Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Spiral Planner 2011-2012

I thought I would share with you my new planner for the 2011-2012 school year. I've shared many times about my planners and the transformation that's occurred with them. I even shared over at Heart of the Matter and my spiral planner has gotten some response over there. Now I suppose folks wonder if the plain spiral really has lasting power. It does! And I'm so pleased with it, I think I'll use them for my kids' assignment books in the future. More on that later. I did add a few things this year- things I wanted to be able to refer to as I planned more than anything else. I'll let the pictures explain.

My custom made cover- added to my statement about experiencing the extraordinary (usually in my signature on things I write at Heart of the Matter, etc). We like the everyday as well. Few paper & ribbon embellishments, printed on cardstock and laminated.

Inside cover has some clever thoughts from a few places including Simple Homeschool.

Here's our weekly routine. I adjusted it from last year's. This used to be taped into the front of my spiral.

From the Five in a Row Planner- just one page for my school calendar. We like to go from August to May.

These are from the 2009 Old Schoolhouse Planner when I was on the Crew. I will fill these in with unit studies for each month- a little long range planning option.

Composers List- again not really a form but a way to remember who to plan in since it's not a formal curriculum.

Same for artists- we have a slot in our day that rotates between art and music study, Latin, and nature study.

I made a list of the math concept targets for each of my three youngest kids- from the Math on the Level concept list. This way I can be sure and hit these over the year. Since I don't use a text with an order and scope and sequence, this puts everything in one place.


I typed up a list of math resources we own so I'd remember to use them as I plan out our MOTL lessons! Genius. We've been enjoying Family Math this week.

First day of school- see where I wrote the note about the Curiosity Shelf...in the margin?

Lesson pages- just a listing of who is doing what for each subject. I check what we finish and put an X by what we don't. I pick up the X tasks and add them to the next day. Yes...things get messy. I'm ok with that. Ultimately, what has a check was completed.

Sometimes I jot down ideas I see on the web- who needs Pinterest?

The other night when I finished binding it, I was so excited I thought sleep might not come! Dan didn't see the magic- "You made a spiral", he said. What is there not to get? This was a moment of office supply greatness! Is there an end to the possibilities when you can make a spiral and undo it if you mess up? I don't think so! I was even able to transfer over the pages I'd already started in a store bought spiral. It's all neat and tidy and there will be no blank boxes haunting me.I really cannot handle the unused boxes found in a typical planner and it does remind me that even when I taught public school I made my own planning pages. Interesting I'm just remembering that! How could I have forgotten, given that I am a planner and had immaculate lesson plans back in the day? I suppose I could take it a step further and make a simple form with the headings and breakdowns I use on them- just initials and subject names. Nah...that takes away from its simplicity.

Experience planning freedom! Go spiral!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

COOL!

Jen said...

Love it! Thanks for the details!

Tristan said...

FUn! I love using my Proclick to bind things. Two hints for it:
If you want the straight part of the spine out of sight next time put the back cover on top of the front cover. Click it all shut and then turn the back cover to the back, hiding the striaght portion of the spine inside.

Second hint: I don't use the click spines anymore. I buy 3:1 spiral coil from MyBinding.com - it is so much cheaper, comes in tons of colors, and also has tons of sizes. Any way to save money is a good thing at my house!

Fairly local said...

That is awesome! Make me one please.

Heather said...

Thanks for the tips Tristan!!

Belinda said...

I made my own planner this year. Like you, I cannot stand having empty boxes. When I taught school, I made my own planners as well. I like the simplicity of your planner. It gave me some ideas for mine. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Oo, where'd you find the fun math jar idea!

Heather said...

Math jar idea coming right up...

http://tinyurl.com/3hdhlx4

Kendra at Pumpkin Patch just had the idea and shared it. Enjoy!

Melody said...

Love it!! I'm still using my spiral notebook as a planner, but now I simply must have a proclick so I can add a calendar and some of these other resources you suggest. By the way, where did you get the composer list and the artist list? Did you just type these up yourself? I'm organizationally challenged! I need all the help I can get!

Anonymous said...

Oo, Thanks! -- Suz

Heather said...

Melody that composer and artist list is from the 2009 TOS planner as well- the one I got free from being on the Crew. I had them so I'm using them. That's all. I bet there would be a way to get a list like that though...

Nancy Ann said...

Love your planner!
Do you make a yearly plan or a semester plan? Basically an idea of what your goals or plans for the year?

Heather said...

Nancy Ann, I can share how I went about making the goals. I do make them a yearly thing in principle because NY state requires me to make a year long plan for each of my school aged children.

Heather

Barb said...

I love the notes pages inserted in the planner....never have done that but now I will.

Loved your note about Pinterest. :)

Anonymous said...

Heather, great planner! I am 'planning challenged', how do you get from your yearly goals to your daily plans? how far in advance do you plan your days?

Thanks!
Jenn