Back to School Series: Teacher Planner

We are now on our final post for the Back to School Series!

Today's post is on something that is VERY important and pretty much a necessity for all teachers!!

What do you use for your teacher planner?

There are so many options out there that sometimes it's really hard to decide!

When I first started teaching, I used Lakeshore Learning's teacher's plan book. 

The book is always free during their Back to School sale with a purchase of $20 or more. And let me tell you, it is VERY easy to spend $20 at that store!

I used this planner for two years. 

During my third year of teaching, something horrible happened....Lakeshore changed the weekly layout of their planner!!! Instead of the days of the week going in rows, they made them into columns! I know...end of the world for people like me who just HAVE to have the days of the week in rows. 

So...I had to go searching for a different planner to use. 

My school back then used to order planners for their teachers. They had stopped doing that when I joined them, but there were still some extra ones in storage. I was asked if I wanted one and after looking through it, I immediately said yes. 

This was my new planner.

[affiliate: click on image to purchase on Amazon]

It had everything I wanted except for one thing...it was HUGE!

If you look at the dimensions on Amazon it says 12.8 by 10.8 inches. 

GIANT I tell you.

So of course it was always sticking out of my teacher bag and somewhat of a hassle to carry around.

So the next year (last school year), I started my search again. 

I think Lakeshore had figured out that teachers like me wanted the old layout back so they had switched their weekly layout back to days of the week being in rows again. 

However, I had seen lots of posts about Erin Condren's teacher planners floating around online. 

Definitely peaked my interest so I nicely convinced the boyfriend to order one for me as our anniversary gift. (silly teacher!)

Well...let me tell you...once you start Erin Condren-ing, you sort of can't go back.

It had everything I wanted in a planner and more. 

One of the best part was...it was so colorful!

(Ask any of my students, they will tell you that Ms. Wu loves colors!)

So when it came to deciding on a planner for this coming school year...

I ended up purchasing another Erin Condren planner. 

Mind you, I did want to try some of the other planners that I've seen floating around on the interwebs like the ones from Modern Teacher or Plum Paper Design but both those planners had their days of the week in columns and not rows. You know me, I just can't have that so I went with Erin Condren again.

And I'm super excited to share that it arrived yesterday!!!

I'm super excited to start filling it out!

What teacher planner do you get?

Thank you, also, for making it through this week and following me along as I blab about back to school!

Just a quick shameless plug...I now have facebook fan page and it needs some fans!

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Back to School Series: Back to School Shopping

Can't believe you're back for day 4 of the Back to School Series! 

Today we are talking about...back to school shopping!!!

Can I share a secret?

I actually love back to school shopping!

My bank account doesn't of course. 

But it's just a once a year event (yea, right!) so it can handle it. ;)

I just wanted to share some of the things I usually buy every year during back to school shopping. 

I will include prices in red if I happen to know them off the top of my head.

[Disclaimer: all links to Amazon are affliate links.]

Composition Books

Last year, I decided to try using interactive notebooks for Math. 

Boy, were they a hit! The kids absolutely loved having a math notebook so I'm definitely going to do it again this year. Some people use spiral notebooks for interactive notebooks, but I liked using composition books. Composition books are just sturdier and you don't have to worry about a metal spiral coming undone.

I bought my composition books from Staples for 50 cents each. (limit 30)

You can also get them from Target or Walmart for the same price.

Poly Folders

I buy these every year for my homework/communication folder, which I talked about in yesterday's post. Poly folders last way longer than paper folders.

I usually get mine at Office Depot. They are currently on sale for 60 cents each (in store only, not sure about limit). 

I've seen them at Target for 50 cents each but the Office Depot ones seem a little sturdier so I'm okay with paying the extra 10 cents for each.

**I usually also go buy a box of sheet protectors from Costco to put in the folders. Don't have to buy them this year since my new school has already ordered them for me.**

Writing Supplies

(click on image to purchase on Amazon)

For anchor charts....

For the planner...

For writing on papers projected by the document camera...

These are some of the things I always find myself buying every year. 

One last thing...

Plastic Folder w/ Clasp

This is not an every year buy. Just a one time buy that can last for many years.

I use these as my "first week" folders. 

Since my homework folders are personalized during the first week of school, they aren't ready to start going home yet. 

However, the first week of school is one of the busiest in terms of things getting sent home and coming back to school so I use these "homework" folders from Really Good Stuff as a substitute. Each folder is labeled "first week" and with a number (written on with Sharpie). 

My students are all assigned a student number on the first day of school so they get whichever folder corresponds with that number. After the first week is over and homework folders are ready to go to their owners, the first week folders are returned to me. Having the numbers on the folders definitely help because if you find yourself missing any you know exactly who to go ask. I've used the same set of folders for the past three years and they are still going strong!

What are some things you find yourself buying every year during Back to School shopping?

Affiliate Post: 10 Earth Day Freebies on Educents!

Earth Day is April 22nd, how will you celebrate this year? Some activities I have written in my plans are to read about the earth and recycling, create an Earth day craft that will talk about ways to help save the Earth, and even write an opinion piece about whether to recycle or not! If you need some ideas for Earth Day activities, Educents has 10 different Earth Day freebies for you to try in your classroom! Check them out below!

10 Earth Day Freebies for Kids

1. Earth Day Sort - Help kids learn the difference between reducing, reusing, and recycling!
2. Happy Earth Day Writing Activity - Kids of all ages can reflect on ways their family, school, and themselves can help keep the Earth healthy. Also encourages handwriting practice!
3. Earth Day Coloring Pages - Creative kiddos can color the Earth with their colors of choice, or follow the color-by-code page to add critical thinking to art hour.
4. Earth Day Poof! Subtraction to 5 - This Earth Day themed game builds fluency with subtraction facts to 5. It can be played in a small group or as a partner game. It is a fun way to practice those facts!
5. Earth Day Word Search Freebie - Enjoy this Earth Day themed word search puzzle with 21 eco-friendly terms like atmosphere, compost, and recycle.
6. Earth Day Bookmarks - The perfect Earth Day treat for your students. Available in full-color and black-and-white.
7. Earth Day Survey and Graph - A fun and different way to practice graphing in your classroom while encouraging collaboration between students.
8. Spring Coloring Book - Let your little ones COLOR & SPELL Spring words.
9. Love the Earth Mystery Picture Graph - Students will love discovering the mystery picture by coloring in the correct squares on the alphanumeric grid using the coordinates given. This is a great addition to an Earth Day or recycling unit!
10. April 2015 Journal - A month of free journaling for learners age 8 to 100! Read about important historic, artistic, and current events that happened during the month of April - including J. Robert Oppenheimer's birthday and Earth Day on April 22nd. Then develop vocabulary and critical thinking skills.

Want to turn your Earth Day celebration into an educational experience? Discover new ways to learn about the amazing planet we live on (without breaking the bank!) -->  Earth Day learning resources.