One of the best lessons I ever taught myself as a young teacher was to be able to plan units.
The first stage of my process was reading. When I tell y’all that I read a LOT? I surely do.
One of the best bits of advice that I can give you is to do just that!
I wondered how kids learned BEST and what the best way was for me to put my thinking around that down on paper so that I would remember that on the day I was teaching. As a young teacher, you have so many things going on in the day and your greatest desire is to get your content to the kids, but there were so many distractions! Y’all know!
My first few years of plans were 8 pages long. *sigh*
So, how did I get better?
As my confidence improved, and my learning around what I needed to focus on ALSO improved, my plans became more intentional and more helpful. During this time, I shared my thinking with others and there were times I was disappointed that although I’d improved the plans for ME, they were still a lot to take in for others. I had to find a way to simplify so that my ideas were more easily replicatable.
Back to reading and thinking. Back to trying out new things and connecting with likeminded learners.
I went from heavily planning each day, to preparing units of study and improving and finally perfecting a process that works for me and helps others!
I would love to share that with you if you’re looking for a way to think through a unit!
My P.L.A.N. process is my ‘go to’ for how I think through a unit, whether on my own or with my colleagues!
This is the easiest way that I’ve found to think about what is MOST important for units of study.
STEP 1: PARTITIONING THE STANDARD
Partitioning the standard means that I am breaking it down into chunks the kids can understand.
STEP 2: LIST SKILLS & STRATEGIES
Once I’ve done that, I list the skills and strategies that I need to teach so that the students gain mastery.
STEP 3: ASSESSMENTS & QUIZZES
My third step is to look at the end of unit assessment and quizzes for alignment and edit them accordingly.
STEP 4: NOTES, ACTIVITIES & RESOURCES
My last step is to post-it note plan my activities and resources to lay out my unit.
When I do this step with others, its very easy to move things around and allow others to add value!
Once the post-its are done? I just go type it up!
Want to learn more about how I do this?
Come on over to my free PLANNING 101 Webinar! I’ll be working through the PLAN process with you and sharing what it looks like for me and my team! Once you sign up, I’ll send you my PLAN quick guide one pager that we’ll be discussing in the webinar. I can’t wait to see ya!
We’ll answer all these questions and MORE in my webinar!
Come through, friends!
