Planning!

If you can't tell based on all my entries about my wedding, I am a bit of a planner. Organization was a coping mechanism that I developed during middle school and high school... it has served me well ever since. I have always had a planner and usually did the August-to-August Planner that you see at the bookstore. As a student and then as a coordinator it worked beautifully. By having the time spaces, I could schedule meetings and what not.

HOWEVER as teacher, I don't think I will be needing to schedule 10am meetings every other Thursday of the month. Additionally, I know my organization habits like having a place to keep notes and jot things down at a moments notice. Somehow, I would end up with my notebook and then my planner as two separate items that were rather full by the end of the year. Since this is my first year teaching with my own classroom, I thought I would find a new planner for myself...

Where to start? With other teachers! My teaching friends had all sorts of methods but none really suited mine until I remembered a high school friend of mine who just finished her first year teaching. She posted on her pages all the time about different teaching tactics she was trying, including OCD-like organization like mine! Thus, I stumbled across her new planner from Erin Condren and had one of those, "OH MY GOODNESS DO I NEED THIS PLANNER!!!" moments.

If you managed your way to Erin's site, you might have a bit of sticker shock over the price. Yes, $59.00 plus shipping is a bit steep. This was a hit to my bank account which is use to the normal $19.99 for the August-to-August planner and then my $7 spiral notebook. After watching the video though on what was included in the planner, I realized there price might be worth it.

So I ordered mine along with a pad of notepaper customized with my name, school and room number on them. I figured the notepaper might be good for when I send students to another classroom or to see a teacher and won't have to sign my name as much. After waiting about a week and half, my planner showed up on the front porch yesterday. Super excited to open it and see a planner suited for a teacher, not a student, and customized for me!

First off, its about 3/4" thick. Which is about the same at my old planner. Given that its 8.5x11 inch pages though gives it a distinct advantage in size!.

 Having served as a substitute this last year, this was an important and AWESOME page to see in here! The ruler (included in the back and serves as a bookmark) covers up information I wrote in about which teachers, administrators or secretaries to see in the building. You can bet by the end of September it will be filled with helpful information for them. I plan on making a copy to keep on my desk at school in case I get sick unexpectedly.

This area was one of the reasons I ultimately bought the planner - the year at a glance. It was big enough to write the information in about when things were happening for my two different class sections. As you can see, I am already putting that to use too. 

Again, another aspect I loved were the quotes and the stickers in the back of the planner. There are several pages of stickers about IEPs, assemblies, holidays, etc. and then sheets for me to make up my own. Also, throughout the planner are quotes about education, teaching, and helping students grow. Should be nice for little reminders about why I picked this career.

 I knew that the pocket fold (which is double sided) was in here along with a laminated calendar for the 2013-2014 school year. What I was forgot about when I ordered was the pocket full of gift tag labels that are included in planner. Should be nice for those days when I am running late to a social event after work and need to bring a gift with me!

 Yet another major reason this works better for me as a teacher, than as a student, is that I can keep track based on class areas and periods what is going on each day. This believe it or not is pretty dang helpful with my two different class levels. My three sections of students learning US History maybe in fact be at different places (which does happen) and the same with my two sections of students learning US History and Civics. There should be enough pages to get me through the school year... :)



These are the last two pages I really want to show off to you all. I love having quotes throughout the planner. The one on the left being right up front is one of the first teacher quotes I remember learning and really understanding on a deeper level. The picture on the right is the front of my notebook. But due to the personalization, I did want to keep some of that covered up.






Maybe you aren't a teacher though? Maybe you are an individual who is simply looking to organize their life? Erin has plenty of planners and options for that too. Additionally, there are some customization lunch boxes and gift type stuff on there. I am pretty creative but not creative enough to make some of the stuff she and her wonderful team do.

I will end my gushing about my awesome planner and let you go to work on it yourself. Happy planning bloggers and readers!