Planning, Planning, & More Planning

Although you're already halfway-ish (totally making that a word) through the school year, the new year is right around the corner.  So obviously we think of resolutions when talking about the new year.  Instead of focusing on giving up pop, losing weight, or stopping your shopping addiction (wait, is that just me?)...why not make a career-based resolution? Think about your lesson plan template...does it work for you? Are you able to put everything you need to keep you on track during the day or prove to your administration that you're meeting all the demands of the lesson design process? After years of messing with multiple lesson plan templates, I think I found something that works for me, and hopefully it will be your lifesaver as well. 

The "odd" thing about this template is it is used vertically instead of horizontal.  Before you think I'm crazy, I still keep my lesson plans in a binder, only it is vertical on my desk rather than horizontal. It actually takes up less usable space on my desk. Win-Win!

A breakdown of what the first half of my day looks like:

At the top

• Spot for date
• General objectives for each subject area (in red)
• Breakdown of days of the week

Left side

• Time slots throughout the day (Do not have the subject area listed on this copy)
• Each standard I am currently teaching in that subject area (in green)

Middle

• All lesson ideas (Room for all parts of lesson design: Antic=Anticipatory set, GP=Guided Practice, IP=Independent Practice)
• Just an FYI, since assessments take a decent amount of time, I use larger font. 

 A breakdown of what the second half of my day looks like:

*Note the dates are not at the top of this one, since the binder is turned to read down per day, rather than across like many of us are used to. The rest of content is filled in per lesson.

Bottom:

• Homework section: Helps me get materials ready, remind students, and stay organized on what is expected of them throughout the week
• Meetings: Helpful to see what meetings after-school, whether it is with staff members or parents.
• Misc/Birthday: I also will type in a section for miscellaneous information or student birthdays as well.
• Did You Know? Although, this example does not show it. In the past I have done a "Did You Know? spot in my room where I put random  facts...sometimes in cursive so students can practice reading cursive. Just a fun & silly way to incorporate more learning in the classroom!