In general, I like to be organised, but I like to be especially organised when it comes to teaching. There are lots of things I do to keep myself on track, from to-do lists to a long term timetable on my laptop that can be changed and added to easily during the school day. However, there is one key item that keeps me on track and organised in school: my teacher planner from The Positive Teacher Company.
Going into the 2023-2024 academic year, I am about to start using my third teacher planner from this incredible company. In this post, I will show you the planners I've had and talk about why I love them so much, from their weekly planning pages to their beautiful design options.
I first came across The Positive Teacher Company in late 2020, when I was working as a teaching assistant with a dream of becoming a teacher. They were releasing their new designs and I looked at every single one with heart eyes. Luckily, after my interview in January 2021, I was accepted into my teacher training programme and what was the first thing I did? Order myself a teacher planner for my school-based placement.
My first planner for the 2021-2022 academic year was 'Rainbow':
The following year, for my first academic year as a qualified teacher, I went for the 'Midnight Adventure' design:
Then, ready for 2023-2024, I went for another Nutmeg and Arlo design called 'Good Vibes':
After my first planner, I'm sure you can tell why I went for this one. It's bright, colourful and covered in cute, positive little words and quotes. There are also rainbows as a nod to my training year planner. I get to look at those little rainbows and think about how far I've come. This was also another charity design, with a donation going to Education Support, which I have personally used in the past.
This design wasn't an easy decision though. I also fell in love with their 'Starry Sky' planner. But I had a choice to make and in the end I got the best of both worlds when I ordered this starry gem of a pattern as a hardback notebook. Win-win!
If you want to look at this year's designs, you can find them on their website here. There are plenty of extras too, such as pen loops and washi tape so check them out too if you are buying a planner of any kind.
Now, let's get into what makes this inside of these planners so special. I'll mainly be talking about the newest, current planner layout and features but they have all been similar, the newest ones do have a few extras though. I could talk about these planners for ages, but I'll narrow it down and talk about a few favourite points:
Username and Passwords Page
I am pretty rubbish when it comes to remembering all my usernames and passwords for various websites and systems, so it's great to have a page to put all of that information. I referred back to that page the most during my first ECT year and I know it will continue to be a useful feature.
Trackers Galore!
There are great tracker pages for personal things, such as habits, annual goals and wellbeing. I have already filled in my weekly wellbeing review target as it started on 7th August. My goal this year is to take time to read for pleasure every day. I will usually do this before bed but it's good to have a way of tracking this. I like that there are personal touches in this planner and that it's not all school related.
Useful Finds Log
Another section that I used a lot in my first ECT year was keeping a log of useful books, websites, apps, social media accounts, blogs and podcasts. As soon as anyone mentioned a person, a website or an app, they were written in my planner. I now have a good list of resources to look back over for ideas.
Books I've Read This Year
A new addition to the 2023-2024 planner is a cute illustrated page to track books that you've read during the year. It's something I've seen some teachers do in their classrooms before but it's nice to have a personal one in my planner.
Be Proud
There are two pages to note down positive feedback and those special "WOW" moments throughout the academic year. It will be nice to fill these in and look back over them when things feel tough. It's important to remember those moments that make us proud and know that we are making a difference.
The Best Bit: Weekly Planner Pages
The bit that kept me so organised and on track last year was the weekly double page spread section. It has a view of the whole school week, with each day broken down into six boxes (plus extra boxes for before and after school) which allows me to block out my lessons more clearly. I tend to do this in pencil as things change all the time in schools, so I can just rub things out and move it around. Each weekly double page also has a space for notes and a to-do list.
Staff Meeting Notetaking
I like being able to make notes during staff meetings all in one place, so this part of the planner is great for me. It is obviously completely up to you how you take notes in meetings, but I prefer to have everything in one place. Although, if it's a series of meetings on a particular topic, I'll be using my starry sky notebook instead.
Keeping Records
The record pages at the very back of the planner are also a firm favourite of mine. Last year, I used these pages to keep track of when I'd listened to children read, who had been given certificates and so on. However, the most useful way I used it was to keep track of children's writing in English and maths units. This helped me when discussing these subjects at parents evenings and in reports.
If you want to see inside the planner in full, you can watch the video below from The Positive Teacher Company's YouTube channel:
If you're a teacher, or a trainee, do you have a planner from The Positive Teacher Company? What is your favourite of their current designs on their website?
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