Working Smarter, Not Harder

Planning, planning, planning

How do you do lesson plans? 

Erin Condren planner? Handwritten plans? Typed documents? School provided calendar planner? Full format District mandated plans? Planning binders? Online sites? 

Do you work with your team to plan or are you solo? 

This will be my 5th year teaching and I finally found a way that works for me, my team, and that also benefits my students.

I created my Long Range Plans a few years ago for myself and my team as a result of us trying to learn a then new math program, Engage NY or Eureka Math, and implement the Journeys Reading Program. We struggled to visual SEE how things played out just by using the provided curriculum guides and the district pacing maps. 

 <<< WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER!>>> 

We then got to work! Our district gives us credit for a Professional Development day to plan with our PLC, or professional learning community, which includes my 3 teammates. So each year we spend a day (or more) working together on these plans. We chose to focus on one subject at a time and used district and curriculum guides to plan out what was best instruction for our students. Below is the REAL guide we are planning to use and implement this coming year. You'll notice we still use Journeys for reading and Engage NY for math. We do jump around a bit in math because of our district assessments, BUT we also found that some concepts were better placed before/after others for our students needs. 

((Disclaimer: we were given permission to skip around and meet students needs))

Once we have the year at a glance mapped out we start planning out our weeks. We use the district and school calendars to align our days, note when events occur at school etc. My team and I have been working together for 4 years now and I truly believe we are the dream team! They are such amazing teachers and we all work so well together, making this process easier and easier each year.
Each subject is color coded throughout the year. For example, our 2nd grade Journeys books are orange, hence the plans for reading show up as orange. Little things like that make my teacher heart happy. :)
If you'd like to see more and try out these plans for yourself click here

Now, once the year is mapped out and all the weeks are filled in on the Long Range Plans we then use https://www.planbook.com to do weekly planning. This online plabbook is $12 for the whole year! We have each taken turns paying for the years subscription and all have access to it from our computers, phones, and iPads thanks to the easy to use app!
((no this is not a paid post for planbook, just sharing my love for it!))

Once you log in and create an account you are able to do SO MANY different things! Change colors of blocks, fonts, times, classes, it adds a Day counter at the top, so if you're like me you track days to celebrate the 100th day of school! (shown in photo below)

Some of my favorite features are that you can see different views, that being daily and just seeing todays lessons, weekly, monthly and more. I also love that you can "bump" or "extend" lessons and it will shift your plans for you. We all know there are days that you just don't get to do everything you have planned.. so we "bump" it and move on!  Also I LOVE that you can attach resources to the plans (shown below at the bottom). This is so helpful when we all have a document we need to share or show to students. Instead of emailing and all downloading, we just attach to the plans and can pull it up quickly! 

Another favorite feature is that you can add in Common Core Standards! This is so helpful when planning and pacing because we can easily see what standards we have taught already. This is also helpful when we share plans with administrators and within our PLC's to note whats working, what needs to be tweaked etc. You can change the view of the standards to say the entire worded version of each standard, or just the number and abbreviation like we chose to use below.

I also love to print out the weekly spread and attach to my clipboard that I carry daily to keep myself on track. I also have the planbook.com app on my phone and school iPad when needed. This feature also makes it very easy to plan and share information with student teachers as well! 

Because I have used planbook.com for almost 5 years (I was so lucky to stumble on it half way through my first year teaching) that MY FAVORITE FEATURE is how you can transfer plans from one year to the next! IT IS SUCH A TIME SAVER! Most of the past few years our first few days/first weeks in Second grade have stayed the same. So its easy enough to push a button and transfer all of our plans from 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17 or parts of each etc. to this years spread without having to retype anything, reattach documents, and more! 

It may seem redundant to have both the long range plans and planbook.com but we all utilize both documents and its what works for us! Together as a PLC we meet once a week to easily pull copies, talk about whats worked so far, and get ready for the following week- all without having to sit and write lesson plans for the upcoming week without knowing what comes next. If you'd like to read more about our day and how all this planning works in my room click here for a day in 2nd grade

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Dear Second Graders...

Out of the mouths of babes...

First off, let me apologize for not posting since JANUARY, Yikes! 

A quick life update. Since January I have...

1- Submitted ALL components for my National Board Certified Teacher Certification! AH! 

2- celebrated my bachelorette party in beautiful Asheville, NC

3- gotten MARRIED!

4- traveled to St. Lucia on a fabulous honeymoon

Life hasn't changed too much since our May wedding, but I did promise to share my end of year writing project with everyone, so here it is! 

Have you heard of Studentreasures? 

A few years ago my teammate stumbled upon a company, Studentreasures that let you publish your students writing into a book for FREE! I initially thought it was too good to be true. So we decided to order the kits and see what we could make of it...while in the back of my mind I was preparing to have to shell out some money for this hardback beautiful book that my kids worked tirelessly on throughout the spring. 

[Also this is NOT a sponsored post, although I would love to work more with them:)]

Fast forward a few weeks our kit arrived. With my Second Graders I chose to use Option C, the Landscape Primary lined. This has worked out fabulously the last 3 years! 

Included for FREE in our kit is plenty of lined pages and corresponding blank pages for pictures. As well as cover, title, dedication, and author pages. ALSO a sample hard bound book for students to ooohhhh and ahhhh over and excite them about becoming real published authors themselves. A step-by-step guide, replacement pages and materials if needed, parent order forms, and other resources! 

I mean can you believe this is all for FREE?! Yes, I too was still skeptical and thought it was too good to be true... just wait until you see their writing :) 

The Writing Process

To make things simple I always create and copy a draft template for my students to guide their writing prior to them working on the pages from Studentreasures. I've used the same format for each year and students have loved it. The students pages are as follows: 

"Hello my name is ____________. I am almost done with second grade! Here is some advice for you so you can make it through second grade too. My advice for you is _____________________. For example, __________________________________________.

_____________________________________________________.

Good luck in second grade!"

This darling is working on copying his draft onto the final studentreasures paper. I choose to do this at my small group table and preferably 1:1 because the company requests that you use PEN! Now if you're anything like me, I don't like my students to use ink pens unsupervised on these projects because it almost always ends in tears when they mess up and can't erase. There are extra pages provided in the kit, BUT I like to use this a a learning experience in using pen and doing our best work. So we go very slow and take lots of time to complete the pages.

After each student has met with me and copied their writing onto the book paper, I let them use markers and color a picture to match their advice that they wrote. These pages will lay side by side in the book. 

After ALL my students have completed their final copies of writing with a pen and their picture. I box them all up, with my self-created cover and send materials back to Studentreasures. Once you submit materials, it a few weeks until you receive back the hard cover book you've created. 

BUT it is so worth it!!

Below are all the books we've created throughout the years! 

Oh, how I wish I knew about this my first year of teaching. I would have loved to have this book for that group of kids. Since then, I have completed this same concept yearly with each class. I always love reading this to my NEW classes each fall and the incoming students love it! 

You can choose to make this any type of book you'd like! The sample I received one year was all about animals, and each student researched a different animal. My teammate I mentioned earlier, did one about how to have integrity, and their favorite second grade memory. The possibilities are endless! 

Out of the mouths of babes... 

Here is a sample from years past! Some of the advice students come up with is horrifyingly honest. For example, "my advice for you is don't wiggle your paper. This drives Ms. B crazy!" or "my advice for you is don't play with your shoes on the carpet when Ms. B teaches. She will make you take your shoes off." [whoops.... in my justification velcro shoes are SO NOISY!!!!!!] But hey, those examples are some solid second grade survival tips!

Lastly, at the end of each book we make I write a love note to my students and draw a picture. They absolutely love the surprise when they find it. :)

So if you've read this far, you're probably still wondering what the catch is... and if I actually paid any money for these beautiful books. The answer is...

NO! 

I didn't pay a cent for them. No shipping. Nothing. 

You as the teacher receive ONE free copy of the students book for your classroom just for completing it. If students/parents would like to purchase a copy, it varies in price pending on regular or deluxe version but is roughly $20. Most of my students parents will splurge and purchase one but are certainly not required to! I will always have a copy in my classroom during the years for students to read and reread. These books are an absolute favorite for our Read to Self Center. 

So what do you have to lose? This process really helps enforce the writing process with my students and showcases their abilities and hilarious advice each year. 

[this post is not sponsored in any way, just sharing the love because I can.]

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#paigeinreallife

Where do I even begin?! I could list you off all the excuses I have for not posting on here... but I won't bore you with all that. Let me just say that things have gotten extra crazy for this tired teacher but I've come to a BIG realization.. 

#gametime

Raise your hand if you spend too many hours in your classroom before and after school? 

Raise your hand if you spend wayyyyy too much time on social media browsing everyones AMAZING IDEAS!? 

Raise your hand if you instantly think "ohhhh I NEED this in my classroom" when you see someones post about Target purchases, TPT products, Rae Dunn mugs?!

Raise your hand if you run to every Target/Michaels/Home Goods etc. in town until you find said items that you stalked on social media?! 

Raise your hand if you go buy said things ^^^ and then NEVER find the time to implement them in your real life classroom?! 

Well friends, ME TOO!!!!!!!

#realtalk

I've spent the last few months working on myself from the inside --> out. I've been working towards not impulsively purchasing things because _______ has it, or because _______ posted about it, and actually trying to figure out what MY students need and WHY they need it. 

Y'all its been hard. Like really hard... 

Yes, I want all those Rae Dunn products, yes, I've spent hours going to 3 different Home Goods to still have no luck... BUT guess what, I DON'T EVEN DRINK COFFEE!!!! I wanted the mugs and other things simply because many amazing teachers that I adore on Instagram posts about them, and I want to be just like them. 

Yes, I want all those rainbow task card organizers boxes that everyone finds at Michaels on sale... I finally found them, bought them, and guess what?!! They're sitting in my classroom closet because I just haven't had time to laminate the perfect TPT product I bought, cut it all out, and organize it. #reallife I wanted those organizers because many amazing teachers that I adore on Instagram posts about them, and I want to be just like them. 

Are you catching my drift here? I've spent so much time comparing myself and wanting to be like other teachers that I see on social media that I've lost the teacher that I wanted to be. I want to be the teacher that my kids learn from. The one that supports them daily in learning and life skills. I want them to know they're loved. If they learn anything all year long, I want it to be that they now know how to WORK HARD AND BE KIND. 

#challengeaccepted

This year is only my 4th year teaching, and Ive taken on a very big challenge... this year I started the National Boards Certified Teacher process. People think I am crazy and that I need more experience before pursuing this. Ive gotten plenty of looks at PDs when they ask how young I am, years I've been teaching and more.. my answer is always that "I am always willing to learn and grow as a teacher". I feel that this is the best way for ME to grow as a teacher and learner and, by golly I am going to do it and [hopefully] pass! 

 So far this process is challenging, in an amazing way! I've had to reflect, and reflect, and reflect some more about ME and MY teaching. What am I doing that works, what doesn't work, how can I change this/that? Well first thing I found that wasn't working... that I was comparing myself to others. I would then beat myself up for days over how insert [strategy/tpt product/lesson plan] worked so well for ______ or looked so amazing on _______'s Instagram and/or blog, but didn't work with my kids in my classroom. 

Well, friends its plain and simple... I am not them. I am ME in MY classroom with 21 second graders who are absolutely hilarious, smart, thoughtful, and hardworking. This NBCT process has opened my eyes for the better and I am so thankful! 

#comparisonisthethiefofjoy

Moral of my babble is that I needed to stop comparing myself to others. [Most] people only post the good stuff on social media, no one wants you to see their messy guided reading table, stacks of ungraded papers that you throw in the recycling bin, or their closet full of crap they bought and never implemented. 

Give yourself a break!!! Stop comparing yourself to people on social media, or that "perfect" teacher down the hall. Do whats best for you and your students. Thats it. End of story. #youareenough You are an amazing teacher, you make a difference daily in students lives for the better, and you are doing a great job!

#reallifeupdate

If you did read all the way to the end of this post, bless your heart, thank you! I hope my words can help you in some way. Heres what Ive been up to the past few months! 

We bought our first house!  

Soon to be Mrs. Barber!  

My first Disney Wine and Dine Half-Marathon! 

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