Lesson planning can be such a chore, which is why it’s important to find a system that actually works for you. Most teacher planners include pages I don’t need & lack the pages I do need, which is why my life changed when I finally found a way to build my own teacher planner with exactly the items I need. This makes my lesson planner a lot smaller to lug around, more personalized, and easier to use.
Find a Printable Digital Planner
First, you need to find a printable digital planner that works for you. There are lots of great options on TPT. I recommend finding one that has all the components you’re looking for. I created a big teacher planner that includes lots of great options. You can purchase the full bundle or just grab the areas you want. It includes…
- LESSON PLANNER & SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR (curriculum mapping, monthly checklists/goals etc, month at a glance, year at a glance, batch lesson planning, class schedule, important dates, specials class schedule, digital stickers, & more)
- PLANNER COVERS, SECTIONS, & TABS ( 60+ customizable cover options, premade & editable section pages & tabs)
- TEACHER ESSENTIALS (to-do lists, student checklists, class list, grading, party planning templates, class birthdays, volunteer sign-up sheets, parent communication forms, goal planning, PD tracking, notes, student seating chart template, passwords, & more)
- SMALL GROUP PLANNER (reading & math group formation, small group lessons, small group notes, etc.)
- FIELD TRIP PLANNER (brainstorming ideas, field trip planning notes, transportation planning, field trip schedule, chaperone guide, emergency sheet, student list, student name tags, etc.)
- SUBSTITUTE PLANNER (class schedule, specials class schedule, classroom management plan, sub plans, emergency protocols, emergency phone numbers, etc.)
- PERSONAL PLANNER (weekly family schedule, grocery list, meal planning, gift planner, b-day list, book/movie/TV show recommendations, healthy habits tracker, nutrition & wellness, etc.)
Below are some of my favorite pages from the planner:
How to Build Your Planner
You’ll need to decide what materials you want to use for your planner. Below are some options (listed in my favorite order).
- Disc Ring Binder: This is my FAVORITE option! You’ll need to purchase a few items to make this work, but it’s super durable, easy to add or get rid of pages, as condensed as you make it, plus it turns out really cute! I’ll go into detail below about what items I use to build my disc ring teacher planner. You can even re-use the materials year after year.
- Binder: This option works well too and is easy to add or remove pages. The downside is that it is super bulky.
- Spiral Bound: This can be expensive and is a more permanent option. It doesn’t make sense to figure out how to add pages, but you can remove pages if needed; it just might take some time to remove several pages. This is very slim and easy to carry around, though, plus it looks really cute and professional.
- Folder: A folder only really works for an extremely small planner. If you just need a few items, this can work out really easily with a binder hole punch. The downside is that it can be difficult to keep a particular page open.
Disc Ring Binder Supplies
- Digital/Printable Planner: HERE’S A LINK to the digital/printable planner I made.
- 11 Disc Binder Hole Punch: HERE’S A LINK to the hole punch I use. HERE’S A LINK to a more affordable option.
- Discs: You’ll want to decide how many pages you think you will be printing so you know the size of disc rings you will need. Below are the links to my favorite options for various sizes.
*Keep in mind that if you use cardstock paper or a heavyweight paper, you may not be able to fit as much paper in your planner.
Extra Supplies that are Helpful
- Disc Transparent Covers: You can simply laminate your cover page, but if you want your planner to be more durable, I would recommend using a 10 mil laminating pouch, OR, getting the transparent disc covers. HERE’S A LINK to the ones I use.
- Disc Paper Pockets: If you like storing other papers in your planner, it can be really nice to have a pocket in your planner. HERE’S A LINK to the pockets I use in my teacher planner.
- Month Sticker Tabs: If your planner doesn’t come with printable tabs, or you just don’t want to print and cut your own tabs, I would recommend using these month sticker tabs. HERE’S A LINK to the month sticker tabs I have used.
- Pen Holder Adhesive: I love keeping a pen or pencil with my planner, so this pen holder adhesive is a must in my opinion. You can grab a pack and use them year after year, or you can reuse the same transparent cover & pen holder on your planner each year. HERE’S A LINK to the pen holders I use.
Printing Tips
- Print the calendar on cardstock: I like having a heavier feel to my calendar pages. I use cardstock for the calendar pages as well as my cover page.
- If you want to add pages in between the cardstock calendar pages, DO NOT PRINT THEM FRONT & BACK. Instead, you can add pages in between the calendar months manually after printing. You can tape the calendar pages together to the next page so that the pages flow more nicely if the blank pages bother you.
- Duplicate one document to build your printing file: You’ll want to duplicate or make a copy of the planner, then copy & paste the pages in the order that you want them to appear in your planner. This helps you be able to print front & back. If there are pages that specifically need to print on the left page or right page, you’ll want to pay attention to that when printing so that they line up nicely. You can add a blank page if needed to fill in as a placeholder. You can assign ODD numbers to appear on the LEFT SIDE and EVEN numbers to appear on the RIGHT SIDE or vice versa.
- Test Print: I recommend test printing a couple of pages to make sure they are lining up the way you want them to in your planner.
- Think before you punch holes: It can be super easy to punch holes on the wrong side of your pages. I recommend lining the pages up and test “opening” the pages before actually hole punching them. This way, you can make sure you are happy with how the pages will lay in your planner.
Below are a few pictures of the final product.
