Flexibility - Changing Plans With Short Notice

I have a friend whose favorite saying is "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken."

I live in North Carolina, and this week, all the talk has been about Hurricane Florence.  While Raleigh is far enough inland to rarely be dramatically affected, that doesn't stop everyone from preparing.  Stores were quickly out of bread and bottled water.  People who have never grilled before rushed to Home Depot for grills and propane tanks in case we were without power for a few days.  The entire shelf of charcoal at Harris Teeter was empty.

I am single and content with the peanut butter and crackers in my house.  I filled a few pitchers with water and tea.  My preparation issues were almost entirely related to school.  On Tuesday afternoon, it was announced that we should have a half-day on Thursday and no school on Friday.  We were in the midst of achievement testing, so that required some reconfiguring.  I had also planned to tape some physics students to an outside door on Wednesday, but the rain delayed that for a week.

What do you do with 1 and a half days and a long weekend you hadn't planned for?  Think about what is essential.  Is there something you have planned that would have been good but isn't really needed?  You can delete that from your plan?  Is there something that is marginally better if it takes a whole class period but can be compressed into a half period without much loss?  Do that.    Is there something you could assign them to read for homework?  That'll make your use of class time upon returning to class more effective.  Is there something you planned to teach in a time-consuming way that could be handled more efficiently with direct instruction or a video?  That'll work.

None of these is the ideal because there isn't a way to make a sudden time cut ideal.  (Your original plan probably was the best way.)  They are, however, the best way to move forward and not waste time just because you weren't expecting the change.

If you work in a school longer than a month, you will encounter unexpected schedule changes.  Even the best thought out plans get changed by weather, a guest speaker who gets scheduled or dropped at the last minute, changes to standardized testing, or a pep rally you forgot was coming.  If you don't have in your mind what is most essential, you will either end up overloading your students or wasting their time, neither of which is acceptable.