Diana Senechal is a woman of many talents, as you know if you read her recent book The Republic of Noise. She believes in contemplation, solitude, and puttering. She believes that in the quiet moments of her life, we do our best thinking and find our best selves.
This is her explanation of why puttering matters to her.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reading books helps, too.
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I putter a lot. However, iin today’s world, I believe we must purposely build time into our schedules to do so. I think puttering is related to “building margins” into my life; that is, assuming that activities will take longer than I think and purposely building extra time into my schedule as a “slush” for the unexpected. Of course, “extra time” means I must carefully choose my commitments and develop a solid ability to say “no.” All of these ideas are related.
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I love this, so true.
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Also goes with the “dance of preparation” that some need to get a task done–esp. students.
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Puttering is a time for talking with God! It provides comfort and reassurance that everything will work out for the best. God is still in control.
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Very insightful! Very true! Do you think student achievement would go up if teachers were given the time to be more reflective and purposeful in their teaching? I think so….
Smaller schools, smaller classes, less hectic schedules, fewer preps would all help this tremendously. So why aren’t we seeing it?
Mongo-huge schools mean coaches have a larger talent pool from which to gain athletes.
Hmmmmmm………………………………just a thought.
Thanks Diana, from one putterer to another, I agree!!
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Brilliant observations, Diana. However, it might be that some folks just know how to approach their days without puttering. Some of my colleagues claim they are efficient enough to utilize only their prep time for lesson planning.
For the rest of us, our most creative ideas come from those unstructured and relaxed moments when we putter. I need quiet time at my desk after school to really think through my lessons. That time is very valuable to my process.
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Yes. Give teachers time to reflect and their creativity for each students will shine through. Principals can create such time in their own creative ways.
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It’s my understanding that teachers in other countries (e.g. Finland and China) spend much less time in front of students. Big chunks of each day are reserved for reflection, grading, planning, discussions with colleagues, lesson study… I often spend dozens of hours over many years to develop one good lesson. I research, read, take notes, draft, re-draft, try it out, write out reflections for next year, re-draft… Too few administrators and “policy experts” get this. I do most of this work on my own time –on weekends, nights and vacations. I sacrifice social time, money (I often eat out to make time for this work) and household maintenance to do this work. I doubt I’d be able to do it if I were married and had kids. Time needs to be built into the work day.
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Diane, thank you for this. It came as a surprise on this grey, mildly sore-throated day. And thanks to everyone for the comments.
LG, I think that those who do all their lesson planning during prep time have a different approach to things overall. I can “plan” my lessons during prep–that is, I can lay out its content and sequence. But the greater part of lesson planning–the thought about the subject matter and about the students’ work–cannot be squeezed into such a short time.
Ponderosa, you have sketched my life, or an aspect of it. I bet “policy makers” would say that teachers should be given scripted curricula so that they can be “freed up” to deliver “effective” lessons. But that would ruin the endeavor. What happens when a student asks you a challenging question? If you’re teaching from a script, you might not even appreciate the question. You might regard it as a distraction rather than a gift. It’s the thinking about the subject that allows you to guide students into it and to respond to what they offer.
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I agree, Diana. I cannot buy the utilization of ONLY prep time for long-term planning unless one teaches the same old lessons year after year. I don’t believe any teacher is so brilliant that he or she only needs 42-45 minutes each day to be ready for every student who enters the classroom. I often wonder why it takes me hours most days to effectively prepare my lessons, but your words only affirm that puttering indeed is a means to a more in-depth understanding of what we do and how we do it effectively.
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Beautiful. I’m glad she’s a teacher.
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Don’t just do something: sit there!
(Said in agreement, not sarcasm)
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Lovely. I agree. Thank you Diana. I believe what you call “puttering” is important for writers too. From time to time I will give my students “assignments” like this: Notice something…or…Be observant this weekend.
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You mean like building a fire in six inches of snow and 30 degree temps and watching the flames dance for hours????
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Yes, definitely. Try to measure that, Bill Gates!
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