform lesson plans; however,
there was no time to get committees together or to align such plans with
the course curricula since course curricula did not exist. Based on his own
experience, this new assistant principal of supervision created four sets of
uniform plans, one for each English course offered in the spring.
During several meetings with the department’s teachers held before
the semester began, Mr. Thelen distributed the plans he developed and
explained the purpose of having such uniform plans at the beginning of
a semester. Once he assured the teachers that they could adapt the plans
to their own styles, the idea was generally accepted because it solved a
problem. It also reduced the planning workload for newer teachers, giv-
ing them extra time to plan for the coming semester. Finally, it reduced
disciplinary issues as students learned they would be held accountable for
work previously taught.
Mr. Thelen could have told teachers that instruction was a priority and
the loss of four weeks of instruction was unacceptable. He could have said
it was important to develop standardized curricula that allowed for teacher
personalization. Words are cheap. By rolling up his sleeves, providing
materials, explaining how these materials would create an ambience for
learning from day one of the semester, and allowing teachers the freedom
to cover topics in their own way, he sent these messages by doing rather
than saying.
Mr. Thelen’s actions laid the groundwork for the future. With the input
of teachers, reference to state and district curricula guidelines, and recog-
nition of the specific needs of students, Mr. Thelen and his staff devel-
oped standardized curricula packets for all courses taught. These packets
included required topics, a textbook list, and suggested time frames and
methods. To use today’s terminology, they established standards for each
course of study.
This took four years. When Mr. Thelen took on this position in the
1980s, there was less of a sense of urgency to accomplish everything that
needed to be done in one year. In his first year as an assistant principal,
Mr. Thelen taught ninth-year students, and working with other ninth-year
teachers, he developed the curriculum for the ninth-year courses. In sub-
sequent years, he followed a similar procedure with grades 10, 11, and 12.
As a course of study was devised for each course, so were new uniform
plans aligned to that course of study, forming the first unit of instruction.
Always Be a Role Model 3