Ms. S Measures Up: Back to School Prep: Lesson Planner

Summer job is done, so it's time to start getting ready for the new school year!

Like most music teachers and/or specialists, it's really hard to use commercially made lesson planners, because they just aren't made for us. I've always just typed my plans on the computer, in my own template, but last year, I decided to create my own plan book so that I could write things down for myself. It was great, but after using it all year, I decided to make some changes to it.

I condensed my lesson plan space to one page per week; the original design was good at first, but it really just had more information than I needed for my personal plans. For example, my objectives are already posted in my classroom, and my formal plans include them as well, so I really didn't use the space for that. Also, it was spread over two pages for one week, and that just made for a lot of extra paper.

Original Design (one page of the two page design)

The new design is one page, and only includes the necessary info; Grade level, lesson topic, learning plan (procedure) and assessments at the bottom. In addition to the lesson planning portion, my planner has sections for long range and quarterly planning, plus a section for planning my grade level performances!

I printed the interior pages at home, and had the cover printed at Staples. When I went to pick it up, I had everything bound into one book, and added a clear plastic cover and a black backing.