I should be encouraged, not discouraged, to write my lesson plans because:

1) I'm closer now than ever before with my students' zone of proximal development
2) I am closer and closer to knowing what is realistic in terms of time frames for activities
3) I've had practice writing better and better objectives that align to standards and that use Bloom's taxonomy of learning domains.

= = =
I almost threw the baby out with the bath water today by letting myself feel completely dismayed and hopeless after 1 rough day (OK, not 1 rough day, but rather 7 rough weeks). I know so much about teaching, I'm building positive relationships with some students, and some students are learning some things in my classes. It would be a shame to quit while I'm ahead, even if it doesn't feel anything like you would think being ahead feels like.

I need to keep getting better. And I am. This is the best I've ever taught and I'm going to get better from here.