5 Things You Didn't Know About #PlanMyWholeLife Music Teacher Planners

Most Organized Chaos readers will know about the #PlanMyWholeLife planners I use and design for music teachers- if there is one tool I use more than any other to keep my act together it has to be my planner! If you don't know much about them, you can watch this video to get a quick introduction- there are printables with lesson planning formats and organizers for pretty much every music teacher situation you can think of! But whether you're a long-time user or just getting started, here are some things you may not know that just might make you love your planner even more!

1. Flexible undated calendar options

One of the best-kept secrets of the #PlanMyWholeLife planners is the weekly and monthly calendar section in the business planner! There are quite a few different undated calendar templates that are great for when you need something different- I've used a few different weekly calendars for planning over summer break, since obviously there is no lesson planning to do, and I've used the monthly template a couple of times for long-range planning for specific things like concert and holiday prep. 

 

2. Go digital!

Want to try out digital planning? The great thing about using a printable file like these is you can use it digitally as well! There are several teachers who have used their #PlanMyWholeLife planners exclusively as a digital planner and have loved it! Here's how one teacher set hers up using the rotational planner:

All it takes is saving the file with the pages you want in Keynote, loading it into Goodnotes, and it's ready to use on an iPad with an Apple pencil. Here is a tutorial from KDigitalStudio that shows you how to set up tabs to different sections to make it easier to navigate.

3. Organize everything

Of course there are lesson planning, gradebook, and calendar pages, but I like to organize everything in one place so I can keep track of everything. When you set up your planner, you can choose which pages you want to include in yours: meal planning, private studio organization, concert planning, budget, classroom inventory, address book, PD hours, and so much more. 

Those are all included in every #PlanMyWholeLife planner, but there are also add-on's you can get for holiday planning, summer planning, more monthly and yearly calendar templates, and even teacher quotes. These pages get updated often based on feedback from planner users, which is one more reason to join the...

4. Facebook group

Many planner users don't know that there is a Facebook group just for #PlanMyWholeLife planners! It's a great place to see how other teachers set up and use their planners (like the digital planner above), ask questions (especially when you're setting it up for the first time), share fun planner supplies and decorated pages you create, and get updates on the latest planner news. This is the group I go to when I start creating the new school year's planners each spring to get feedback on any updates they want to see, and I have gotten so many great ideas for new pages to add, cover designs, and more. Click here to join the group. 

5. Free updates every year

Most teacher planner printables you'll find, for music and non-music teachers alike, are undated- you go through and add in your own dates each year so you can use it any time. The #PlanMyWholeLife planners already have the dates added in so you don't have to do all that typing, copying and pasting, and updating your calendars! But you can still use it any time without buying anything new- just go back to your purchased planner when you're ready for the new year and re-download for free to get the new dates! I often get messages from teachers who are so surprised to find out after their first year that they don't need to buy a new planner. It's true!

Which of these surprised you the most? If you knew them all: you must be a true #PlanMyWholeLife fan! :) Have questions about planners? Leave a comment or send me an email, you will make my day! Want to find more of my planner tips, whether it's printing and binding, decorating, personalizing, or lesson planning? You can see all of my planner-related posts here. Want to check them out for yourself? See all the planners available here.