Changing the Way I Plan

I genuinely enjoy planning. It is a chance to decide how you'll get from A to Z, and what you'll see along the way. For me, planning has been about yellow legal pads where I can just write down whatever comes to my mind. The biggest problem with that is I often don't refer back to it, letting it sit and fade into the page.

Instead I am using OneNote to do my planning. I wasn't completely sold on the program at first, not really seeing how an electronic binder would help my instruction. But after a conversation with a colleague at my writing training last week, I decided to try planning using it. Why? I can refer back to my work (and not worry about which notebook it is in). I can make lists of what needs to be checked off and done, and I can embed my assessments directly into the document. So much easier! Below are two of the screenshots from my work thus far...

Towards the bottom I have the Writing GLE's so that I can open the document without having to search for them. Additionally I have placed images of the Writing Power Standards for our district, making it easier to view as I am planning (what standard does this relate to again?)

Above is an image from one of the units, particularly my launching the writing workshop section. I've taken the information from my Units of Study book and made it my own. Highlighted information is stuff I need to go back and fix as I go forward (what I am going to write about as I demo, etc).