Can you believe it? I’m actually posting a Monday Made It — on a Monday. Even while teaching summer school. I’d be in disbelief right along with you if it weren’t for the lower back pain screaming at me, “you sat WAY too long to make that darn planner!”
Let’s rewind, shall we? The summer before I started my rookie year (um, stop the world — that was 2012!) I endeavored to make a teacher planner I wanted to use. So I did. And I’m kind of embarassed, in retrospect, because um… no. It was not the best. But it worked! And I liked it, and so did other people that graciously purchased it from TpT.
No. Just no.
Last year, I updated it. Changed the fonts, made it more clean, and of course reflected the change in calendar year. Previous buyers got the update and they loved it! Wahoo. Right?
Better, but still. No.
You see, I’m an eternal perfectionist. I just cannot let something go if it’s not the best if can possibly be. This is a problem in relation to all things TpT. This is why I tend not to just throw my units up there mid-year — I can’t give them the necessary Sarah-love to get them up to my standards while spinning plates!
But it’s summer. And that means I have plenty (relatively speaking) of time to perfect, perfect, perfect.
Which gives you this:
Ahhhhh. Nice, fresh look. Clean fonts. Rainbow brights that aren’t too bright. Functional layouts. And oh yeah, 300+ pages not counting the editable PowerPoints. Yeah. I went there.
See, I can’t just have a planner with a calendar. That doesn’t work for me. I have a “book.” It’s got my calendar, my weekly overviews, my planning pages, and all of my student information, gradebooks, etc. This is my teacher bible, if you will. {Excuse the poor camera work that’s about to follow. I was trying not to wake a certain sleeping mister who fell asleep on the couch, so no light for me!}
It’s in a regular binder so that I can easily add, delete, or move pages as-needed. Like, you know, when white-out just won’t do and December needs to be reprinted. (Can anyone relate?) I have it divided into four sections: calendar, planning, important information, and data.
I probably utilize the information section even more than the calendar or planning, because it’s where I house my contact log for the very important school-to-home connection. It holds me accountable in making contact with my students and their families, and serves as an important piece of data if a child needs behavioral interventions.
And my very favorite piece of the planner is my student information page. I had a rougher version of this that I used last year and it was SO vital, especially when we began sharing students as a team for language arts. My teammates were able to photocopy this page and immediately have a snapshot of the student — from their demographics, to their likes, to other siblings at school.
All in all, this is really a Monday-through-Friday-for-three-weeks Made It. It’s been a labor of love and I am so proud to use it next year, and that I’m also able to share it with all of you. It’s on sale at TpT through this evening (20% off); you can check out some images of what else is included below:
If you’ve made it this far, I’m giving away this planner and a product of your choice from my TpT store! Enter using the Rafflecopter below.