Keeping the Objective

Going in for our second observation I had a task.  My goal was to fish out the lesson plan, to see if I could figure out what the teacher's objectives were.  It turned out to be easier than expected.  I had sat in on a tenth grade English class the last time I was there.  In the few minutes I was there I could tell this teacher was organized and goal oriented.  When I was given this task, I knew I wanted to go straight to her class!
The last time I was in this high school I was so focused on the behaviors of the members of the class I didn't notice the signs staring me in the face.  On the board the teacher had the objectives clearly stated, along with the standards that would be met through the objectives.  I filled in the blanks on my prepared worksheet and watched closely, to see if the theoretical objectives would become a reality.
As I had seen before, the teacher homed in on her purpose. She had the students take turns narrating the novel Lord of the Flies.  As they were reading, she would stop and ask for a closer examination of what was being described in the text.  Her way was basic but it was effective.  The students engaged in discussion and were able to contemplate the standpoint of the characters. At one point a young girl talked about the need of the characters to become savages in order to survive.  I was so excited!  It was a moment that inspired me.  I wanted to be at the teacher's desk!  It also made me  contemplate how I would have steered the conversation. I wanted the teacher to dig more and get the students to analyze the idea of assimilating into your surroundings.  It seemed relevant to the population.  Instead, she brought it back to the text and began the reading again.  I was disappointed on one level, but then I realized that she had to keep to her plan, so she chose what was right.   If she had moved onto the subject of assimilation, it would have changed the whole objective.  I started to think about how careful I will have to be as an educator.  It will be easy to let the conversation go onto something new and unplanned but it will be a challenge to stay focused and on task if I'm not mindful of the reason for staying on topic.  I realize the importance of helping students to achieve the educational goals set for them, but I also value the need to let students explore their own thoughts.  In turn, it  made me contemplate  the importance of listening to the students and maybe leaving a portion of my week to allow students to speak freely on a topic, relatively unguided, when I become a teacher.