III.+Sticky+Lesson+1

=**STICKY LESSON**=

**Lesson Design Suggestion #1**
{At the end of this mini-lesson you will know the term "Commander's Intent" and have one shorthand tool to use in designing lessons.}

[For a full discussion of this point, please read Chip and Dan Heath's **__Made to Stick__**. A great read!]

You may recall the tragedy of the attempted hostage rescue in Iran back when Jimmy Carter was president. Following the event, the military began to reassess how it plans missions. They found that an immense amount of time and energy went into building plans and processes. The system was described as a "marvel of communication". Too bad the plans more often than not turned out to be useless.

The Head of Behavioral Sciences at West Point, Col. Tom Kolditz, states, "You may start off trying to fight your plan, but the enemy gets a vote. Unpredictable things happen…Many armies fail because they put all their emphasis into creating a plan that becomes useless ten minutes into the battle." He goes on to say, "The trite expression we use is, 'No plan survives contact with the enemy'."

The Heath Brothers write about Col. Kolditz's statement: "No doubt this principle has resonance for people who have no military experience whatsoever. No plan survives contact with the enemy. No sales plan survives contact with the customer. No lesson plan survives contact with teenagers."

The military has been working on making plans as simple as possible. The Heath Brothers write a short, clear paragraph that speaks volumes:

It's hard to make ideas stick in a noisy, unpredictable, chaotic environment. If we are to succeed, the first step is this: Be Simple. Not simple in terms of "dumbing down" or "sound bites". You don't have to speak in monosyllables to be simple. **//What we mean by "simple" is finding the core of the idea.//**

The Combat Maneuver Training Center, the organization that plans all military simulations [which are HUGE and immensely complicated ordeals], has created what they refer to as COMMANDER'S INTENT. The Commander's Intent is a clear, concise, simple statement of mission expectation. [Or in teachspeak, the ultimate objective of the lesson.]

The Commander's Intent should be ascertainable by answering two questions:


 * If we do nothing else during tomorrow's mission, we must -.


 * The single, most important thing that we must do tomorrow is ---.


 * __Here's your Design Tool:__**

You are the Commander. State your INTENT by answering these two questions as the //__starting point__// of designing your next lesson:


 * If my students do nothing else in tomorrow's lesson, they must -.


 * The single, most important thing each student must learn by the end of tomorrow's lesson is --.

I would love your feedback, input, questions, etc on this first design tool.

COMING NEXT: "Finding the Core"

REFERENCE POINT: The Heath Brothers' __**Made to Stick**__ (See The Bookshelf)