Get Planning {Amber from The Sunny Side of Second Grade}

Hey y'all! Happy New Year!!! I just wrapped up my first week back to school just in time for a long weekend to celebrate MLK. I love the year round schedule! Have I said that before? :)

This round of blog posts is geared toward planning and making your life easier. Let me first start by saying that, to me, organizing and planning go hand in hand. This post will have several pictures of how I organize my classroom to aid in planning. Let's do this....

If you are anything like me, a pretty planner and nice pens always make planning more enjoyable. If you have been following me for some time, you are aware that I typically do visual lesson plans. I stepped away from them this year and never looked back. I love planning in my Erin Condren planner. Notice all the colorful tabs! Oh yeah!!

Using your planning format, whatever that may be, you can begin writing down your thoughts for the coming week. I tend to start planning my small groups first. I begin with my SMARTIES and READING round planning pages.

{Click on any of the images above to visit my TPT store and browse these pages}

Because I teach in an inclusion class, the bulk of my instruction is done in small groups. These planning pages really help me keep my activities in stations on track. In addition, I can use the planning pages to specifically outline which skills we will be learning in small groups.

After I finish my small group planning, I plan my math and reading units around our grade level pacing guide. I pull resources that support those lessons. What better way to do this than to have everything organized in your classroom? I know we did some organization posts already, but really the two go hand in hand. Below are just some of the ways I keep things organized in my classroom to make planning a breeze.

Once you are organized, planning really takes care of itself. Just kidding! I could not put all my resources and thoughts together without this handy dandy checklist. I usually begin filling this out around Wednesday and start printing during specials on Thursday. Everything else is ready to go Friday morning for the next week and I am out the door right after the kiddos on Friday! YEAH!!!

{Click on the image to be taken to TPT}

Schroeder Shenanigans in Second is really a super woman in disguise in my opinion. She never ceases to amaze me. I really could not be as organized and thoroughly planned without this tool she so masterfully designed. Did I mention it is editable...SWOON!

I have learned that planning is really individualized. From computers to clipboards, every teachers finds their own method to the weekly madness we call teaching. Enjoy!

Get Planning {Lauren from Mrs. Thompson's Treasures}

I love new beginnings and fresh starts, so I have really enjoyed reading everyone's ideas for getting organized and being creative! Today we are kicking off the last part of our link up called, "Get Planning."

Here are a few tips that have really helped me in the planning process!



 

 

SMART Goals

It seems so simple, but it can really be helpful before you start planning to clarify exactly what your goals are. As the old saying goes, if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time.  Smart goals are:

S=specific
M=measureable
A=attainable
R=relevant
T=time bound



 

 Work Backwards

 

Starting from the end and working backwards can be an effective way to plan. After you have set your goals, you can look at the time you have and space out your plans accordingly. This is a great way to make sure you aren't cramming at the end of the year to teach concepts you never got to. So, with the end goals in mind, start by planning things you want to do each month, then break it down further into weekly.

Plan for the Unexpected

Having a "sub tub" of activities for a day when you have to leave unexpectedly or need to be absent is such a brilliant idea! Again, it seems so simple, but I remember when I was in the classroom, teachers who were sick would come in early to prep stuff for a sub that day. Not fun! Get a few days worth of activities ready, along with notes about the schedule etc. that you would want a substitute to have, and if you need to call in sick, no worries! Even if the activities are not things that are on your lesson plans for that week, a day or two off the lesson plans is worth the peace of mind knowing that you are prepared and don't have to drive up to your school early in the morning to get activities ready or ask other teachers to pull something together for you!

Since I homeschool and don't have substitutes, here is a picture of one from Amy Lemons at Step into 2nd Grade! Be sure to include fun, engaging activities that are pretty self-explanatory and can be completed independently. Also be sure to have the schedule, class list, and any other important info about the day!

 

 

We'd love to hear more planning tips from you. Link up with your own blog post!

 

An InLinkz Link-up

 

5 Simple Tips to Get You More Organized {with Kim from For a Love of Teaching}

Hi Friends!  It's Kim from For a Love Teaching, and I'm excited to share with you my 5 Simple Tips to Get You More Organized!  I'm sure by now that some of you have made some fantastic New Year Resolutions!  If getting more organized happens to be one of them - then you are in luck!  This is the last day of our "Get Organized" linky, so be sure to check out the previous 5 posts from my talented friends and bloggers here at Elementary Entourage!  Check out the linky, too!  You'll find some more awesome bloggers with great ideas for organization!  And...go ahead and link up with us!  We'd love to read your ideas on organization, creativity and planning!

So, on to my first tip for organization! (my personal favorite) ;)

Organize your pens!

Okay, okay...I know not everyone has a pen fetish like I do, but we all have pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, etc.  In the picture above I used my Pampered Chef Tool Turn-About. This amazing little organizer for kitchen tools sat on my counter for 2 years before I realized that I had a better use for it! Only a teacher would look at a kitchen tool organizer and say "Hey, I could use that in my classroom!"  I quickly snatched all the kitchen tools out of it, threw them back into the drawer (where they were just fine to begin with), and rushed to my classroom to organize my pens, markers, highlighters, and pencils!  Oh, how happy this made me!  It didn't make me nearly this happy sitting at home on the counter with kitchen tools in it!  Plus, it freed up space on my counter.  These are fairly inexpensive when in comes to Pampered Chef products.  Grab one at the next party you're invited to, and get organized! Or, you can order one here.  I'm secretly thinking I'm probably one of the few that actually gets a kick out of this! Ha!

Organize your teacher bag!

I actually saw this tip on Pinterest a few summers ago and immediately had to try it!  I'm so glad I did, because this bag has been a life saver!  The tote in the picture is an older product from Thirty-One. Now, you can get this organizing tote with a zip-top, so I plan on upgrading soon!  I found a plastic file caddy and inserted it into the bag (which fit perfectly). Then, I added hanging file folders with tabs.

As you can see in the picture, I labeled them to fit my needs as I knew this bag would travel with me back and forth to school each day.  I stick my planner in the front, and my laptop even fits in the back! In the 7 organizing pockets, I added Post-It Notes, paperclips, rubber bands, pens, pencils, highlighters, and anything else I thought I might need at home.

Honestly, I can't live without this bag! My other "teacher bags" doesn't allow me to organize like this one does, and everything just gets dumped inside rather than nicely organized. Thirty-One is running a January special on their newest Zip-Top Organizing Utility Tote, so find a rep if you're interested, or go here to order one today!

Organize your classroom!

Okay, I can't take credit for this one, but I'm so glad one of my best friends (which just happens to be an amazingly organized teacher on my team) came up with this one!  These super organized drawers belong to Monica from NC Teacher Chick.  She teaches 4th grade with me at my school, and she loves organization just as much as I do! We recently received $100 to spend in our classrooms from our wonderful PTO at my school, so you can guess what I plan on purchasing with it! :)  I love how she has these drawers labeled.  Everything has a special place, so no more teacher desk and shelf clutter!

This awesome little organizer is a 10 Drawer Multicolored Rolling Cart from Big Lots. It comes at a great price, is very sturdy, and takes only a few minutes to assemble. If you'd like one for your classroom, you can find them here! I can't wait until mine arrives!

Organize your files!

No, I don't mean in a filing cabinet either!  What is that anyway?!?  Seriously, I rarely even open my one and only filing cabinet, because everything I use to teach is found digitally on my computer. I often see teacher laptops with their desktops cluttered in files with no home! It literally make my heart start pounding, and I instantly want to introduce that teacher to "file folders" on their computer! Without organization of my files I would never be able to find anything! However, this isn't something that you can sit down and do quickly.  It takes time and careful consideration of each file placement.  Even with my files organized I still find myself moving and replacing files to better locations.  So, yes it's always a work in progress, but I can easily find anything I'm looking for! :)

Here's my reading file. I created folders for each standard, novel units for each quarter, and files that I would frequently use but might get lost if I put them into another folder.  The bottom is an example of what my folder for 4.RL looks like.  I have it broken down into individual standards within that strand. So, if I'm looking for a lesson on Point of View, Theme, or Drawing Inferences I can easily find it! Everything I have for a particular standard is included in one file and not spread out all over my computer.

Same goes for math! I have a file for each domain, assessment resources, task cards, INB's, etc.  The bottom is an example of folder 4.OA.  I have it broken down into files that match skills for the standards found in 4.OA.  This makes it so easy to find anything I'm looking for when I'm planning a math lesson.

In Science, I break down my units. In North Carolina we have state essential standards that we must follow, so my folders are labeled with each topic.  Activities and unit plans that meet those particular standards are included within each topic folder.  So, when I teach Rocks & Minerals I have one folder where everything I need is located! 

In Social Studies, it was easier for me to arrange by quarter.  At my school, we rotate teaching Science and Social Studies, so it's handy to have everything I need for each quarter in one folder.  It's a great "Quarter at a Glance," too! In the example above, I can easily see everything I need to cover in Social Studies for Quarter 1.  This helps tremendously with planning! 

I have to add that I also have many of these files for Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies printed and placed into 3-ring binders in my classroom.  I originally printed everything, but quickly realized that it made more sense to print one time, place printed activities into a binder, and copy from that the following year!  This saves LOTS of printer ink year after year!

Organize your clip art!

Even if you're not a TpT seller, you still have clip art!  You're a teacher, and all teachers I know LOVE clip art! If you're addicted to clip art like I am then you have a lot of files to organize!!! Without proper placement of your clip art into files, you're likely to have a hard time finding what you need. I'm going to share how I organize my clip art, but if you have a better way I'd love to hear about it!  I'm constantly rearranging and reorganizing clip art into files. I keep all my clip art in my picture library. This may not be the best place, but it works for me! :) 

As you can see, Creative Clips, Glitter Glue and Melonheadz are special and get their own file folder! Yes, I have an obsession with their clip art!!! :) In my Borders & Frames folder, I have them arranged by type so it's easy to find what I'm looking for.  *Side note: I always include the artist's logo in each individual file of clip art. This make it easy when I give credit in my products.

Clip art can become a nightmare if you have a lot!  I have SO MUCH clip art! You can't tell it in the picture above though, because they are all housed in their own special folder. Most are arranged by topic which makes it easy to find anything I'm looking for.  Creative Clips, Glitter Glue, and Melonheadz isn't even located here (and I have a ton from those amazing artists)!  I'm so familiar with their clip art, and since I use it the most they get their own special folder! :)

If you signed up for Krista Walden's Creative Clips VIP Fall Membership she shared an excellent way to organize all her clip art into folders. It was SO helpful! She shared ways that I had never even thought of before!  

Well, that's it!  I hope my organizing tips have been helpful!  If you have better suggestions or ideas I'd love to hear about them in the comments below.  I know this post was long, so if you're still reading THANK YOU! 

Don't forget to link up with us below, and share you're tips for getting organized in 2015!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy New Year from The Elementary Entourage!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you are enjoying your last few days of relaxation before winter break ends.  I'm loving seeing all of the goals and resolutions from all of my blogging friends, so here at the Elementary Entourage we wanted to share some ideas with you to help you with your goals! 

 Here is what we have in store :)

  We will be sharing our ideas each day for the first 2 1/2 weeks of January and we would LOVE it if you'd link up too.

I'm up first so today I'd love to share my tip for organization with you. 

For real, I get so excited to organize things, it's like a weird addiction for me.

Here are some tips that I use in my classroom to help things run more smoothly:

 Organizing all those fantastic teaching resources is always a struggle.  I used to store all of my teaching materials in hanging files in my classroom.  

This was an okay system until I needed to plan. How many people have time to actually get their plans done while in their classroom? I know that I was never able to get everything done at school so I'd end up taking a folder of two home with me to finish my plans.  This always turned into a paper crinkling, falling out, hanging files stabbing me, and getting lost disaster!  So I finally decided one summer to put everything in binders, and let me tell you that this changed my teaching planning life!

Just look at how nice they look sitting there on the shelf *sigh* Okay so here is what I did. First I sorted everything by theme/unit that I teach.  Then within the binder I sorted into categories for reading, writing, math, and fun.  Most items are hole punched but some I put in page protectors for safe keeping.  I also started binders for each subject as well for non thematic materials.  Now that I have them all at home I want to sort through them even more, but thats my OCD.  Here are the covers for my binders if you are interested in binderizing your teaching files!

My next tip is for organizing your classroom library. If you are like me you have a problem with buying ridiculous amounts of children's books and are constantly reorganizing your classroom library.  I usually end up with bins that get too full and either have to change to a larger basket or subdivide the category.  I saved myself some time by creating labels that can be numbered and renumbered easily.  I also use velcro to attach the labels to my baskets so they are easy to remove and attach to different baskets. Here is a quick overview of my system and my labels.

I have the same labels available in black or chevron as well. Hopefully you can use some of these tips to help with your organizational goals.

Don't forget to check out the great tips our team will be sharing as well as link up to share your own! Here are the rules;

1. Please link to a blog post, not a TPT store.
2. Please link back to the Elementary Entourage blog in your post.
3. Show some love to the others linked up by visiting their blog and leaving a comment or 2.

An InLinkz Link-up