The Simple Planning System That Saves My Sanity Before Students Even Walk In

If you are new to teaching, congratulations! You might be itching to get into your new classroom to set up your class. BUT! Before you do that, here is something that you should do first. Plan your Year Overview. Ideally, I like my year plan drafted before school even lets out in June, while the school year is still fresh in my mind. I know that’s a luxury — new teachers rarely get that head start, and that’s okay. This simple planning system works whenever you start it, whether that’s June, August, or the first weekend of September.

In my latest YouTube video, I walk through the exact system I use(see below). So, here is the short version:

Simple Planning Starts With A Year Plan or Curriculum Map. This is your big picture — not a rigid script, just a direction. It should show progression through your curriculum, possible field trips throughout the year, and monthly themes (especially if you teach primary — think fall, winter celebrations, spring growth). Don’t be afraid to experiment here. A year plan is meant to flex as the year actually unfolds.

Then decide: weekly or term planning? Once your year map exists, you get to choose how you’ll break it down day to day. Some months call for a term plan; busier stretches call for a tighter weekly page. This is where your curriculum map meets real life — report card windows, school events, and those “everyone’s a little wild” weeks (looking at you, week before winter break).

Over the years, my yearly, weekly, and term plans have changed style more times than I can count. Sometimes it was an admin request. Sometimes it was simply because a format “just wasn’t working for me” anymore. So here’s my honest advice: don’t invest a lot of money into a pretty planner before you know how your brain actually works. My thinking has never fit neatly into someone else’s lovely boxes. Start simple — a table you make yourself in Canva, PowerPoint, or Google Slides. Build it around how you plan, not the other way around.

But if you’d rather skip the trial and error and want a “one-and-done” sheet that’s already built for you, that’s exactly why I created the planning pages inside my New Teacher Toolkit. There are several different planning pages, ready to print and use — no need to build them from scratch like I did all those years ago.

If you want to see the system in action, a full video walk-through will be coming onto the Youtube channel. And if you’re ready to stop reinventing your planning wheel every year, the Toolkit is ready when you are.

If you need more help with regards to lesson planning, I have more posts available. This posts shares the difference between Unit Plans vs Lesson Plans (Youtube video attached. If you don’t see what you are looking for, feel free to reach out, itsallprimary@gmail.com

Happy Teaching!

Lori-Anne