BlogLovin' Hop and Lesson Plans

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!  First,  I am linking up with Sixth Grade Tales for the Middle Grade BlogLovin' Hop!

There are so many wonderful elementary blogs out there, that sometimes it is difficult to find all of the wonderful blogs for the middle school world! Take a minute to hop over to make sure you are following all of the awesome middle school blogs.

Lesson Plan Template
At my school, our lesson plans are checked weekly.  Which is okay with me, because I am a little...well, OCD about them:).  I like to map out the big picture plans by hand in a regular old plan book.  The weekly ones are typed - in detail.  Is this necessary?  I think so, it really makes me think about the week ahead in a detailed fashion.  After so many years of teaching, it is so easy to fall in to the "by the seat of my pants" form of lesson planning. 

This year, I will be teaching a semi-self-contained group of 6th graders.  That means I have them for four periods - Language Arts/Read 180, Math, and Social Studies.  In the afternoon, I will have an Intervention class of Read 180/System 44 for other 6th and 7th graders.   These are my revised lesson plan templates.
A Read 180 classroom has to be very structured.  My main class will have three different groups - who will be doing variations of the same thing, the same thing on a different timetable, or something completely different.  Add in my Intervention class with two groups, and that means keeping track of five different reading/writing small groups.
Oh, and don't forget Math and poor Social Studies!
And finally, my mixed Intervention class...
I have to be a little OCD just to survive:).

Having them digital is an advantage, because shifting things around during the week and revising can be done daily.  Also, this year I plan on posting them on the classroom blog so that parents will have daily access to them.  And of course I plan on putting them in a pretty binder with all of my other planning paraphernalia!

On a Personal Note
Of course, the first week of vacation for Five For Friday I actually have something exciting to share!  
I did my very first 5k (notice I didn't say ran my first 5k).  Lauren, and one of our other colleagues encouraged me to try it, but I was hesitant.   If you read Life in Middle School's post yesterday, Lauren mentioned my bad foot.  Well, my "good one" qualified as the worst foot my doctor ever saw before he saw my "bad one."  I have been genetically cursed.  Needless to say, swimming, and not running, was my thing growing up.  But I have always been a little envious of people who get to participate in the 5ks and other running events.

So, at the last moment I decided to give it a try.  Lauren ran ahead, and my sweet niece (who was blessed with the cross country gene) kept me company.  It was so much fun!  Marathons are NOT in my future, but for my next 5k I will be running more than walking!  I did mention that I was super competitive, right?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

5 comments

  1. Thanks for linking up! I can tell you spent a lot of time on your lesson plan templates. They look great! Congrats on your first 5K, I ran my first one about a month ago. I wasn't able to run the entire race but I'm trying to run every other day so maybe my next 5k I can run the entire time.

    Jamie
    Sixth Grade Tales
    Follow my new Facebook page

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  2. Congrats on entering and finishing your first 5K! Such an accomplishment!

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! Showing up was an accomplishment. I am so not a runner, and I am so competitive:). So I am pretty proud of myself for letting go and allowing myself to be in the fun of the moment.

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  3. WOW, your lesson plans are great! Good for you! I'm a little OCD when it comes to plans as well, so I get it :) Have you heard of Super Speed Math, Super Speed Grammar, and the Crazy Professor Reading game? They are all Whole Brain Teaching strategies for teaching grammar, math facts, and improving comprehension. Go to the Whole Brain Teaching Website and click on Free eBooks, then find those in the list of free pdf's. Everything in Whole Brain Teaching is free...we are a movement, not a business. I'm a WBT trainer, so please let me know if you have any questions!

    Sarah
    Whole Brain Teaching in Middle School

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  4. Do you have these lesson plan templates available for editing purposes and purchase?

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