A digital teacher planner can help you prepare an overview for this school year. This can help you stay organized from the very first day. Planning for your school year can often feel overwhelming, yet the process doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s almost time for “Back to School”, so let’s talk about ways to start organizing our year in some simple and easy ways.
How do I get organized when I’m already so overwhelmed? I don’t know where to start!
If this sounds like you, then keep reading! Using a digital teacher planner may be just the thing for you!
Teacher Planning: My Early Years
As a first-year teacher, I was so excited to start working with my class. Everything needed to be perfect…my bulletin boards, the labels on materials, the classroom library, and more. Setting up a classroom is a large task as it is, yet I enjoyed paying attention to every detail. It all looked great and made me feel proud of the learning environment my students would call their classroom. When it came to preparing for what I needed to teach, that was another story.
While completing my B. Ed program, my fellow teacher candidates and I thought that we were preparing to take on the teaching world! Of course, we were also told that the real learning would begin once we were in a classroom outside of that learning experience.
What I’ve Tried…
- Physically writing out plans in a bound, paper Teacher Planner booklet. The problem with this was that if I made errors (or needed more room), I couldn’t make the necessary adjustments.
2. Physically writing out my plans on printed templates that I purchased. The loose paper templates were helpful to add to a binder and move as needed, but sometimes the templates did not serve my needs in planning.
Here are some traditional teacher planners that are useful for those who may prefer writing their plans:
Teacher Planner #1 (non-affiliate link)
Teacher Planner #2 (non-affiliate link)
Either approach got the job done, yet it took a long time and was often difficult to find certain key information quickly.
I soon decided that my planning had to be done on the computer, and that helped tremendously.
Fast Forward to the age of awesome online resources that are available for use and easily accessible on all devices.
Here’s a Simple Solution for You!
I’m going to share some of my simple planning templates that help me to organize my school year. These are digital teacher planner templates. I hope they may be helpful to you, too!
Click here to check out a Back-to-School Bundle suitable for Grade 1 – 2!
How Can This Help You?
These templates can be of great help to you because they are…
- already made and ready for use
- editable (e.g., topics, subjects, etc.)
- easy to store and access online whenever needed
- simplistic (e.g., minimalist style)
- environmentally-friendly (if kept online and not printed)
- printable if needed
I’m going to give descriptions of the templates available in my resource and share some tips for use. There are a variety of them to help you plan and organize your year. Choose the ones that are most suitable and use as needed.
Digital Teacher Planner: Template Breakdown
1. Year-at-a-Glance: Simple
This planner is broken down by term (e.g., September – November, December – February, etc.) On the left side of the template are the spaces for each subject. I like this planner because I can organize my big ideas or goals for each subject by term. It helps me to see where I am going next in my teaching. The template is essentially 2 – 3 pages long by the time I make my plans by subject for each term.
2. Year-at-a-Glance: Detailed
This planning template has one page for every subject. Like the previous template mentioned, it is broken down by term. Let’s say I was working on my plans for Reading using this template. The following criteria would be on the left side of the template:
- Key Topics / Focus Areas
- Curriculum Expectations / Standards
- Activities / Tasks
- Assessments
- Resources
Since these templates are editable, it doesn’t have to stay on only one page. Adjust as needed. One way I have kept it to the page is by decreasing the size of the font once plans are completed.
3. Year-at-a-Glance: By Subject, By Month
Some years, I have tried planning by month. For that reason, this template was most helpful to me. There is one page for each subject (e.g., Math). On the left side of the template are the months of the school year. Remember this is editable, so if your school year months don’t match what is on the template, it can be changed to suit your needs. I like using this template to do different things:
- Plan out themes for Reading each month
- Plan out the assessments I wish to conduct each month
- Write goals for Small Group learning in Math
The possibilities are endless with this template!
Blog Post! Perseverance: What a Roller Coaster! Teaching In A Pandemic
4. Weekly Planner
This planner is one that I use once I have completed a Year-at-a-Glance template. I use the content and ideas from the Year-at-a-Glance and spread them out accordingly by week. This gives me space to break down my plans in smaller chunks.
5. Week-at-a-Glance (One Page)
This template has been a lifesaver for me! I am able to put all of my key lesson topics or activities and routines on one page. This is a great way to summarize the week. I have done one of these each week of this year. It also served as part of my emergency plans if a substitute teacher was needed on a particular day.
6. Day Plan Template
Up until the start of school closures due to the Pandemic in March 2020, I typed out my daily plans on this template, printed a copy (several days at a time), and left them on my desk. During the pandemic, the use of the template changed because I started using lesson slides / a slide deck as my day plans (more on that in another blog post!) I wanted to include this classic-type template nonetheless because I know it’s something that may still be of use at some time or another.
Summary
Planning for your school year takes a lot of thought, process, and work. Nevertheless, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Using templates like the ones described in this blog post can help you save time, keep them in one place, edit as needed, etc.
Let the Planning Begin!
The days of summer are quickly passing by, and ready or not, a new school year awaits us. Why not start planning for your year in a simple way right now?
Click her to purchase your digital teacher planner!
