Wanna see my lesson plan book?

Hello friends! I'm back.... from a mini-vacay that is. So, normally I hate going out of town this close to school starting. It makes me super uncomfortable... I mean errrr excited... as I start to write out my to-do list. Unfortunately Luckily, we had purchased concert tickets months ago for a show near San Francisco, so that meant I HAD to take a trip outta town! Darn! I mean, if you're going drive 3 hours away, you might as well stay and do some fun stuff. Right?! Also, the weather in SF is about 30 degrees cooler than home (102 degrees is no fun).

Sausalito & Muir Woods Monument

If you ever visit SF, San Francisco Sightseeing Tours is a great company to tour with. We hopped on a bus to Muir Woods and Sausalito, then went on a 1 hour bay cruise. My husband and I love to visit SF and manage to find something different to do EVERY single time. We were running out of ideas and decided to venture out a bit. We are really REALLY good at getting lost, so it was nice to have someone else drive for a change. Sausalito is a cute Mediterranean-like community across the bay from SF.

My bff lives in SF! She took us to the Marriott Lounge, which has a ridiculous view.
Ikea anyone? I think yes.
The Postal Service concert in Berkeley. Awesome!

Moving on to my school related post... I'm excited to link up with The Teacher's Chair and share my lesson plan book with you! This has been quite a process for me. I recall buying a pre-made lesson plan book with the intention of filling those little boxes with my plans. However, I thought it would be difficult and the boxes weren't the right size, so I created and printed my own. I created an Excel file with 3 columns and labeled the subject areas. I typically filled out the details in pen or pencil. Each day took up an entire page. Later, I began typing lesson details into the cells and printing them off Sunday night. 

I do not mind changing my plan book at all. So, I was super excited last year when I found that Luckeyfrog's Lilypad had created a lesson planning template that could be customized FOR FREE. I love creating and customizing my schtuff! I especially loved this because the layout allowed me to view the entire week's plan. In the last column I chose to write in my center plans, focus students, and groups. My focus students were those that I chose for tutoring to ensure that they were making progress in reading comprehension. I met with these students weekly to work on a particular skill. My reading groups were constantly changing based on student growth, so I had to keep a list of each group. I'm SUPER forgetful and must write everything down (including assemblies, meetings, etc.). I wrote these notes down and sometimes highlighted them after printing. After completing my lesson plans for the week, I printed, hole-punched, and placed them in my binder. Of course, there are changes that happen. If it's a big change I would reprint, if not I'd write in the change on the printed copy. I plan to keep this plan book for next year as well. Of course there will be modifications and some schedule changes. But for the most part I'll be keeping this format.
*I typically keep the digital copy open on my computer and the binder on my desk (as requested by my admin).

I have to have some pretty stuff to look at, so I started adding clip art &color at the end of the year.

I also keep a birthday page in this binder, my pacing calendar, and district calendar. I created my own Lesson Plan Binder Cover as well. Click HERE to download them for free.

Now, last week I shared about my new CCSS checklist and gradebook. Well, I FINALLY finished my Gradebook. Yippee!! I created it in a portrait format. This will make report card time so much easier because I'll have a specific document to refer back to and record student progress. It'll be up for $1.00 until tomorrow!

Go to TpT for the NEW Portrait Gradebook 

Go to TpT for the Landscape Gradebook

Happy Monday!