Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Planning on Planning




I just bought this planner from Target.  It is Blue Sky Day Designer.  I've had a Blue Sky planner almost every year for the past 5 or so years.  I say almost every year because last year I had this grand plan that I was going to have a teacher binder.  I printed everything out and had all kinds of goodies.  Then came the first PD meeting and I thought-- I don't want to lug that big old thing.  So I barely used it all year.

It is important to note that this is not my lesson plan book nor my gradebook.  I will blog sometime on those.  This is really just my calendar and meeting notes book.  I also include any notes that I may need in my personal life. 

I like this kind of planner because it has a heavy, plastic cover (meaning it won't rip!)  It is just the right size to slip in handouts until I can trash or file them.  I also love the monthly tabs.

I have this dream of modifying my planner to make it more useful-- kinda a teacher binder in my planner.  Here is a round up of ideas that I *may* implement to make it my own.

My Amazon Link

From having this planner in the past, I know that a disadvantage is not having a place to store my pen.  They have these loops for just $5 or so.

Source
This idea from 3rdGradeThoughts is ingenious!  I don't know that I will do every page but I think I may do the pages that mark the end/beginning of trimesters.  They are always in the middle of the month and catch me by surprise!


Source

I would like to glue a page like this into the front cover so I can have an organized to do list.

There are some pages at the beginning/ end that I don't know that I will use as intended.  I would like to change them to include some of the following:
  • My Schedule 
  • Assessment Chart (our district puts out a chart with expected scores for each kind of assessment)  
  • Parent Contact Information
  • Student Birthdays
  • Curriculum Map 
  • Standards
Do you personalize your binder?  What do you put in it?  Leave a comment or send me an e-mail!  

I am linking up to Plan with Me Sundays (two days late).

See all the links here!

Update:  Here are my first changes. 

4 comments:

  1. I found my planner cover at Target this summer. It holds an 8.5x11" planner, and it has a zipper pencil pouch sewn into the front cover and a pocket on the inside front cover. It's so convenient for holding all of the random things that I always seem to need and never seem to have! I like your idea of gluing in the pages for to do lists and schedules and the like. I hadn't thought of that! I usually just have my planner *and* my bulky teacher binder. About mid-first quarter, I stop carrying around the binder and just stick the papers in it when the meetings are finished. Then, about mid-year, I give up on the binder altogether! Haha!!

    Carrie
    Make Time for Glitter!

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  2. Oh, I'm so glad that I'm not the only one to abandon the binder idea! I will have to look for that planner cover- thanks for the idea!

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  3. Oh such great ideas! haha yes the pen loop thing is smart!

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    1. I just need to buy the pen loop now! :)

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