How do I plan units like Jackson Polluck?

So everyone, I got to do two things today:

1. I got to teach. (Yes!)
2. I planned Units. (Yes?)

First, the teaching. Of the four classes I am in on Mondays, I got to teach 1st and 3rd year English. Both experiences were spur of the moment. I walked in and my cooperating teachers said something to the effect of, "So, do want to take over for the day?" With all the planning I was trying to fit in today, it was a welcome challenge. And I must say that when I am in front of the class I feel like I am in my element. Experience still has a lot to teach me about holding the reins, but I enjoy the experience of learning by doing. Building relationships and connections with these students is very exciting because I think of the doors that open as a teacher when students feel they know me, and are comfortable with me. It's definitely playing into my favor being an American here in Ireland as it provides students a reason to be interested in me - I try to flip that around and use it as an opportunity to show an interest in them as well. But there is also this looming thing called curriculum and I am under the impression that I actually have to teach these kids something. And the consensus seems to be that I have to plan these learning opportunities. So here's the second part of this little update.

The planning. It gets very stressful sorting through stories, pictures, articles, resources, templates, graphic organizers and activities - not to mention the fact that I have to organize these things around some structured topic - to create a coherent unit. Well I feel confident in building relationships, but coherence? I think I've spent much of my life fighting it. Is there a way to plan "un-structure" and still be explicit with learning objectives?

I kind of feel like I've been shown how to design in pointillism but I'm trying to make a Jackson Polluck. It's all art right?

Part of the problem is I am creating these units from scratch (for the most part). I truly haven't found any units online that I feel comfortable with teaching - they seem cheap and thrown together. I want my units to have a defined target for the students - as well as a narrow focus - with a clearly scaffolded arc of learning. By my standards they need to progress through some skills to adequately support growth and learning. I am still learning how to do this.

Still, my unit topics are amazing: Science Fiction, Creative Writing, Native American Legends, Photojournalism, Sound in Film. I'll let you know how the planning goes this week. And if anyone is interested I'll post the units as well.

Until then I'll be planning with this in mind, "Life keeps on changing, I tell it to stay still but it won't listen." - Rocky Votolato