Thinking about Checklists in the North Woods

My family and I recently spent a week off the grid, deep in the North Woods of Wisconsin where the brilliant stars and a waxing moon were the only lights, and the eerie cry of loons, yips of coyotes and hoots of owls were the only sounds. You wouldn’t think I’d read a book about checklists in that environment, but that’s exactly what I did—and it was a page turner.

Atul Gawande’s new book, The Checklist Manifesto, which has been recommended by Dennis Sparks and many others, got me thinking about how similar a classroom or school can be to an operating room, the backdrop for the book. You may have a plan in mind, but anything can happen to upset it. The better prepared you are for handling the unexpected, the calmer and more focused you will be when it happens.

In the operating room, checklist items can range from confirming that the right patient is on the table to making sure there’s enough extra blood in case of an emergency. In the classroom, a checklist might include whether the day’s objectives are visible and clearly understood by all. To accommodate all learners, a lesson planning checklist might stipulate that there’s enough time for “student talk," physical movement and graphic organizers.

We could also benefit from checklists for unpredictable events. What about the new student who arrives mid-year, the irate parent who insists on seeing you immediately, or a student who suddenly begins acting up in class? You never know who is going to come in the door, what new event is going to interrupt the flow of the day. Yet, you can be prepared for almost anything and everything.

Gawande writes that checklists “can help experts remember how to manage a complex process…make priorities clearer and prompt people to function better as a team.” Teaching is arguably at least as complex as surgery, with desired outcomes every bit as critical. If the complex process of teaching could be better managed, priorities made clearer, and everyone functioned better as a team, could students’ academic health dramatically improve? Checklists aren’t a high tech, high cost solution—in fact, they’re definitely “off the grid” – but sometimes the simplest approach is the best.