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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Big announcement...

Whew- I am still blown away by the response to my lesson plan format.


In case you missed it, I wrote about my personalized lesson plan format here, and offered the Docx starter file for customizing your own lesson plans here. (If you'd like the .doc file, just shoot me an email. You can find it off to the right!)


To me, a custom lesson plan format makes life SO much easier. Those pre-formatted books may work well for people who have a special at the same time each day and are able to have the exact same schedule every day, but it doesn't work at all for me.

Here are a few tips if you're a new follower and making your own plans:

  1. Use little margins. 0.5 inches in all directions is a great starting place.
  2. Use a small font size.
  3. Try to choose a font that is still easy to read when it's small. (I use ABC Teacher.)
  4. Make sure that the font is set to be single-spaced (in the new Word, it defaults to 1.5 line spacing). 
  5. Make sections smaller when I don't need them to be big. Morning work is the same every morning for me, and I don't really need planning space, so that section gets to be skinnier. Lunch- well, I don't really need to plan for that, either, so it gets skinner.
  6. Add those things you do every week right onto the template. Spelling test? Introducing new vocabulary a certain way? Math centers? Add it in.
  7. At the beginning of the year, don't print out a year's worth. After a couple of weeks, stop to look back at your plans and adjust to make it work better for you!
  8. You can highlight whole columns or rows by clicking above the column or to the left of the row.
  9. Don't press enter to add space below your text. Just stretch the box size- that way if you need to make it smaller again, it's much simpler.
  10. Make a checklist for the things you need to make sure are done every week.

I will tell you- figuring out the format for perfect lesson planning pages is sometimes a hassle, but the end result is worth it.

If you aren't too tech-savvy, or just plain don't want to spend the time fussing over it, I'm going to take a leap here.

Hehe, a leap. {Because I'm luckeyfrog, and... never mind.}

I'm going to start Luckeyfrog's Lesson Plans. (cute logo to follow!)


I can make a custom 2-page lesson plan format specially for you for just $10.00. You can pick the font, the colors (or black and white), the style, and what's included! I'll even throw in sub plan templates for each day of the week at no extra charge!

And if you email me with your interest by this Friday, June 22, at 11:59- I'll do it for $8!

Questions, comments, or ready to sign up? Email me! :)

I know that at my school, we don't get our specials schedule until close to the start of school, so unless you know yours already, I'll just get the basics started now and reserve your spot until you know more details!


I won't take on too many at once, though, if you will be finding out your schedule in August... so don't wait! :) If you haven't spent too much time playing around with Word tables, I could be saving you hoooours of work this fall, and then making your planning easier all through the year!

In other news, I'm going to be spending the next few days with my husband (YAY!), who's been gone on an internship 1000 miles away for the past month, so I may not post much or respond to comments right away- but I'll try! :)

Have a GREAT weekend!

{P.S.- If anyone is wanting to get their TpT store or one of their products out there by donating it to a giveaway... please let me know!}

24 comments:

  1. LOVE! Thanks for sharing...I need to make new lesson plan templates for next year but I'm holding out until I know what our district is going to require for Common Core. These look great though!

    Kimberly
    The Learning Tree

    p.s. I'm always up for a good giveaway ;)

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  2. Wow, awesome lesson plans! I have something similar and I played with the margins FOREVER- you are very generous to help others out! Thanks for sharing!
    Tori
    Tori's Teacher Tips
    p.s... I'd be happy to donate to your giveaway! :)

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  3. I would love to donate a math probability unit to your giveaway or a All About Sentences unit if I can get it done on time.:) Thanks for the opportunity!

    Delighted in Second

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  4. I make my own lesson plan pages too - I don't like the formats in the ones from the store! And it's cheaper to make my own. I do like how you have a weekly checklist on the side - I'm going to add that to mine this year!

    I would also be more than happy to donate to a giveaway!

    Sara :)
    livs14@gmail.com
    Smiling in Second Grade

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  5. I've used the store-bought lesson planner for 18 years. I'm tired of handwriting those in every week, so I'll be creating my own this year. Thanks for the tips.
    ❀ Tammy
    Forever in First

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  6. First, I want to say I am a new follower and I love your blog! I also really like your lesson plan format (I downloaded the freebie!). I'm going to work on customizing it for my resource room.

    I would love to donate my Reading & Language Arts Summer Packet to a giveaway!

    Ashley
    www.missashleysresourceroom.blogspot.com

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  7. These are great!! Thank you for your tips on making lesson plans.
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

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  8. Jenny, this is a terrific idea!
    Staci

    ☞Go NuTTY with ME!

    misssquirrels@yahoo.com

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  9. I'd love to donate $5.00 credit to anything in my store Talbott's Teaching Trove to your giveaway. When will you be doing it? I'll be out of town until June 30th, but count me in. My store link is

    http://talbottsteachingtrove.weebly.com/

    My blog

    Yearn to Learn Blog

    Email taskcard123@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi! I would love to help you with your giveaway. I'm having one also so maybe we can help each other. Just email me at mrsmcla@gmail.com and I'll submit something!

    MrsMc
    Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

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  11. I love your lesson plan template! I started making my own last year, but they're not quite as good as yours! I would be happy to help you out with your giveaway if you're interested...I'm having a giveaway right now! Stop by and enter if you haven't yet!

    Jackie

    Third Grade's A Charm

    Enter My 100 Follower Giveaway!

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  12. I love your lesson plans! I have struggled with this for years! I am horrible with my lesson plans I think I switched them out about 4 times this years. Terrible I know. I definitely want to work on this. By the way, I would love to help you with your giveaway if you are still on the lookout for submissions.{{ watkinsway@yahoo.com.}}

    Candace
    005 Watkins' Way

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  13. This is great!!! I can never figure out how to make the template. You are so VERY generous for sharing. I have NO idea what my schedule is and never do until 3 days before school starts and THEN it may not stay the same as they work out the kinks UGG. Makes planning difficult but I am used to it. Thank you again for the template. Have a great summer <3
    Linda

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  14. Hi! I love the template and have it just about the way I want it. Many Many thanks! I was wondering where you got the ABC Teacher font?
    Thanks again so much!
    Christie Malone

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    Replies
    1. ABC Teacher is my favorite font- but my school corporation purchased it as part of a font pack. I think it's called Fonts for Teachers?

      Sorry I can't help more!
      Jenny

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    2. Thanks so much for your willingness to help others. I have struggled with lesson plan templates for years. This year will be a fresh start! WIll be contacting you, once I get my schedule.

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  15. I love your lesson plan format, thank you so much for sharing!! I'm trying to figure out how to adjust it so that I have room to type in more details...but that pushes it multiple pages. Do you have any suggestions for how to keep the look and feel of your plan, while adapting it for someone (like me) who needs more space?
    Thanks!!

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  16. Really Nice format. I'll use it as a reference. I am always messing with lesson plans. I teach intense intervention at the middle school and it's very busy in my room. Great blog.

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  17. Love the format! Thank you very much for sharing.

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  18. Thank you for this!! I am just starting my student teaching and have been struggling with how to keep things organized without loosing my sanity!! This will work perfectly!

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  19. Really fabulous resource, thank you so much!!

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  20. Karen for more detail I usually make a smaller font. The important stuff will be bigger and bold(book titles, page numbers, etc.)

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