You’ve seen those beautiful planners all over Pinterest and on everyone’s social media. They are masterpieces that we wish we could emulate, but alas, we ninjas have a lot going on and so our plan books have been an evolution. We realized early on that our plans aren’t pretty and we needed a way to share a classroom and thus, share our plans with each other.
Finding the planning style for you takes time. Here are the ways to plan we’ve tried, along with our best tips for figuring out your planning style.
Think About What You Want vs. What You Need to Plan a Lesson
We want to be clear about something. Our lesson plans are not the college or university assignments that take days to write or read, but each lesson follows that format.
We just don’t need to write every single moment of every single lesson down… anymore. Even though it was a lot of work, going through the process for every lesson in every subject was very helpful in creating well-rounded lessons.
In fact, we use these lesson formats in all the lessons we sell because they are effective, even if there are a LOT of words.
So, we have a few different types of planning that we do.
Year Plans
This is basically an outline of our entire school year. We use a spreadsheet and outline each subject area and each month in very general terms. For example, it might say for September through November we’re focusing on Number Operations in math. It’s very general, but gives us a timeline for the year. Some people might refer to this as a timeline or pacing guide.
Unit Plans
This is an outline of everything we’ll do in a specific unit. We start with a list of things students will need to be able to do, understand or explain. Then we outline the things we will do to get our students where they need to be, materials we’ll need, ways we’ll teach it and a general list of things we’ll do.
Lesson Plans
This is the daily breakdown of everything we’ll do for every single lesson. We address specific things we’ll do to support students, the order we’ll teach everything, exact tools we’ll use.
If you are looking to differentiate for your students, you might want to check out this post called How to Differentiate Your Instruction.
So, What Goes in Our Plan Book?
We keep a copy of our year plans and lesson plans nearby all the time. This helps keep us on track. Our lesson plans have been significantly shortened to a list of things we’re doing. This might be a page number, reference to an activity or reference to a link on our computer (because we keep a lot of things in files that are well-labelled on our computers).
We also keep a list of school events, classroom events and things that need to get done now, soon or later. Using a simple N, S or L next to things as we write them down helps keep us on track.
Sometimes we write things on sticky notes and then just stick them to the pages until we can write the information in the right place. We make a little time at the end of every day to take care of this task.
What Should You Be Thinking About When Deciding on a Planner?
District or School Planning Requirements
Sometimes the thinking is done for you because your district or school has specific rules about how plans are to be done. If this is the case, sorry, we don’t have a solution (but when we ninjas win the lottery and start our charter school, you can come work with us).
If your district or school requires a specific format, chances are there is a template you can use. Save this template to every device you own so that you can plan lessons anywhere. Copy and paste as much as you can to save yourself time.
Subject Areas vs. Bell Schedule
Depending on the amount of flexibility you have in making your own schedule, your planner might need a few blocks to write in or a complicated break down of each lesson.
If you like to have a lot of flexibility in your day where you can move subject areas around, you might need a tool that can help you do that and still keep track of your day.
So, when choosing a planner, do you want to have times already inserted or not? Do you want dates and times already included or not?
Techy vs. Low-Techy
Your comfort level with technology can help you or hinder you. There are many apps out there to help schedule your day, but sometimes a simple paper copy is all you need.
Spoiler alert: the low-tech option is paper.
We’ve played with a lot of different productivity apps over the years. Some are helpful, some are fun and some are just apps.
- airtable.com: We’ve played with this one and while it is bright and colourful, we stopped using it since we weren’t diligent enough about updating our information as we went.
- Google Tools: A basic table in a Google Doc or a Google Sheet can be a very effective way to write your plans, and you can share them easily with others by letting them view or edit.
- Google Keep: This free Google Workspace tool also has an app. You can make lists and personalize them.
- Planbook.com: This is a paid planning program for teachers. The friends we know who use it love it, but we also know lots of people who said it wasn’t worth the money. This one requires you to know and use tech effortlessly or it isn’t worth your money. They have a 90 day free trial.
Size Matters
Do your plans travel with you to and from school? If you’re like us ninjas, you like to take your plan book for a drive home every evening, let it hang out in your front entranceway and then drive it back to school. Maybe something small or online would suit you better.
Planners can be as large as a binder and as small as a wallet. The choices are endless. And if you use a digital format, maybe they’re the size of your phone.
Think about how much you want to lug your planner around. If you don’t take it for long walks or drives, you can probably handle a larger one. If it has to be at your side every moment of every day, go smaller. The amount of writing space you need each day should also weigh into your decision.
Pretty or Simple?
One of the ninjas uses a plain old binder with simple paper pages printed out. It’s not fancy by any means, but it works. This type of plan book works well for those teachers who need a simple paper-and-pencil option.
Free planning pages can be found in our Resource Library, along with many other general classroom forms to help you organize your classroom, or we can send them to you when you join our ninja mailing list. The pages are not fancy, but if paper and pencil is your groove (or if you still don’t know), this is a great way to save a little money until you know exactly what you want.
If you like decorative tape, fancy pens and stickers, then you should use a paper book. If you like colour coding and fancy fonts, you should find an online planner.
Up or Across?
This seems like such a silly thing to think about, but it actually matters. Some people like to plan across a page horizontally and others (like ninjas) prefer to plan vertically. Others like to see the whole week or month at a time. Some people can only plan one day at a time.
This is why store-bought planners can be challenging. If you like the cover of one, you will likely not like the layout inside, or vice versa.
Canadian Planners We Love
We have bought many different types of planners over the years. We love to support local and Canadian, which means Two Planner Babes from Edmonton, Alberta are the perfect pair to support. They make beautiful planners and planning accessories for teachers. They have some amazing clothing items, too. Trust us! Put this site on your wish list and tell all your teacher besties about it.
We also discovered Hemlock & Oak. These planners include hardcover versions in smaller sizes (in case you need a purse planner). They are Canadian-made and owned in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Over the years, this post has included other planners from other companies, but we have decided that we will only support Canadian companies going forward. If you have a suggestion for another Canadian planner company, please let us know.
Planning Ahead Matters
Some days you can’t plan at all. A family emergency or a flat tire can pull you out of the classroom with no warning. That’s why we like to have emergency sub plans ready before the school year gets busy.
Our post, It’s Time to Get Your Emergency Sub Plans Ready, shows how we set up our sub binder and sub tub. If you’d rather skip the writing, we’ve already done the work for you. These sets are low prep. Print them, pop them in your binder and leave them until you need them. And if you need last minute ideas, check out this post.
Hoaxes and Ogopogos Emergency Sub Plans (Grades 4-6): Two full days of activities in language arts, math, social studies, gym and art. Students think like scientists as they decide whether Ogopogos and other creatures exist. Find it in our BN Shop ($CAD) or TpT Store ($USD).
Sticky Situations Emergency Sub Plans (Grades 4-6): Two full days of Canadian learning about maple syrup, molasses and honey. Subjects include language arts, math, social studies, science, gym and art. Find it in our BN Shop ($CAD) or TpT Store ($USD).
Ships and Wrecks Emergency Sub Plans (Grades 4-6): Students learn about the RMS Titanic and the Bluenose over two full days. They also map shipwrecks in Canada and use Morse code. Find it in our BN Shop ($CAD) or TpT Store ($USD).
Video Games Emergency Sub Plans (Grades 3-4): A video game theme from a Canadian perspective fills two full days. It includes coding, language arts, math, gym and two art projects. Find it in our BN Shop ($CAD) or TpT Store ($USD).
French Class Emergency Sub Plans (Grades 4-9): These plans cover 150-200 minutes of Core French or French as a Second Language class. They are not designed for French Immersion. The instructions are in English, so a substitute who doesn’t speak French can follow along. Find it in our BN Shop ($CAD) or TpT Store ($USD).
Emergency Sub Plans Collaborative Poster: No time for a full set? Students colour one piece of a larger poster, which gives you time to sort out your day. Sets come in 18, 24 or 36 pieces to fit your class size. Find it in our BN Shop ($CAD) or TpT Store ($USD).
Ways to Plan Lessons FAQ
What are the different types of lesson plans?
We use three types. Year plans outline the whole school year in general terms. Unit plans list what students need to know and how we will teach it. Lesson plans break down each day.
What should go in a teacher plan book?
We keep our year plans and a short version of our lesson plans in ours. That list includes page numbers, activity names and computer file references. We also write down school events and mark tasks with an N, S or L for now, soon or later.
Is a paper or digital planner better?
Neither one wins for every teacher. Paper works well if you want a simple pencil option or love decorating. Digital works well if you share a classroom or like colour coding. Think about size, schedule and how comfortable you are with tech.
What free tools can we use to plan lessons?
A basic table in a Google Doc or Google Sheet works well and is easy to share. Google Keep is free and has an app. Trello is free too, and you can share boards with a classroom partner.
How do we choose a planner?
Start with any district or school requirements, since they may decide the format for you. Next, think about your schedule, your comfort with tech and the size you can carry. Finally, check whether you like to plan across a page or down it.
Which emergency sub plans do you have for Canadian classrooms?
We have emergency sub plans for Grades 3-6 and for Core French or French as a Second Language. Most sets cover two full days and help you set up a sub binder. Find them in our BN Shop ($CAD) or TpT Store ($USD).
So, finding your planning style takes time. If you like decorating it, go for it. Most of all, remember that sometimes plans change and classrooms get messy. Our plan book may not be one of the beautiful ones we love to repin on Pinterest, but it fits with our teaching style.
What’s your planning style? If you don’t quite have it figured out yet, that’s pretty normal. We’ve switched from one way to another over the years and we’ve tried lots of different ways to figure out what works best for us. It takes a little bit of introspection and effort to figure it out. You’ll get there. In the meantime, try them all out and see what sticks.
Let us know in the comments below while we go post pictures of our messy planner on Pinterest just for fun.
