You know the feeling of using the most perfect teacher lesson planner? Like everything is the right size, your pens don’t bled through the paper, there’s just enough lines for you to write everything you need on, it’s utter perfection.
Yeah, I never found that. So I made my own!
The Lesson Planner
I’m a pretty tech-savvy person (#millennial) but there is just something about holding a paper planner that is just my jam! I have tried digital planners before and while I loved being able to move lessons around, I hated having to have another tab pulled up just to see what I’d be teaching next. I also have long range unit plans for nearly every unit, so I knew how I wanted to each unit to be taught, just not what I was teaching on certain days.
Anyway, back to this teacher lesson planner peace. I found most of the planners on TPT are made for elementary teachers, and while that is awesome for them (really it was!) it just doesn’t work in the secondary realm. You (most likely) aren’t teaching 7 different classes each day so 7 boxes each day doesn’t make sense and is a waste of space. And because the boxes are little, you can’t fit everything you need to into a little box.
The Set Up
So I set out to create a planner that’s perfect for 1, 2 or 3 preps. There’s a ton of different layouts for you to try out, but I’m showing you exactly how I use it for planning math and science this year.
In this layout there’s enough space for 2 preps and homeroom which is perfect because we teach social-emotional lessons during that time. I have all the lessons on 1 side, so when my planner is folded in half, I can see the lessons I need to.
On the other side of the page, I have room for standards (I put the I can statements) and then weekly regulars. These are tasks that I plan each week, such as bell work, station tasks and assessments. Then I have a space for a to do list for the week.
This is a much better use of a two-page layout than 7 boxes all the way across!
The Options
This is the layout that I used when I taught Math 8 and I loved this one too! There’s space for standards, lesson, weekly regulars and to dos all on 1 page! This is perfect for 1 prep or if you need less space to write each week.
Teacher Binder vs Lesson Planner
There is a difference between a teacher binder and a lesson planner. I my teacher binder for important papers, forms, student information, district requirements and standards. My planner is for day to day lessons, activities and schedule changes information. So, my teacher lesson planner stays open on my desk at all times. My teacher binder on the other hand stays closed and off to the side, ready to hold additional papers as needed.
Teacher Lesson Planner Inspiration
I love planners and gather inspiration from every corner of the internet. I’ve linked some of my favorite teacher lesson planner inspiration below.
- 4 the love of pi
- 10 Amazing Teacher Planners We Can’t Live Without
- The Digital Planbook
- Putting Together the Perfect Teacher Planner
- Teacher Planners for Special Education Teachers
I’d love to know what you use to plan! Do you use paper? Digital? A mix of both? What is your perfect teacher lesson planner combination?
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