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Poem: Mummy Slept Late and Daddy Fixed Breakfast, by John Ciardi 

If you liked this Ciardi poem, you may enjoy his book on poetry, How Does a Poem Mean. 

Statement of the Whole: How does a teacher balance careful planning with wise use of the rabbit trail?  If you over plan you stand to be very frustrated, but the same can be said for under-planning.  What is the balance?  Jason and Steve run with a quote from Jack London down the path of Goldilocks to find the size of planning that fits the classroom just right. 

Quote from Jack London’s The Road to start our episdoe: 

“[The railroad tramp] has learned the futility of telic endeavor, and knows the delight of drifting along with the whimsicalities of Chance.”

Jack London, The Road

Steve first discovered this term and its counterpart, paratelic, in psychology class.  It is prominent in a modern view called Reversal Theory, which has as a major idea the notion that modern man is too consumed with goals and plans, and should play more.  “The two states in the first pair are called “Telic” (or “Serious”) and “Paratelic” (or “Playful”) and refer to whether one is motivated by achievement and future goals, or the enjoyment of process in the moment.” (Wikipedia article on Reversal Theory) 

One helpful work referenced in this episode, which is getting its own episode, is Joseph Pieper’s Leisure: The Basis of Culture.