5 Steps to Lesson Planning Ahead

[@AllisonMozingo]

This is amazing! I also love digital planning... What app are you using and what sheet are you using for this?

[@BridgingLiteracy]

Hi Allison! I use Goodnotes and our Teacher Planner! www.teachingonthedouble.com

[@nickjr2189]

I'm 17 and first year in college as a Secondary Education - ELAR/ESL 7-12. I have been lesson planning since 8 grade and I enjoy it.

[@tracyteaches8747]

My lesson plans come in waves. I usually have to be comfortable to plan. This year because of last year's overwhelming craziness, I planned the curriculum for the entire year before school began and now every 2 to 3 weeks, I just edit the plans to suit the new speed of varying changes that can occur. I review every day to ensure I am on the mark.

[@mirandacraft5953]

I used to plan day by day when I first started teaching and was learning the curriculum. I’m on year 5 now and I still don’t feel like I have a good system for planning. I plan for the entire week now, but it takes HOURS. We got a new reading curriculum, and it’s taking a lot of time to figure out what to teach and how to implement.

[@Krssweetheart]

7-9 science teacher here. I plan a full unit at a time. I tell students the first day of the unit/ chapter when each quiz will be and when the test will be or if there will be a project at the end. I always tell students that the end test may have to be moved depending on if we have snow days or unplanned early out etc.

[@bronxkies]

My lesson plans take me days. I have ADHD and can’t really get through planning for very long. I’m trying to find solutions. I thought about writing down components of it first and THEN typing it out. Our lessons are due everyday AND they can be anywhere between 4-20 pages long depending on details that are included and scripting. My school is big on scripting. I have a very open curriculum. I have 3 prep periods that I try to use for grading, set up and making anchor charts. However, I’m thinking that maybe I should plan during those preps instead.

[@jixichick]

OMG I have ADHD too and planning is soooo difficult for me. If I have a substitute teacher, it literally takes me 2-3 hours to get prepared. I have 4 preps right now (high school - block schedule) and I'm drowining...

[@bronxkies]

@@jixichick I feel you, friend! I wish admin understood how daunting the task is for people in general, but particularly for folks with disorders. The classroom is a different world for us and we can do our best to accommodate ourselves, but it never hurts for grace to be extended to us.

[@kaitEBee]

Characters first. Plot is built on the internal conflict of the protagonist. You need to know what matters to the main character so you can then determine why the events of the plot matter.

[@elisaesquivel7820]

Thank you for sharing all your knowledge. After listening to your previous podcast I started batch planning and I love it. It saves time and your sanity. This year I move school and grade levels and I have been overwhelmed with all the paper I’m here required to turn in. I haven’t have time to batch plan and is killing me and my teaching 😭😭

[@apfelsinenliese7000]

I plan during school breaks. I do all the big stuff then: Browse material, create assessment and projects. I plan for the year and then for all the weeks ahead until the next break (unit plan). I also try to plan as many lessons as possible into those weeks. When school is in session I have very little time for planning, because I like to spend most of my time then with the students. I can only pull prepared materials out my cabinet. I use the 42 folder system and I love it!

[@DellieRobinson-Thompson]

Makes sense especially to a NEW teacher to the country and System even though you have a CRM

[@sierradallugge8222]

O...M....G...! I am grateful I found your video. ❤ Truly incredible! I definitely do get overwhelmed thinking ahead. I am a 3rd Year Teacher, teaching a combo class of 1st and 2nd graders. 😊 Last year I would try to plan a week in advance, but half the time it was day to day. I NEED a better system to reduce stress. I loved all of your tips. Such great advice! This is exactly what I needed. Thank you so much.

[@sanchezclaudia8620]

I use Schoology and would like to see a video on how you create your materials in the folders. I do create folders but not like yours. My folders I use them for the weekly assignments.

[@christinafrazita4027]

I am a 7th grade math teacher, and we plan weekly as a team! Sometimes we adjust as needed, of course. But we try to stick to that weekly planning period

[@NicoleneOReilly]

I batch plan. I have a task for every morning, 5 days a week, in 3 week cycles. I work on planning and prepping at home from 5-7am and then go to school for the day. I leave at 3pm, except for Thursdays when I make the next week's copies and assignment posts. For example, Mondays I work on the next unit's Math lessons, Tuesdays is Reading and Phonics, Wednesdays is Writing and Grammar, and Friday mornings I work on my newsletter/website update. This way when the new unit starts I am completely prepped and planned. Then I start on the next unit's planning. I do all my grading and emails during school hours. I am a morning person and I want to do no work after work, so it works for me.

[@sarahcooley104]

K-5 music teacher here. We have a 5 day rotation where we see each class 3 times for 30 minutes. I plan the whole rotation (so 3 lessons.) for every grade level and then adjust as needed. Sometimes I am able to get even further ahead, but I start with this.

[@strategicallystyled5459]

I love your channel. Though I am a secondary ELA teacher but your information about organization is still very helpful. I start with plot. First week of school we watch a school-friendly sitcom (like Brady Bunch) and map out plot. It is fun and accessible to students of all reading levels.

[@meg03fhl]

Breaking it down like this was so helpful!

[@lisonlife9982]

Honestly, it depends. My lesson plans are due on Monday the week of. My goal is to be planned out for that week. Sometimes at the most difficult times or times that I'm trying to get a handle on pacing, it is day-by-day.

[@Mydarianj18]

I plan by the week and it is killing me. I typically don’t start on plans until Sunday because of homework. I’ve realized that it affects my teaching in a bad way. I’ve been wanting to switch to monthly planning, but I haven’t known how to get started. Eventually, I want to build to having the entire year planned out.

[@SGTrainingStable]

I have always planned on weekends-once a week.

[@anitaweir1480]

I have taught a lot so I can WING many times and scaffold lessons as the students needs it, but I usually go from 1 month to the next or take MEA and plan up to CHRISTMAS and then I plan until MCA testing for our district..

[@carolinekelly3415]

Thank you for sharing your lesson planning tips. Merry Christmas!

[@dianaaguilar6092]

I plan Thursday-Friday I plan for the week.

[@lindaramirez9869]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with the teacher community. I am a middle and high school music teacher. I am learning to apply your lesson planning system into my field and have been successful. Thank you so much. PLEASE keep doing videos like this one. God Bless 🙏🏼

[@heathercharlton6528]

I try and have my lesson plan sheet filled out by Friday. On Sunday; I fine tune the sheet, create the PowerPoint for the week and upload assignments in Google Classroom. I want to learn to unit plan by standards.

[@blackjag121]

It depends. I plan usually on the weekends unless I have come across something throughout the week that seems interesting for kids and teaching

[@debradalton5755]

You asked which to teach first, plot or character.... the plot is wrapped around the characters goals and problems. What does the character care about and want? What are the character's obstacles? triumps? (I'm not teaching now so how I plan is null. )

[@84GKAllDay]

Weekends. Trying to do anything curriculum related during the school day or in the building is maddening. Constant interruptions.

[@kaitEBee]

I have to have my lesson plans summited Friday before I leave. We have curriculum that is already paced for us, but it still takes me a couple hours a week. To be honest we're starting our 6th week of school, and I have not yet submitted my plans on time because I'm having to finish over the weekend. 😬

[@julietamalo6881]

Thank you for the insightful explanation and the wonderful tips, Bridget. Blessings to you 🙏💐🎉

[@nagyovatimea5509]

I plan weekly- so I have a basic knowledge of what I want to achieve with my students that week and I take a look at the next week as well for a bit. Than using that I do my lesson plans daily. It does not take me long once I have that weekly plan.

[@derekhoggett7005]

Verbose. Fast delivery. No mention of the digital planner being used.

[@amber4653]

I'm stuck planning on the weekend for the week ahead and I HATE IT!! I'm creating plans then putting everything on Canvas and it's so time consuming. 😩 I NEED a better system than what I'm doing now. (Love your podcast fyi. Also...oh hey 👋 PA teacher!!)

[@rebeccatherese2445]

Thanks for the video! Where can we find the unit progression guide cheat sheet you mentioned?

[@jazzmax4989]

Day by day.... Lesson plan book, oh yeah

[@Chrissi15]

I plan at the weekend for a block period of time. I do look at it to adjust if need be on the day, but mostly it’s only a weekend every 6 weeks. I found this video really interesting. 😀

[@veronicajimenez420]

Always the best tips ❤❤

[@sandratorre421]

I plan week by week. But I never get it done. I spend most of Sunday putting it in a planbook, then on seesaw. It takes forever.

[@CoralQ]

I plan whole group month by month and individualized lessons week by week

[@katebrochert7879]

I usually plan week by week on a Sunday. It usually takes me ALL DAY! I make powerpoints for each day

[@annewinslow839]

I work in a daycare center and have first graders, so my planning is probably different. I spend much of my time creating educational games that bolster my students' deficits in math and reading skills (it's crazy how behind they are due to COVID and virtual learning!!). Once the games are planned I usually just plug them into my lesson plan book. We also have to do a Bible lesson twice a week since the daycare center is a Christian daycare center, and my lessons aren't always well received by my director (I allow the children to question the way Jesus and God are presented as superheros and then don't always meet the expectations the lessons present). The class is very competitive and seem to love playing the games, and don't seem to realize that they're working on their skills. We also run a summer camp and I try to plan out the entire summer. I try to continue to keep them learning and brushing up on their skills through games in an attempt to avoid the summer slump. I get frustrated because we're supposed to add the standards we're targeting as well as the students we planned the lesson for and it's frustrating sometimes to try to make the games fit the standards, especially for social studies (it only has learning about PA history instead of a broader look at the world).

[@ashleyhennings3478]

I plan week by week. Wish I was more ahead.

[@marykayacheson4354]

How do you do your lesson binder? I saw something that was spiral. Then you put post it notes. Can you explain or send a link? Thank you

[@Terrie-lynnDay]

Where can I find the progression guides for grade 4-6

[@Rebornagainbeliever]

End of the week

[@ymm424]

II'm curious to know what app you used for your calendar please?

[@BridgingLiteracy]

I used GoodNotes!

[@benalilee125]

Good Morning Bridget, speaking of planners and digital planners. I bought your planner in TPT, I went to download last weekend (I know it's an older planner, but I change the dates). But, I can't find it anymore, it says "404 Error". HELP

[@vanessaflores8574]

All of the above

[@nayelietorres2817]

I’m not a teacher yet, and I’m not sure how I’ll be planning

[@jengiolando4159]

I go week by week.

[@SweetDee101]

So I plan with the team almost weeks in advance but then when it comes time for each individual class I end up doing it week by week / day by day LOL

[@chrisoulalakkas7401]

"Sometimes you face difficulties not because you're doing something wrong, but because you're doing something right." - Joel Osteen

[@allanarocque839]

I hateeeeee lesson planning, I believe it is important and when I have it I love it, it means I'm totally prepared, but sitting to write it? That's where the chaos is😪 I wish I could wave a magic wond and have it out of my head and on paper. Batch planning might be the answer ... I hope.