Every August, as the heat in Shanghai starts to get really oppressive, I find myself staring at a blank spreadsheet. The planning dilemma is always the same: do I spend my final week of holiday building every single resource and lesson for the next few months, or do I take it week by week and "see how the students are feeling"?
The Broad Debate
In the teaching world, this is a bit of a tribal issue. On one side, you have the "Just-in-Time" planners. They argue that you can't possibly know what to teach in week seven until you've seen the results of the quiz in week three. To them, planning months in advance is rigid and robotic.
On the other side are the "Front-loaders." They want every worksheet, PowerPoint, and assessment signed, sealed, and delivered before the first bell rings. They argue that this is the only way to avoid the Sunday night dread and ensure consistency across a department.
What the Thinkers Say
The "Education Gurus" you see on LinkedIn often lean heavily into the "Just-in-Time" camp. They talk about "responsive teaching" and "following the student's inquiry." They suggest that a teacher's role is to be a facilitator who pivots on a dime.
It's a noble idea, but as a teacher with five different classes and a heavy marking load, it feels... unrealistic. It strikes me as a view held by people who haven't had to plan for thirty-five teenagers on a rainy Tuesday afternoon recently. Following a student's inquiry is great, but spontaneous lessons are often just poor lessons with a better name.
My View
My view is that neither extreme actually works. If you don't plan in advance, you burn out by October. If you plan too much in advance, you end up teaching to the plan rather than the kids. I’ve started using what I call the 70/30 model. It’s less about efficiency and more about a kind of classroom Buddhism: I front-load about 70% of the unit to find focus and peace, but I leave a deliberate 30% "white space" to be kind to the inevitable messiness of real life.
Why the Hybrid Model Wins
The Cognitive Load of Monday Morning
The biggest benefit of front-loading the core stuff—the main assessments and the key content—is cognitive peace. When you walk into school on Monday morning, you shouldn't be wondering what you're teaching; you should be focusing on how you're going to teach it. If the resources are ready, you can spend your energy on the actual humans in the room. Kindness is being present, and you can't be present if you're mentally scrolling through tomorrow's slides.
The Problem with Improvisation
In the IB programme (which I teach), there's a huge emphasis on inquiry. But inquiry doesn't mean "making it up as you go." I’ve found that the more I plan the structure in advance, the more flexible I can actually be. Because I know where we're going in week ten, I can afford to spend an extra day on Topic A in week three if the kids are struggling. Without a plan, a "pivot" is just getting lost.
What Happens Next?
If you're currently drowning in Sunday night planning, try shifting your ratio:
- The 70% Core: Get your assessments and your "must-have" PowerPoints done before the term starts. This is your safety net.
- The 30% Buffer: Deliberately leave one lesson every two weeks as a "reflection or reteach" lesson. Don't plan it. Use it for whatever the kids didn't get.
- Primary vs Secondary: If you're in primary school, you might need a 60/40 split because curiosity is more unpredictable there. In exam-heavy secondary classes, you probably need an 80/20 split to ensure you actually cover the syllabus.
For teachers: Planning is a craft, not a box-ticking exercise. Don't let the "responsive" gurus make you feel guilty for being organised, but don't let your organisation stop you from listening to your students.