I Sucked at Grading

You know what I sucked at as a teacher? Grading! Every year I told myself I would stay on top of it, or I would only collect what truly needs graded. PFT! I would still find anything else to do but grade. To make it worse, admin started to mandate we needed one new grade a week! I was always doomed. 

No matter how "techie" I was, I did not like grading and inputting data at the same time. It was too much for me. I needed to focus on one thing first, and then the second step. It made the work longer, but I had a lot less errors. 

Even if I couldn't get around to grading right away, which we knew I wouldn't, I liked to organize by name or student number. From there I would use my homework tracker to show if they had turned it in. This enabled me to track if they turned it in on time, complete, if it was missing, or late. I only needed to do this for physical assignments. So....whenever I eventually made it around to grading I could remember if they actually turned it in on time.

I've always valued hand-written notes too. We can use the schools communication system, like ParentSquare, to send family messages, but I also like to send a physical note home. I know as a busy mom I always check their folders, but somedays I'm too busy to check all communication formats. A simple hand-written note can be super helpful. 

Someday, I will improve my grading track record. At this time, it's not there. I will continue to use tools to help me stay organized for when I do get around to grading. If you are like me and need a better system, use the link below to grab your own set!

Digital Teacher Planner

If you are unorganized, it can make your job as a teacher hard. You remember you put your lesson plans somewhere or notes you took during small group. That is where a good teacher planner comes into play. Some teachers will prefer to create a binder that they can grab and write in whenever they need to. Others will use it digitally, and won't mind carrying around their laptop. 

When I first started teaching, I was the type to use a physical binder. Technology was different 12 years ago. I created my own lesson plan template to use. Now that I reflect on it, it was basic for that time. Now that there is more research it is lacking. Look below to see my first lesson plan. 

If I were to go back into the classroom today, I would need a more robust planner. It would need to be multiple pages, and include small group planning options. Even in middle school math I had small group plans. Math and Reading would still be large focus for an elementary classroom as those are the core topics. It would be important to include an area for objectives as many administrators are looking for those anymore. 

When I think about a one-stop shop teacher planner, I want it to include important items I would use beyond lesson plans. I would need an intervention tracker to help quickly log activities, that way later I can communicate them as needed or have a history of them. I know we can get information from our student information systems on our students, but sometimes it is easier to have it accessible in our content. It would be important to have a student information section that I can record important information on them, and record my communication to home. This area would be great for building individual student progress trackers. By having these available, you can easily share them when a family member asks for them or someone in the building asks for current data. 

There are other items some teachers might find important like a class birthday calendar, class transportation log, class procedure page, or sub page. I personally love a month view of a calendar. I like to use this to put school, district, and personal events all in one spot for a quick view. I've learned that teachers don't necessarily use their email calendar like administrators do. Even as an administrator, I still liked a good digital calendar. 

If you are interested in purchasing this teacher planner, head over to my TPT store to grab your copy today!