Show Us Your: Lesson Planner

With August only a few days away, the thought of Back-to-School is inevitable.  I will be participating in The Teacher's Chair's School Week Linky.  Throughout the week, you will get a glimpse of my Back-to-School mindset.

I have started looking back over last year's plans and have begun organizing topics for this coming year.  I have learned that each year I am a better planner and more comfortable with my lesson plan tools.  YAY!  It sure doesn't feel that way sometimes!

Check out everything that goes into my plans:
I always start by figuring out what my week is going to look like.  I loving planning ahead, but things ALWAYS come up.  I decided to splurge on my planner this year, with an Erin Condren.  I didn't get a lesson planner, but a life planner, keep reading to see why.  I adore how it is laid out by month and week.

Isn't it fancy?!

Once I have a good idea of my week, I review my monthly overview to make sure that I am covering necessary ELA strategies and topics.  I created this template for each month.  It is available in my TPT store, in editable and PDF forms.  It has helped me wrap my mind around everything I do and want to teach each year.

Next stop, reviewing my CCSS checklist.  I found this checklist last year, in my search for understanding first grade.  It is created by the amazing Rachelle Smith.  

This checklist has allowed me to become more familiar with the CCSS, while making my planning more meaningful.
So now that I know how much time I have, and what needs to be covered, I start to throw everything into my weekly lesson plan template.  I discovered this template through Erica Bohrer and absolutely love it!  It was originally created for Erica by Ms. M, from A Teacher's Plan.  If you struggle to create the perfect lesson plan template, I highly recommend that you check out her blog.

 

Even though I create the majority of my plans digitally, I alway print them so that I can add notes and make changes along the way.  It is amazing writing this post and realizing how much goes into my plans each week.  What lesson plan tools do you use?

Be sure to follow along this week!