Wow, can you believe it's 2017!?!? Crazy. I'm linking up with Jennifer over at The Yellow Brick Road blog to share my small goals for the month of January. I hope you'll join me in thinking ahead and setting some small, manageable goals to get excited about the month (and year!) ahead. Head on over to the link-up (click on the picture below) to see what Jennifer and other bloggers are up to- you're sure to find some inspiration to get you going!
Here are my goals for the month ahead!
1. Clean up my house
I had big plans to do lots of cleaning and purging over winter break. I accomplished some of that but not most. Between Christmas, my daughters' birthday, and stomach viruses my house is in desperate need of a good clean. I'm not going to say my house will be magazine-worthy by the end of the month, but I'd like to make sure I spend a little time each weekend cleaning up this month so I can at least restore some order. The clutter is stressing me out.
2. Find some great repertoire for my choral groups
I won't lie, my winter concert with my choirs was pretty awesome. Now I'm struggling to find just the right songs to keep that momentum going in the spring. I usually focus on songs from non-Western cultures in the spring and I always include at least one "pop song" for my 5th and 6th graders, focusing on songs that allow them to work on parallel harmony and solo work. If anybody has some great suggestions, I'm all ears! My kids respond best to pop songs performed by artists of color, so I'd love some suggestions on something in that category that's also clean (without me having to do any cleaning myself).
3. Make significant progress on my 2017-2018 planners
I've got the ideas in my head of improvements I want to make for next school year's planners, and now I need to actually make them so they're ready to be released in the spring! This is a mammoth project every year (but one that I enjoy), so I need to keep plugging away to get them ready in time. Woohoo!! New planners make me giddy ;)
That's it for my January goals! What are you hoping to accomplish this month? Anybody have some suggestions for my choir music? Leave me a comment- I love hearing from you!
A new year means lots of people resolving to be more organized- this time of year makes me giddy! To get you started on the right foot this year, I've got my top 10 things for music teachers to include in their planner. How many of these do you have in your planner? All of these items are things that I have found very helpful to include in my planner and have, in most cases, been tracking in my planner for several years now with no plans to stop.
I also include all of my "life planning" in my same planner, and I highly recommend other music teachers do the same- it makes it a lot easier to plan your day, both at work and at home, more holistically. For example, if I know there's a lot going on at school, I can make sure to plan a super-easy crockpot meal for dinner (or maybe even takeout). If you want to see my list of top 10 life and home items to include in your planner, be sure to check out my post here!
But for today, let's get on with my top 10 teacher-y items to include in your planner ;)
1. Lesson plans
Obviously you're going to want to keep your lesson plans in your planner! I love having my lesson plans and all of my other "life" plans together in one planner, so I that I can look over my whole day when I'm looking ahead. I also like to write out my plans for each class separately rather than by grade level, because sometimes sections within a grade will get off from each other because of special events etc. I wrote an overview of tons of great lesson planner options for music teachers, plus strategies for using them most effectively, in this post. You can also see the 7 different planner options I have in my store here, or see them more in-depth in my video here.
2. School/district calendar
I know so many teachers who have a copy of their school or district calendar at school as a wall calendar, or maybe on their computer, but don't have a copy in their planner. I love having a copy right in my planner so that I can quickly check to see when we have early dismissal days and days off. Since all of the elementary schools are on a 5-day rotational schedule, I have those days listed on the calendar here too so I can always see which sections are going to be missing classes on certain days when I'm planning ahead for my lessons.
3. School events (field trips, assemblies etc)
As soon as I find out about an assembly, dress up day, or other special event at school, I try to write it down on that day in my planner. Often these events either a) affect my teaching and/or b) require me to bring/wear or plan something in advance, so it's important to have those noted in my planner!
4. Long-range curriculum plans
If you've been around me for any amount of time then you probably know that I am a HUGE fan of long-range curriculum planning! If you want to read more about my thoughts on why and how I create my long-range plans, this post has my more general thoughts and this post has my more specific process. But the longer I teach, the more I am convinced of how vitally important to effective teaching long-range plans are. Whether you take them straight from the district curriculum, teacher's edition of a textbook, or make your own, you will make your lesson planning so much easier and effective by including a copy in your planner.
5. Long-range concert/performance plans
Speaking of long-range plans.... Including a long-range plan for concerts in your planner can make life a lot easier and far less stressful! If you do a lot of performances, or one or more large-scale productions, I think having a separate concert planning section is important (here are mine for your reference). If you, like me, only have a handful of smaller, less complex performances, and you've been doing them long enough to have a handle on what is involved, I think you can be equally effective with a master to-do list. Make one giant list somewhere of everything that needs to get done, then write down each to-do item onto the week that you need to have it done by (or, even better, one week before it *actually* needs to be done) in your planner. That way you don't have to worry about constantly going back to look at your master list.
6. Parent contact log
I started tracking my contacts with parents a couple of years ago and I LOVE it. It doesn't have to be anything long or detailed, but having a record of who I contacted, how, and why has been really helpful on several occasions.
7. Sub contacts/lesson log/days off tracker
Here's another item that I know many teachers track in a separate spot, like their sub binder, but I love having in my planner. I keep track of contact information on any great substitute teachers I find, a tally of how many sick/personal/other days I've taken, and a list of which sub lessons each class has done. That way if I'm home sick and need to call in, I have all of the information in front of me.
8. Wish list
This may seem like a random, insignificant thing to include on a list like this, but I think it's important to keep a wish list for your classroom in your planner because so many times, I come across something that would be great to purchase for next year, or an idea strikes me of something I should buy, or something breaks at school that I only use occasionally, and I need to write down the things I need right then or I'll forget about it. In my district, we get a pretty small sum of money that I need to be very creative with to get the best "bang for my buck", and not a lot of time to put in my requests, so having this running list makes the process a lot faster for me come ordering season.
9. IEP/medical/individual behavior plans
Most of us music teachers teach hundreds of students a year. Keeping up with all of the IEP's, individualized behavior plans, and medical needs for each student can be next to impossible. One thing that has really helped me is to put the most basic, condensed information into my planner so I can quickly look up important information when I need it.
10. Class schedule
As music teachers our schedules can get pretty whacky sometimes! I keep a copy of my class schedules (my regular one, late start/early dismissal one, and sometimes standardized testing one) in my planner so I can always reference it when I'm planning out my week.
Bonus: NOT a gradebook
Anybody notice that a gradebook is actually not on this list (even though I include them in the planners I make for my store)? I've recently decided that it's counterproductive for me to try to track grades for all of those hundreds of students in my planner. I've been keeping track of most of my day-to-day grading on my seating chart since my first year of teaching anyway (read about that here), and the grading software we're required to use for report cards keeps track of the semester grades for me. Keeping track of all of those grades was just a waste of time, effort, ink, and space.
That's it for my list of things to include in your teacher planner! If you're interested in learning more about the planner pages I use (pictured in this post), you can see all of the planners in my shop here. What are your favorite things to keep in your planner? Which things on my list do you agree with? Any you disagree with? Leave a comment! Happy planning everyone! :)
A new year means lots of people resolving to be more organized- this time of year makes me giddy! To get you started on the right foot this year, I've got my top 10 items related to home and life outside of work that I think are most important to include in your planner. If you want to see the teacher-y items I include in my planner, be sure to check back tomorrow to read my top 10 music teacher items list :)
Whether you're just getting started with planning or are looking to up your planner game for the new year, I hope you find this list helpful for starting the year off more organized!
1. Birthdays/annual "special occasions" (and when to get stuff in the mail for them)
OK, it's nothing new to write down friends' and family members' birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions. But here's a tip: make sure, if you look at your list monthly (like I do) or have them listed on your monthly calendar, that you note when you want to get cards and gifts in the mail. This is especially important for dates that fall at the beginning of the month. There were so many times when I would look ahead to the new month coming up and find that there was a birthday I needed to shop for coming up in 2 days! I go through each year and make a note on the to-do list for the week I need to get things in the mail so that I don't miss any special occasions.
2. Holidays/school vacations
This is another pretty obvious one, but important nonetheless. If you have children, go ahead and write down all of the days that they have off school (and any early dismissal days) on your monthly calendars for the year. It makes it much easier when you're planning trips and babysitters if you have it all laid out ahead of time! And if you're a teacher AND a parent, the only way you'll figure out when you have different holidays (assuming you're in different schools) is to combine both calendars into one!
3. Appointments/due dates
Whether it's doctor's appointments, library books you need to return, taxes you need to file, or other appointments you may have, write them down! Relying on memory, no matter how routine the task or appointment may be, is usually not a good idea. Even it you do remember to do it, you may forget about it when you're making plans with a friend 2 weeks beforehand and double-book yourself!
4. Meal planning
I absolutely love meal planning and don't know how I could manage to get food on the table (or in the lunchboxes) every day without it. When I first went back to work after my daughters were born, I created a command center for my kitchen, including a meal planner for dinners. Later when the girls started going to school, I created a lunchbox meal planner, which also hangs on my kitchen wall (read about my meal planners in this post). If you have a system for organizing and planning out your meals outside of your planner, I still recommend noting what meals you have planned in your planner. I've found it helpful to be able to glance at my planner while I'm out of the house to see what I had planned. I note the dinners I have planned at the bottom of each day, under my lesson plans. If you don't have a command center in your home, you can do the entire thing in your planner! Just laminate a meal planning page and use a dry erase marker to write out your meal plan for the week. Then when you're done, you can erase it with a wet wipe and plan out the next week.
5. Contacts- personal, medical, insurance, utilities, repairmen, takeout, work info
I include a lot of contact information in my planner and it has saved me on many occasions! Let's start with personal contact information. I used to think I didn't need a "contacts" section in my paper planner because I had all of my friends' phone numbers and addresses in my phone. But when I locked myself out of my house with my phone still inside, I was really happy to have my planner in my purse with my mom's phone number! Because I keep all of the phone numbers in my phone, I don't have anyone's number memorized (like we used to in the "good ol' days"!).
Besides friends and family, though, I have found it very helpful to record phone numbers and addresses for my medical, insurance, and utility providers, as well as my work phone and address. So many times when I'm filling out paperwork I need to have that information, and looking it up on my phone, online, or in my files is a pain.
This one only applies to people who co-parent, but it's very important for those who do! I write down all of the holiday schedules that we have agreed on for the year in my planner so I can plan out our schedules, and I also record general agreements that we have about sick days, doctor visits, and more. It's almost impossible to remember all of that information, but it's so important to be able to stick to them. If you haven't seen it yet and are in a co-parenting relationship, I hope you'll go check out my co-parenting / divorce planner. It's a free download and it has helped me so much.
7. Business expenses/other tax info
If you have any kind of side income or expenses that you need to track for taxes, keep a log in your planner! Tax season is stressful enough with gathering documents and chasing down information. Limiting the numbers you have to search for is so helpful!
8. Bills due
One thing I highly recommend for getting organized with your budget is getting as many of your bills on automatic payment plans as possible. I still have a few that I have to pay manually though, and for those I always make a note in my planner of the exact day I am going to sit down and write the check to put in the mail. I used to just have it listed as a monthly task, but I found I just kept putting it off, and sometimes forgot to do it altogether! This way I have a specific time set aside for paying each bill in a timely fashion.
9. Cleaning lists
Ugh. I enjoy cooking, and I don't mind laundry or dishes, but cleaning... that is my nemesis. I will do anything to avoid cleaning. I'll admit that even with my cleaning tasks planned out in my planner, I still avoid doing them sometimes, but I'm definitely much better with it written down than I would be otherwise. I have a weekly cleaning checklist that I keep in my house, but for less frequent monthly or seasonal tasks, I have a list in my planner that I've laminated. I check things off with a wet erase marker as I do them, and once I've gotten through the list, I can erase and use it again!
10. Bucket lists (travel, project ideas, books to read, restaurants/attractions to try and more!)
Keeping a running list of ideas for future projects is a great way to keep going with hobbies you want to continue. My main "hobby" is this blog, but my time to work on blogging and other "me time" activities comes in brief spurts. Ideas come up for blog posts all the time but if I don't write them down, I forget about them and it's hard to get started when I do find the time to sit down and write! With the list in my planner I can quickly glance at it and I'm able to get going and use my time to create and have fun rather than hemming and hawing and waiting for inspiration to strike. If you like to travel, read, or try new restaurants, create a place to add new books to read, places to go, or restaurants to visit so that when you find the time you can remember that little Mexican place your friend told you about 3 weeks ago.
That's it for my list of things to include in your planner for your life and home. If you're a teacher, make sure to come back tomorrow for my list of top 10 items music teachers should include in their planners! And if you're interested in learning more about the planner pages I use (pictured in this post, you can see all of my planners in my shop here. What are your favorite things to keep in your planner? Which things on my list do you agree with? Any you disagree with? Leave a comment! Happy planning everyone! :)
Now that December is almost over (can you believe it?!?), I'm back to chat with you about some of the things I've been especially enjoying this month. It's always fun to take a minute to look back on all of my favorites each month and celebrate the little joys that I've enjoyed!
1. Advent activities
Christmas just gets better and better every year as my daughters get older. This year they are about to turn 5 and we had so much fun with the advent calendar I started using 3 years ago! If you want to read about how I made the advent calendar itself, click on the picture below. To see a list of the little activities I planned for each day of the month leading up to Christmas, read this post (it's all simple little things that you would normally do anyway- if you've never tried it with your family, save the idea somewhere for next year!).
2. New planner goodies
Michaels is really going all-out with planner stuff this year and it has been very hard to restrain myself from buying the whole aisle! This last time I picked up some new stamps (I use them to make my own icon stickers- here's my tutorial) and I love them! I've been looking for an airplane to show travel information and a doctor icon for appointments for a while now, and this set has both. I also got inspired and made myself a new tool for my planner out of an old promotional card- I'm hoping to do a video or blog post explaining how I use it soon, because I'm pretty proud of myself ;)
3. Easy readers
I got a few books for my girls, who are just learning how to read, for Christmas this year. It's hard to find books for the very earliest of readers that they can actually read on their own, but these have been a big hit! You should have seen the smiles when they finished reading the whole book by themselves!!
4. Blog posts
I find some more amazing blog posts this month! I share my favorite finds every Friday on my Facebook page if you want to catch them each week! Be sure to check out each post below by clicking on the pictures. They are all great reads.
I hope you enjoyed this month's post! What things did you enjoy most this month? I'd love to hear from you- leave a comment!
