Sticky Note Lesson Plans & Erin Condren

Hey friends!

I am so excited about this post because that picture above just makes my {teacher} heart SO HAPPY! I absolutely love lesson planning and looking at my lesson planner because, well.. just LOOK AT THAT! Those colors, those fonts, and that organization. It's too much! GAHH!

SOOOO... anyhow.. enough of my gushing... I guess I should start telling you WHY it's there!

If you've been on my Facebook page, Instagram, or Pinterest at all, it might look a tad familiar.

There's a post & YouTube video floating around that I've already done telling all about how I create my Erin Condren Teacher Planner with sticky notes.

However, I have been able to take this gorgeous masterpiece of a plan book... and improve upon it EVEN MORE! say whaaat!? I know! I didn't think this was at all possible either.. but it is!

So... if you first need to read the original post about how I did that... do that RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW.

Then come on back and read what's NEW AND IMPROVED!


So...let's play a game and see if you can SPOT THE DIFFERENCE:

Did you find it?

Here's what's new.... MY SUBJECT LABELS! noooww take a look!:

It may seem silly... but can I just say how WONDERFUL it is to not have to hand write almost anything in my planner these days!?!

Thanks to the genius of my friend Lisa over at Fourth and Ten and her beautiful Instagram post, I no longer have to write in my subject headers and times! Using Avery Return Address Labels [and all of the patience I can muster!] I created these subject and time labels for my planner! Now, I spend even LESS TIME setting up my planner week to week. I simply put in the labels, washi tape for our snack & lunch breaks, and I'm good to go.

Here's what a bunch of them printed out looks like:

I think I am even going to try doing my dates on them too so literally nothing is written in anymore. Another plus? If I mess up or decide to change something I can just cover it up with another and be none the wiser!

So, I know you might be asking "how do you make the labels in color?" Well, this is where that patience I mentioned [and don't have much of!] comes in. When you download and open the template [which you can get here for free from Avery] in Microsoft Word. I select the box in the template and go to "Format" >> "Shape Fill." Then, select the color you want the background to be. Of course, you can leave it white. But I went ahead and gave mine a rainbow pattern. Then, I overlay a text box [which I make translucent] and format my text. I copy and paste the text boxes to fill one column with the same label format. So, the first column is my red "Morning Work" label, the second is the orange "Bible" label, the third alternates "Science," "Health," & "History" in yellow since that's how I will be teaching it this year [rotating through each content over the course of the whole year] and then the last column on the page is the green "Math" label. Then, once I save the file, I close it and copy the entire file itself and paste it onto my desktop. I rename it (something I'll remember that corresponds) and change the text boxes to the times for each of those same subjects. That way the colors are already done and I just have to change the text and formatting.

I say it takes patience because Microsoft Word is finicky when it comes to layering and I spent a lot of time adjusting the text boxes so they would line up well. But, now that it's done it looks great and was well worth the frustration!

>>> If you click here, you can download one of my label files and give them a try to see what I mean. You'll need the font CartonSix so it looks right and go from there so some of the formatting is done for you! Remember..it's in WORD. I'm sorry!

PRINTING TIP >>> once you create those labels, you will need to save them as a PDF in order to print. The first time I went to print I didn't do that.. and they didn't bring with the color fill. So I have some pages of just plain white labels. Anybody want them!?

I bought the Avery Return Address Labels on Amazon... you can get a box of 2000 here and have them for at least 2 years, if not more.. it just depends how many you use a week. Right now, I use 19 a week, but if I print the dates like I think I will that will be 24 a week x at least 34 weeks of planning for 816 labels a year. 2000 divided by 816 is 2.45 years... not bad for about $7!

For your enjoyment, here's another look at the goodness of all the supplies I use when I am putting it all together...

You can see in the top right that I used labels to insert when I do our daily Read Aloud under other plans because I didn't have room elsewhere. It works great! I love that the post-it allows for TWICE the planning room. You can lift them up and jot notes, ideas, and changes underneath for future reference [and hide them with the post-it!]

Happy Planning!

Last Minute Lessons: Post Your Thoughts

Sometimes, the best laid plans happen on the fly. It happens for me quite a bit. I'm a spontaneous, just wingin' it, let it happen naturally kind of lesson planner. [wow, that sounds terrible!] BUT, I do plan. Don't get me wrong. I know what content I am covering and when. I know what I will expect my students to do. I know the rigor. But, I don't write scripts. I fit my lessons plans on post-its, for goodness sake. One post-it for a subject, and the whole week fits on a two-page spread. I don't list objectives or standards [I'm blessed not to have to!] I let God lead my teaching. He inspires me, He provides, HE has the BEST ideas!

So.. what does that all have to do with this post? Well, it's exactly what happened this morning and I' thought I'd share with you how it came about.

I was in the shower [the best thinking always happens there! right!?] and I was thinking about my science lessons. For a lot of the time, our lessons come straight from our science books that are a part of our school's curriculum. I find myself easily putting it off or skipping it some days because, well, it's boring. Don't get me wrong, the content is fantastic and we DO have fun with experiments sometimes (I'm working on that!) but our day-to-day lessons are just reading about it. It gets boring and let's face it.. if it's taught in a whole group, they aren't going to listen to me read it to them and Round Robin Reading isn't exactly a best practice. Just ask Jen Jones. So, in trying to solve my own problem and jazz up my teaching in content areas like science & health, I came up with a quick "Post Your Thoughts" informal assessment activity.

I quickly created a template for standard 3x3" sticky notes to fit on. I stuck them on the boxes [you can baarreelly see them in the pic up top, on the left] and labeled the post-its with my students' numbers [so they remained generally anonymous to their classmates when they posted their thoughts but I knew what their answers were] and assigned the reading.

They were to read a chunk from our science books on their own, at their own pace. Usually, we read things together in small groups or whole group, and we highlight important information that might be seen on a quiz or test. Since this was an independent study session, I laid out MY teacher copy and let them come over to look at it, if needed, where they could see the parts I had highlighted. After they got started and I explained how they would use the post-it notes, I let them start reading. After they were all engaged in reading, I then wrote the questions I had for them to find on the board. Why did I decide to wait? So they actually READ EVERYTHING, and didn't just skim in order to find the answers and be done.

So, each question was color-coded for a certain post-it [as you can see on the right]. When they found the answer, they wrote it on the corresponding sticky note and put it on the board right under the question.

As soon as everyone was finished, we talked about what we read, highlighted some important information, and answered those questions. My students read at their own pace, and I now have a small formative assessment piece to show their understanding. They did FANTASTIC! I was super proud of them, seeing as this was the first time we did something like this this school year.... and it's only the TENTH DAY! They loved it, and I definitely seeing us do this activity much more often!

So what do you think? Would you have your students "Post their Learning"? If so, you can grab my template for FREE >>>> right here!

Just print, copy, and cut in half to use! You could even laminate a set, and make them reusable year after year for just about any content area or reading assignment!

Erin Condren Teacher Planner: lesson planning with post-it notes!

Hey there everyone!

So several months ago I shared with you a blog tutorial on how to print onto post-it notes to transform your lesson plans in an Erin Condren Teacher Planner. Well, I know that giving (and taking) directions, is easiest to SEE what is happening, so I thought I would create a VIDEO to show you! A tad crazy (at least for me) because taping myself and talking to a webcam is a bit unnerving, but it was so much fun! Check out the video by clicking on the picture below!
 and PLEASE let me know your thoughts!

Then, you can grab the template I use from my TpT store (just click on the cover photo below)... I went ahead and it turned it into a permanent {FREEBIE!}

I hope you give it a shot if you have (and love!) an EC Teacher Planner and let me know how it works for you! I hope you absolutely LOVE it as much as I do! I find that it actually makes planning a *little* less daunting, sooo...HAPPY PLANNING! :)

Erin Condren + post-its = LOVE!

So the other day I was handwriting my lessons on my gorgeous new Erin Condren teacher planner....

isn't it lovely!? {sigh}

when I became frustrated! I wrote something wrong and couldn't fix it! Plus... I am not a big fan of my handwriting and writing them out (seems to) take longer than typing them on the computer. Last year I used post-its and a daily At-A-Glance planner that I loved....

....but it just wasn't enough.

The Erin Condren planner (everyone on IG seems to have one!) is great because it is my calendar, lesson planner, attendance, and grade book all in one! But I still disliked writing my lessons.... until an idea hit me. I opened my desk drawer and found my mini post-its. I laid the stack on top of one of the spaces for a lesson in the week, and low & behold... IT WAS THE PERFECT SIZE! 

So I quickly got to work as soon as I could. I opened a file I have on my computer that has boxes already the size of the mini post-its for another use (I make my students reminders for different things to put in their binder... but I digress...)

 I copied the file and started moving everything around to see what I could fit on one page.

Since there are 7 blocks per day in the teacher planner, I put 7 of the boxes at the top of the page and 7 more at the bottom with a gap between the two to delineate the days. I duplicated the slide (I use Power Point) and added in text boxes. To help myself in the future so I don't get confused while typing, printing, and transferring it into my planner, I put titles by the post-it boxes for the subject they will go on, and labels for the day. I also wrote in (very small) the color that the post-its for that day are, just to help me remember. None of those will print onto the post-its themselves. They will be on the paper. They are just a good reference for me.

Here's what it looked like at first:

then, in those gray boxes, I put my transparent text boxes with my lesson info for that day. You can format the font (any font you want!) to be bold, italic, shadowed, outlined, and any size you need! I continually duplicate my slides so everything is in the same format and I only have to change the lesson info.

Here's what a two-day page looks like all typed up:

So...once everything is typed for the week, I can start printing. First, I print the blank template, which is slide 1 in the file I shared below (you didn't think I wouldn't share the love, did you!?!)

It looks like this:

It is just light gray boxes the size of the mini post-its in the same place as the above slides. I print a few copies of those (so I can print faster) and put the post-its where the boxes are. As mentioned, I use different colors to delineate the days. The top 7 are one color, the bottom 7 another. I use 5 different colors for the 5 days of the school week.

Once all the post-its are on the papers, I insert the paper into the printer and all of my lesson plan info will print right onto the post-its! Then, I transfer them onto my planner, add some washi tape to show where snack & lunch are in our day, and that's it! The whole week is done! Then, when you don't get to something or need to switch it around, just move your post-its! You can also flip them up and write underneath of them, too, if you want additional notes/details, or want to write notes after you teach the lesson for future reference. It's that simple!

You could also use post-it flags for writing the date so your lesson planner is more reusable if you like. I use them under the date for notes specific to that day. and write the date in because I know I will probably use a whole new planner next school year. I use a pack I got at the Dollar Tree that come in a bunch of sizes, are transparent, and are only $1!  

So... here it is, all finished!

I just love the colors and the neatness of the fonts! What do you think?!

You can get the template for this here! It is a Power Point file :)

You can also view my YouTube video tutorial to see it in action!

I hope you find it as useful as I do and find that the instructions are clear. Feel free to comment or email me at mrstamilynnmo@aol.com if you have any questions!

O-H so organized!

I have found myself becoming more and more organized lately.. on top of the organizational skills I "thought" I had! I think I am finally fine-tuning my preferences as I settle into my classroom more and thought I'd share some of my organization strategies with you. Comment below and let me know what you think and share other strategies for keeping yourself, your students, your classroom, and your life in general [O-H so organized!] :)

One thing I use is a Take Home Binder system with my students. A fellow teacher friend of mine did something similar to this in her first grade classroom a few years ago, and I borrowed the idea and ran with it from there.

This is a cover I made for each of their binders with their names. I do purchase their binders. I like them to be a certain size and of good durability. I have found that parents don't EXACTLY follow class lists when they go shopping [which is fine!] so I pay for their binders on my own. I tried some from the Dollar Tree my first year since they were cheaper... but I paid a higher price to replace them less than halfway into the year -- it's worth the investment in the beginning!

In order to keep parents as informed as possible [I like them to know what's happening in the classroom and I have an Open Door policy for them to contact me at anytime] I have a Communication Log in each child's binder. Parents can write to me at any time and I can do the same. This works great for my classroom management system with the Parent Contact choice ;)

Students also get a clear pocket [I get them at Target at back to school time when they go on sale for $0.50 each] for money & important notes that need to go back and forth. Much safer than anywhere else I have found!

[*note* when purchasing the pockets, purchase some extra.. a few of the zippers have broken and I cannot currently find them at Target!]

During my first year of teaching I placed notebooks in this section. I realized by the end of the year that for many students/parents, most of the notebook was not used. Others needed to use quite a bit! They are also difficult to turn. I decided instead to use loose leaf paper so that more paper can be added if needed, and I can take the rest out at the end of the year!

Of course, every binder also has a Take Home Folder.

Students put their papers that need to go home in here each night.

I also have clear page protectors in their binders [not pictured]. I put in their spelling lists, Bible verses for memory, Speller's Choice menus, and any other important papers they need for studying/schoolwork. This is a great way to provide them tools they need to help them and you can differentiate it for each child! One student has difficulty with addition and subtraction, so one of her clear pages has a set of Touch Points for addition homework and a 100s chart for subtraction homework. Just this week they each chose a poem to learn for our upcoming Speech Meet, so I also put their poem in a page protector.

In the packet you see in the folder above, I included a page about our grading policy. Some students [or should I say, some parents] took that out of the packet and placed it in a page protector to have on hand. I am so glad the idea for those dawned on me one day - they are a great organizational tool!

Their binders also include two calendars, one that is a homework log I created to keep them accountable for homework each night, and another calendar that logs their behavior choices each night. These are updated monthly and they write other information on them, such as test dates. I also include student birthdays and holidays for them to see as well :)

My goal with this system is to [hopefully!] teach my students organization and independence. They have everything they need for success at school and know where they can find it because it is always in the same place. They also know exactly what is expected of them and can take responsibility for their homework each night.

To keep myself organized and to make lesson planning as simple as possible to do and understand, I use post-its! For the last two years I have been doing this, I was hand-writing them.... and though it wasn't a ton of writing, it was still a drag. I realized I could accomplish it much faster on the computer, but I still liked my post-it system best. Perusing the amazing universe which is Pinterest, I came across a post about printing onto post-its. I checked it out and it looked SO easy, that I had to try it! After setting up the template in Power Point and laying it out like I wanted...

it was time to try it.......

and SUCCESS!

It REALLY worked! Now, I just plug in my information for each subject and the other stuff [specials/lunch/snack/tutoring] all stays the same.

No more re-writing those things over and over again! I just love it! My only regret is not trying it sooner! Now I want to make a template for every post-it note I'll ever need!

Here's a a link to the post I found via Pinterest with templates so you can create your own post-it planner too! If you choose to make your own, here's what I did:

I just purchased an At-a-Glance planner with a page per day and put the post-its on that so it's reusable. I also use transparent flags at the top for the date so nothing is written into the planner itself and I don't have to buy a new one every year!
I set up my plan book by chunks of time rather throughout the day rather than by subject. It's much easier for me with how my days are set up, and it requires less post-its/space :)
I also printed the template with a very light gray text box so it doesn't appear in case the alignment isn't perfect and on the template page I put a faint note as to what color post it goes in which box so I'll never forget or need to keep checking.

I highly recommend using Power Point to create your plans in. I make a slide per day and just duplicate every slide for less work. I saw a lot of teachers posting about it on TpT and other blogs for creating their documents and resources and when I finally tried it [I was originally using Word] WHAT A DIFFERENCE! It is so much faster and more streamlined to make anything you want!

I'm definitely a font snob, so printing these with cute fonts as opposed to writing them in my boring, sloppy handwriting calms my type-A, OCD so much more! I seriously have a problem, but there is not enough space in cyber world to discuss that....!

I hope I helped you discover some new ways to keep yourself and your classroom "O-H so organized!" or at the very least, got the ball rolling and inspired some new ideas for you. Share them below and let me know what you think! Stay tuned for some fun stuff coming soon! 

week one.... done!

I started back to school with my students on Tuesday and what an AMAZING week we had! I moved up to 3rd grade this year, and throughout my prep time over the past few weeks with my fellow teacher [who has moved up from Kindergarten] I started to feel nervous and overwhelmed with all we were discovering we would be teaching....and grading. It may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but to me, taking grades is major. These are permanent on a report card and mean something big to both the parent and the student. I don't take assigning grades lightly.....and sometimes I'm too nice. I want to take into account their work, their effort and their love while I grade. I find it hard to just crunch the numbers and say that what they get is what they get. I don't want them to feel badly and I don't want parents to wonder how their child did or didn't do so well. I don't know... maybe I'm just paranoid. I think part of it is my type-A/OCD personality. But knowing we had to grade Bible and handwriting, plus science, social studies and health, I became overwhelmed at the thought. In first and second grade and I didn't assign many grades...mostly checks and pluses [rarely some minuses, thankfully!] So this is new for me. Especially Bible. We always do that together and there are very few unit reviews to assign grades on so I with very little actual grades for the whole year, one bad assessment could mean a low grade. How can I do that to my students?! It breaks my heart and again....overwhelms and worries me.
So, I had to take a step back. I had to PRAY [of course!] I knew I could only do this with God's strength and I could only do it by taking it one step, one day at a time. We haven't gotten to any quizzes or tests just yet, so I'll wait until they come. I'll work hard, prepare my students and pray with them before each one. I'll communicate with them about everything they are expected to know and do my best to serve them everyday. It's all I can do, and I feel a lot better about it. I still am nervous, but I know that the first report card is a several weeks away.. I need to enjoy teaching until that time. I can't be nervous all day, everyday for 9 weeks, four times a year. THAT'S INSANE!

Here I am on the first day of school! :) My shirt is chevron to match my classroom décor... that was my hubby's suggestion! haha

Okay... so back to our first week. It was wonderful, as I said. My students are adorable and were so excited to be back in school. Most of my class has been with me for the past 2 years, so introducing routine and expectations wasn't hard. It was nice having a large group who already knew what to do and when to do it, so others could follow their lead.

We did a multitude of activities and we jumped right into learning [I don't mess around! ;)]

One activity we did was cute. I of course saw it on Pinterest at some point over the last year and it was a success on the first day of school. I told my students that I expect a lot from them and they have a lot they are responsible for as students of our classroom and school. What I wanted to know is what they expect of me as their teacher. They thought that was so cool they got to tell me how I should be towards them, so I passed out Post-Its and let them to it.

Some wanted to write more than others.. so my chart paper was filled pretty quickly LoL!

 

You can see at the top that I have one that is separate. I told the students that I would hang that in the classroom all year, so that every morning I arrived it would be one of the first things I see and would remind me to be what they want and need in a teacher. One really stood out. Among the many "fun," "caring," "nice," and "lovings" was an amazing and inspiring request... "Let God lead you." WOW. An eight year wrote that. Talk about divine. She thought above and beyond and wrote something I knew I would need to read on a daily basis; something I would need to meditate on every morning to start my day.

 

Have I mentioned how incredibly blessed I am? I mean, really. To have a student write that they want a teacher who is led by the Lord is inspiring, amazing and a dream come true. Especially since I've had her for the past two years....must be doing something right, huh!? ;)

Well, the rest of the week was a breeze. I feel like I'm not teaching enough and it felt so easy, simple. It was a great first week. The students had so much fun learning and we did lots of review. I learned a lot about them and we prayed together several times. It was blessed and a great start to a great year. I can only imagine what God has planned for our classroom the remainder of the year. I'm sure it will be nothing short of awesome!

Have a blessed day!
Tami :)