I never thought of long-term planning as something set in stone. In fact, I would never think about writing long-term plans in permanent ink!

I'll never forget the time I got marked down on my teacher evaluation because I didn't "show evidence of long-term planning." It was pretty frustrating since, had she asked, I'd have directed her to the flap inside my plan book with all my charts!

Yes, I'm a planner, but I do know better than to expect everything in the classroom to go exactly as planned!

Here are 8 things to think about while you're long-term planning"

1. Break the year into manageable chunks.

8 Things to think about while long-term planning: Long term plans need to be flexible, but here are 8 things you can do to get ahead!

I typically do short-term planning by the week, but my longer plans are split into months. I know a lot of teachers like to use online planners, but I like to use old-fashioned paper. I start with a big grid labeled with each month.

2. Start with the big picture.

It's a good idea to start by plotting the big chunks of curriculum into smaller chunks. For example, I'll take a look at the writing curriculum, and break it into smaller parts such as writing narratives, creating a hook, word choice, fiction writing, informational writing, opinion writing, using dialogue, writing poetry, developing voice, and sentence fluency. Here's a rough draft of my writing long-term plans.

Even though you've plotted out the parts, we all know things will change. But if you teach the same grade next year, a lot of the work will be already done!

3. Establish routines.

We all know that the first few weeks of the year are dedicated to establishing routines that will be in place for the rest of the school year. If these routines are well taught, they will make your life easier in the long run. One example is starting each math lesson with 5 minutes of fact fluency practice.

These are the systems I use. They are easy to differentate and keep organized, and the students love them. (Much like a video game, it's a great accomplishment to "move up a level!") The students can practice alone, with a partner, with a small group, or even on ipads or laptops. Once the routine is set, that frees up the teacher to prepare the classroom for the rest of the daily math lessons, or to "listen in" to assess.

I also start my reading groups with a warm up. These phrase cards are perfect for this purpose. (See more about reading warm ups HERE.)

Here are some other resources that can help you establish valuable routines:

4. Consider seasonal themes.

Certain things are very appropriate for teaching at certain times of the year. For example, when I created the list of writing chunks above, I immediately put poetry into the April category, as April is poetry month. Clearly, teaching writing procedures comes at the beginning of the school year. (late August here) January is a great time to teach writing thank you notes, as they have a lot to write from the holidays! (Writing Thank You Notes) I teach writing friendly letters near the beginning of the year, because once they've learned the "routine," it goes straight into the Sub Tub! (See HERE for this routine!) I try to get most of the "nitty gritty" writing, (editing, proofreading, punctuation, and parts of speech) near the beginning, then go back to these as I see they need review.

When teaching about life cycles, I'll probably teach certain life cycles around December, like pine trees and reindeer. (See Winter LIfe Cycle Bundle) Some life cycles are more appropriate for springtime, like robins, butterflies, or dandelions. (See Spring Life Cycle Bundle)

5 Collaborate with colleagues.

We all have our strengths as well as weaknesses. We all have different experiences and different ideas. We all have our own styles. And thank goodness for this! As we chat with our colleagues and teammates, we can use these differences to benefit our students. Which teacher on your team is best at organization? Which teacher on your team is best at modeling writing behaviors? Which teacher on your team is best at finding the right books that model the skills you're working on? Most of the teaching for your own students goes with you, but it doesn't hurt to branch out, does it?

6. Integrate subjects when you can.

We all know there is never enough time in the classroom to do all that is needed to be done, as teachers all wear plenty of hats! When you are able, do "double duty!" What does that mean? Well, you can teach reading and writing skills while teaching social studies as well! You can teach science while integrating important math skills such as graphing and measuring! The resources below are perfect for combining subjects to save class time.

7. Don't forget sub plans!

It's a good idea to put aside plenty of activities that are valuable tasks that can be done any time of year, need minimal directions, and aren't dependent on previous lessons. This is a great time for review!

As mentioned above, I have my friendly letters all set to go in my sub tub. It's an activity that can be done over and over again, and their writing skills will grow each time. (Plus, they love it!)

These "no-prep" activities are perfect for such occasions! I keep several pages of my Camping No-Prep in the sub tub, as these can be done any time of year. But if you know you're going to be out, try one of these seasonal sets. (They do love when you integrate something seasonal with learning, don't they?) Seasonal No Prep Activities, Worksheets, and Printables for the Whole Year.

8. Be flexible.

Honestly, when it all comes down to it, the students should take the lead when it comes to planning. Yes, we have a curriculum to follow. But if you're about to teach multiplication and you realize there are several who can't remember how to add, you might need to change your plans. If you're teaching the long o patterns, and you see your students don't remember the short o sound, change your plans. It's really all about the kids!

Here's a hint: when you see something you think will help you plan for a whole year, put it in your wishlist! Then, when a sale comes up, you can easily move it to your cart at the discounted price!

Happy teaching! May this one be the one filled with joy, excitement, wonder, and endless possibilities!

I hope you have been enjoying my series on the Myers-Briggs Personality Types as much as I have!

If you haven't seen the other posts yet, you can read Part I: the Introduction HERE. You can read Part 2: How do you find your energy HERE.

Myers-Briggs Part 3: How do you process information? This, the 3rd in a series, discusses the two ways in which people take in information. Some take in details, others are "whole picture" people.

A couple of very important points to remember about Myers-Briggs:

Each preference is a scale. People tend to lean toward one side or the other, the place where they are naturally more comfortable. We do, however, have parts of both sides within us.
Both sides of each scale are essential in our society. No one preference is better than the other. Both sides keep each other in balance. Since I learned to recognize the qualities of each side of each scale, I have learned to cherish the differences in people, and appreciate those who don't have the same preferences as myself.

Today I wanted to share one of the aspects of Myers-Briggs that's very important to teachers: How do we take in information?

There are two ends to this scale.

Sensing Types (S) take information through their senses.

They are about the "here and now" and are concerned with facts.

They are very aware of things in their immediate environment.

They organize, categorize, and focus on reality.

These people are practical and all about the details.

Sensing types prefer to learn in a sequenced, step by step progression.

Interestingly, Sensing types make up about 75% of the population.

Intuitive Types (N) are about the future and possibilities.

They are imaginative, inventive, and idealistic.

They see the big picture before the facts and details.

Intuitive types often jump from topic to topic.

About 25% of our learners are Intuitives.

The Intuitive Types are the forest, and the Sensing Types are the trees. Sensing types would see the trees, but not the forest, Intuitive Types see the forest, but not the trees.

I still remember an experiment we did in my master's program where we studied the different types. All the Sensing types sat on one side of the room, while the Intuitives sat on the other side. We were shown a poster and directed to write down what we see while we looked at the poster.

The poster had something to do with music.

After some time, we shared what we had. We Sensing types proudly shared all the details about the poster we had scribbled. We did most of the sharing for a while. Then one of the Intuitives spoke up about something we never noticed: the poster was in the shape of a grand piano. All the sensing types stopped and looked at each other: none of us had noticed that! We all had to see the poster again, and sure enough, it was in the shape of a grand piano. We were so focused on the details, we missed the big picture! (Literally!)

Have you been thinking about your own type? How about your students?

Here are a few more books if you'd like to learn more! The first one (People Types and Tiger Stripes) is one of the first books I've read on the Myers-Briggs personality types, and it's still one of my favorites. This is the revised version.