It’s August, so I’m headlong in planning mode. And though there are many things competing for my time these days, working on my planning is one the tasks that I actually look forward to every day.
It’s also the one thing that teachers ask me for the most help with. I feel lucky that planning is something that I enjoy so much, and it definitely makes a difference in my classroom. I start the year feeling prepared. I head into every new block with a solid plan. And I start each day knowing exactly where my lesson is going.
Now, all this planning isn’t to say that I’m not flexible. I definitely recognize the value of deviating from the plan when necessary, and I do that often. But having a plan gives me the confidence to feel free enough to deviate. It’s the plan that allows for the creativity. It’s that old from form comes freedom notion.
So, how can you love planning? There are two main things that make the planning love happen for me.
Supplies
The first is supplies. I confess that I’m a sucker for stationery and beautiful office supplies. I’ve used a variety of different planning systems through the years and I’ve found success with all of them. I find that switching things up every now and then makes me love my planning even more.
Some of my most popular blog posts and podcasts have been about the planning systems I’ve used. I’ll link to them in the show notes.
Here are some of the supplies that make my planning experience enjoyable. (I’ll link to some of these in the show notes and some of them are affiliate links.)
Want a Plum Paper planner for 10% off? Email me at meredith@awaldorfjourney.com and I’ll send you the coupon.
Having a Plan
I’m going to go over this just briefly because I teach a whole course on developing a planning system, but the point here is to plan your planning. Know what aspect of your planning you need to work on and when you need to do it. Here’s how my planning system breaks down.
Yearly Planning
Monthly Planning
Weekly Planning
Daily Planning
I hope taking a deep dive on planning has been helpful for you and that you’ll find yourself inspired to enjoy your planning a little more.
Waldorf Enough, Waldorf at Work
Growth Mindset for Grownups
Why I Quit Teaching
The Importance of Wonder
Heading Into Waldorf Middle School
Growth Mindset Series, February
Growth Mindset Series, January
January 2021 Update
5 Things That Made Me Happy in 2020
My Waldorf Distance Learning Set-Up
Waldorf and Festivals
Thinking, Feeling and Willing in Child Development
Rhythms and Routines for Planning
Waldorf Parenting
Waldorf via Zoom, Lessons Learned
Communication, Feedback and Record-Keeping for Teachers
Lessons in a Pandemic
An Update and Productivity Tools for Teachers
AWJ 51 | Current Thoughts About Literacy and Language Arts
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