I am sometimes asked how detailed my daily teaching plans are, and how often I schedule in various subject areas like Math, the Arts, etc.
Although at this point in my career, I generally only make overview notes for each lesson in my dayplan, and therefore, only have one page per day, I try to make the outline user-friendly for myself and detailed enough for supply teachers in my classroom.
In general, I begin the first weeks of school with a fairly open- ended dayplan, just something to get me started, and I hand-write duties in, until the duty schedule firms up.
Although at this point in my career, I generally only make overview notes for each lesson in my dayplan, and therefore, only have one page per day, I try to make the outline user-friendly for myself and detailed enough for supply teachers in my classroom.
In general, I begin the first weeks of school with a fairly open- ended dayplan, just something to get me started, and I hand-write duties in, until the duty schedule firms up.
| Within a few weeks, I incorporate teaching blocks to accommodate individual & small group instruction for Daily 5/CAFE. I also include my duties so that they are clearly marked for each day, and I don't have to write them in by hand, even for a supply teacher... | ...Soon, I am once again re-creating my daily plans, this time with ESL/ISSP support, reading buddies and library exchange periods built in, so that I can take these special times into account as I am developing my weekly and monthly plans. |
Although my mornings are pretty structured in terms of my Literacy Block, especially now that I am using "Daily 5" and "Literacy Cafe", my afternoons are not "written in stone" (other than planning times, obviously), so that a period that says "SES" might include a community walk and mapping activity, or a visit to the computer lab to work on the student's blogs for writing, or an extra math period to finish a problem we were working on, or a full afternoon of painting, or even a read-aloud that we didn't have a chance to do earlier in the day. The subjects are there to remind me, to keep me on track, but I use the time as needed to fulfill the goals laid out in my curriculum map.
My day book as a teacher has gone through many incarnations since I first began teaching in the late 90s... I so love the templates I am able to create, and the fact that they are easily modifiable year to year or even month to month as schedules or philosophies evolve; I cannot imagine the struggles of my predecessors who had to do this work without the assistance of a computer!!!
My day book as a teacher has gone through many incarnations since I first began teaching in the late 90s... I so love the templates I am able to create, and the fact that they are easily modifiable year to year or even month to month as schedules or philosophies evolve; I cannot imagine the struggles of my predecessors who had to do this work without the assistance of a computer!!!
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