Over the past couple of months, I have been working with educators on developing their operational and instructional plans for this completely novel situation. The leadership teams I’ve worked with are problem solving their tails off and have built solid plans. Then they get tripped up by the same question when they present the plan to staff…

“What if?”

What if a student spits on the floor? What if a student has an allergy? What if an asteroid crashes into the school?

We are in a novel, unmapped situation. The goal is to build an 80% solution. A plan that solves 80% of the problems that we can reasonably anticipate. This means that we realize, up front, that there will be times when Plan A will not work. When this happens we will quickly move to Plan B, Plan C, and so on.

Some “What If’s” are going to happen. Admit that. Point out the multitude of “What If’s” that have already been planned for and that adjustments will be made for the unanticipated “What If’s”

But don’t throw away a solid action plan for a paranoid “What if.” For example:

What if a student spits on the floor?

IF this occurs, it will be cleaned up by a custodian if we don’t know who did it. It will be cleaned up be the guilty party if we know who did it. Just as has always been the case.

What if a student has an allergy?

IF this occurs, we’ll evaluate the situation and have an alternate plan for that student and their class. Just as has always been the case.

What if an asteroid crashes into the school?

This is definitely going to happen in 2020. Please refer to the asteroid response section of the Reboot plan.

Lead Your School and Wash Your Hands!

Your turn…

Follow @LYSNation on Twitter and Lead Your School on Facebook.