The Tikkun Project
Lesson
9
Revising the Action Plan & Course Correction
Concept
Plans to take action often don't go exactly according to plan. An effective Difference Maker doesn't wait until the end to find out if it's working - they pause partway through, honestly compare their actual results against the specific standard they set for themselves, and make a deliberate, evidence-based decision about whether to keep going, stop, or change course.
Focus Question
How does checking our progress while taking action help us become more effective difference makers?
Knowledge & Understanding Goals
Language, Comprehension Strand C, Grade 3: Analyze preliminary project data against a previously stated standard, using evidence-based reasoning.
Language, Oral Communication Strand B, Grade 3: Communicate a planned course correction clearly, citing specific evidence.
Thinking & Learning Skills
Thinking Skills (Evidence-Based Adaptation): Distinguishing an observed obstacle from a wished-for outcome.
Self-Management Skills: Adjusting an in-progress plan based on real data, rather than persisting with or abandoning it outright.
Context
Students are currently 2-3 days into executing their 5-day action plans (launched in Lesson 8). Rather than waiting until the project ends to discover what went wrong, students pause mid-action to conduct a structured self-audit, comparing their real-world results against the specific standard they set for themselves in Lesson 2.
Lesson Outline
REVIEWING OUR EARLY DATA
Gather with Difference Maker Tracking Logs open to the first 2-3 days of collected data (tallies, photos, survey responses). Frame the lesson: effective difference makers don't wait until the end to see if their plan worked - they check their progress as they go, using real evidence, not a general feeling of "it's probably fine."
CHECKING AGAINST OUR OWN STANDARD
Before anything else, students retrieve their own "I will know I have made a difference if ___" statement from Lesson 2. Ask directly: based on your actual data so far, is this happening? Not "do I feel good about my project" - specifically, does the evidence in your log match what you said you'd need to see? This is the moment students find out whether their own criteria - set before they'd done any of the work - was realistic, and whether their early results are actually on track to meet it.
INTRODUCING KEEP / STOP / START
Explain that hitting an obstacle, or discovering the early data doesn't match the "I will know..." standard, is not a failure - it's new information telling us how to adapt. Students complete a Keep/Stop/Start protocol: Keep - what's working well that I should continue? Stop - what isn't working, or is causing a problem? Start - what new adjustment will I make for the final days? Each answer should cite something specific from the tracking log, not a general impression.
SHARING OUR PIVOT
In quick partner pairs, students share: "My plan was to ___, but my data shows ___. So for the next two days, I am pivoting to ___ so I can better meet my own standard of ___ (their Lesson 2 statement) and demonstrate more ___ (value/middah)."
RESUMING WITH ADJUSTMENTS
Students obtain teacher confirmation for any physical changes to their project setup and resume execution with their new adjustments in place.
Notes for Teaching and Evaluation
Returning to the exact "I will know I have made a difference if ___" statement from Lesson 2 - rather than a fresh, open-ended "how's it going?" - is what turns this into genuine self-assessment rather than a mood check.
Keep/Stop/Start: the same protocol used in the Poverty, Sustainability, and Immigration units - deliberate cross-grade consistency, so the routine becomes a recognizable, reusable habit across the whole K-8 Tikkun sequence.
Scheduling this check-in mid-project, rather than only at the end, is what makes a genuine course correction possible.