Maximize your Planning Period with a Simple Strategy
Hello educators! Welcome back and I hope you had an amazing week teaching your ELLs.
Before we dive into the topic of the week, I want to encourage you to reflect on the week and write down some of your wins and areas of growth. This week week I am going to share with you how to apply a business strategy to your lesson planning.
There is never enough time as educators. If we aren’t making copies, we are doing paperwork.
Then, add planning for our students on top of all of that. Some teachers have reported planning can add an additional 10 hours to their work week. Not having a system for your planning can lead you to being derailed and spending way too much time on simple tasks such as making copies.
In my early years of teaching I did not have a system for how I planned for my ELLs. I would spend my planning period surfing google looking for resources. Then I had to copy, staple, and organize the assignments. I was turning simple tasks into the most time consuming processes.
I was constantly wondering is there a way I can maximize my time on my planning period. This made me wonder…”What if I had a system in place?”
A teacher at my school said she makes her copies for the week on Friday afternoon.
That question popped in my head again…”What if I had a system in place?” Then I started to develop a planning system. I took out my calendar and mapped out my planning period for the month.
Monday during my planning period I set aside for answering emails and completing paperwork.
Tuesday & Wednesday I set aside time to plan my lessons for the upcoming week. This was made easier because I had a long range plan for the year. I knew what I was teaching, so I just had to plan the lessons. Thursday was my PLC meetings, so that time was already taken. Friday during my planning I used that time to make copies, staple, and organize my assignments in folders.
You can streamline your planning and set aside a specific time each planning period to tackle tasks. Before you do this you want to brainstorm some tasks that you every week. Think about taking the time to do compliance and paperwork.
Here are some simple steps you can create a process for your planning.
- Write down your common tasks in your planning.
- Then for each day of your planning set aside tasks for each day. Be sure to include any weekly mandatory meetings that happen during your planning period.
- I want to encourage you to use a planning period to make copies and organize your papers.
Here are your next steps:
- Set aside 30 minutes and plan your weekly tasks for your planning period.
This is going to help you in maximizing your planning period, and help you in putting a stop to those extra-long hours after work.
What is your planning period process? Share your process below in the comments.
