The new contract agreed to by Chicago's public-school teachers includes more flexibility for them to design classroom lessons -- reversing a previous rule that in some cases required them to adhere to a template. Teachers now are writing their own lesson plans, and sharing them with their principals and sometimes the whole school. "The way my mind works, having a particular format, having to have a regulated format, would feel like it's too mundane, too micromanaged," said social studies teacher Erik Young.