I am a beginning teacher, and during my student placements, I always lesson planned on Saturday/Sunday for the whole upcoming week. Then after school each day, I would just have to lay out the necessary supplies for the next day, or touch up a lesson plan that didn't quite get finished, the students didn't fully understand, etc... However, maybe it is just because I am new, and maybe the lesson planning will eventually become faster for me, but I would literally lesson plan almost all day Saturday straight from 10am-7pm (except during lunch and supper breaks), and then Sunday from 2-4pm. I'm just wondering when most of you lesson plan, and whether you just plan per day, or for the whole week. Are you able to plan every subject for the next day all before you leave from school? I found after school that by the time I tidied up the classroom, layed everything out for the next day, took a little breather.....4 or 4:30pm had already rolled around (when most teachers at my school took off and the janitor was trying to get you to leave so he could go home also). I appreciate any advice or comments, and thanks so much!!
I lesson plan for a few hours every Sunday. You are not the only new teacher here who is finding him or herself spending a lot of time planning. We just had another thread similar to this last week or so.
I go into school on Sundays for about 4-6 hours. I plan everything for the week, do my classroom newsletter, and prepare all materials I will need. I have no clue how people can plan during the week before school and during prep time. I use that time just to catch up! But then again, I change so much from year to year.
I spend a pretty minimial amount of time over the weekend. That said, the bulk of my planning was done over the summer. And I started teaching in 1980, so at this point there's not a whole lot to do.
I like to start mapping out my plans for the next week on Wednesdays. On Thursday I like to have next week's plans done. Ideally, I like to have copies for the week done on Fridays. On Friday afternoons, I will lay out materials for Monday. It takes awhile to get into the routine. All my spare time at school is for fall conferences right now and analyzing my assessment data. There is so much to do at the beginning of the year... hopefully I can get into my usual routine soon.
I usually plan my lessons Wednesday and Thursday nights. This allows me to have a legitimate weekend in Friday and Saturday. Sunday is usually touch up of the lessons. I am a morning person, so prep for the day is done the morning of. I try to leave school shortly after it is done, the exceptions would be Wednesday. I usually stay several hours after planning, while the remaining planning on Thursday is brought home with some Chinese.
Literally, all the time. I'm constantly thinking up what my next unit will be, how I'm going to break it down, scaffolding assignments, and working out how to close them down. I spend Thursdays, the due date for those lesson plans, writing out what I decided.
I plan with my team on Thursday. Then start making a pile to take home for planning. I do some planning on Friday night, but most of it on Sunday afternoon. I have last year's lesson plans, so I just tweak them according to the needs of this year's students. If I know I'm going to be gone sometime that week,or need to do something in the classroom, I'll go in to school on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. I usually set up for the next day before I leave, since I tutor in the morning.
I have my weekly meeting with my literacy coordinator on Thursday, which gives me an idea of my lesson plans for the week..sometimes on Friday I try to do some plans, but I'm so tired I just make copies or something that doesn't require me to do a lot of thinking. I do come in on Saturdays from around 11 to 5 or 6 to write plans, copies, etc..I like to have everything copied and prepared (as much as things can be prepared in advance for the week)..Sunday is my day off for the most part..I may look over my plans briefly, but I need a day off since I am technically working a 6 day work week at school..so ideally I should be able to get out every day by 4-4:30,sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't...I do come in about 40 min before school starts, but I like to have everything ready so I can just use that time to get mentally prepared for the day..
I tend to plan after school. I have in my mind a map of where I'm going, so for the most part, it's just getting it all on paper. I'm hoping to start planning a few days ahead of time, and making adjustments as necessary. I find myself dealing with so many small details during my prep time that I simply can't plan during that time.
I too am always working on planning one week ahead. I begin on Weds., try to have everything planned by Thursday, and run off materials on Friday. I have everything laid out on Friday for Monday (in case of absence). On Sunday night I do my newsletter, and might record some grades. BTW, I've taught 25 years, so it does get more routine over time.
Most of my plans are saved electronically, since we have to use district purchased curriculum for math, science, and reading, have spent a few years tweaking those, my plans don't change that much year to year. I like to take a subject a day and fill in my plans for the next week. I have copy parents come on Thursdays, and I like to have most of my copies made then. I try to prep for the next day before I leave most days.
At this point in the year, I'm planning on the weekends. I'm going into my 3rd week of school and I changed grade levels. As the year goes on, I plan to do my plans on Thurs/Fri for the following week. It gets easier as I find my groove w/ the curriculum and students. That said, each morning, I re-evaluate the plan based on the previous day's progress and tweak as necessary.
Wow! Thanks for the quick replies everyone! I will be teaching many subjects, being an elementary teacher. I know planning takes a long time for a new teacher, but it's great to hear how others go about their planning. I never thought to start on Wednesday afternoons, but that's a great idea!
I am trying VERY hard to get the plans for the following week done the week before. I am working on having more "me" time on the weekends and not spending the entire Sunday grading/recording on the internet/lesson planning, etc.
Well, we have our team meetings on Wednesdays, so I'd like to start bringing a blank lesson plan sheet and fill it in as we discuss the next week's activities/lessons.
Try using some of the lesson plans that are already done and are found on the Internet. You can put your own spin on them without having to write it down. Just write in the standard and EQ if you need to and then "see attached". Tweak it as you teach if you are at that point. Just an idea.
I usually try to meet with a coteacher for the class we both teach on Thursday or Friday during our prep and then we jot down notes for each day (45 min to an hour together). Then I spend maybe another 45 min typing it out and adding in all the details. For my other class that nobody else teaches I usually write them over the weekend and it takes 1-2 hours. We teach on a block schedule so I just have 2 classes to prep for as I teach one of the classes twice.
I do my plans for the following week at night while watching TV. Monday-reading plans, Tuesday-math plans, and Wednesday-science plans. I always do the copies the next day. So Tuesday during school, I put in reading copies, Wednesday I put in math copies, and etc. Our math and science teacher's guides are online, so I don't have to bring them home.
Don't feel alone.. it takes me hours... and i mean hours to plan. I believe today I did the fast lesson plan ever. But that was of course after looking at assessments, looking at the standard course of study, thinking about the theme. Its my 1st year also and I'm trying not to go and ask the veteran teachers for their lesson plans all the time. So with that said I start planning on Friday and finish on monday.. but I don't work straight through. Then I'm in a Montessori Environment so I'm constantly giving lessons and trying to get new things on the shelves. I have 1 girl who keeps asking for challenging work and when i think i have found something challenging she has completed it so quickly!
