🤔 When Do You Start Planning?

This year I was pretty lucky and got an early start to my summer. Apparently leading a group of teachers through their report-writing and being the designated report software tech helpline does wonders for productivity. Starting Memorial Day weekend my head was all about reports and I powered through and got them done! So satisfying.

It’s a good thing, too, because two weeks ago I took a fantastic road trip with my mom. (Note to self: Plan a trip the week after school gets out every year!)

Since we got back, I’ve been cooped up in the house, thanks to the PNW heatwave, and I’ve been surprised to see my mind turn pretty quickly towards prepping for next year. I’m sure part of my compulsion is that I’m teaching at a summer intensive course at the Micha-el Institute next week (you can still sign up!) but I’m also remembering how fun it is to dive into a new subject when I’ve got time to explore and I don’t have Monday morning’s lesson looming large.

So today I’m thinking about the most satisfying way to start your summer planning. 

👩‍💻 Finish Your Reports

In general, I recommend finishing your reports before starting your prep. It’s difficult to dive into the planning with wild abandon when you’ve got that big task hanging over your head. 

That said, there have been some years when I have taken a more leisurely approach to my reports. I savor the experience and really live into the process of reflecting over the previous year. There is something to be said for really slowing down and giving each child your undivided attention over the course of the summer. But, the planning really shouldn’t wait that long.

If this is how you like to do it, create a schedule for yourself and do a little of both all summer long. Each day can have a little reflection and a little forward-thinking.

📅 Map Out Your Year

The first thing I do when I start planning is sit down with the school calendar. To get a basic overview of the year, I highlight the breaks and count up how many weeks are between each break. This helps me start to envision where the blocks might go. Here’s what I did for our school year last night.

I tend to think about the school year as chunks of time from break to break, so my next step was to list the blocks and start chunking out that time.

So I wrote out how many weeks total, and then broke those weeks down into blocks. So in that first stretch (September-Thanksgiving Break), we’ve got 11 1/2 weeks, which maps out to two 4-week blocks and one 3 1/2 week block.

From there, I just look at my list of blocks and start slotting them in. I usually decide this based on seasonal projects and the inward vs. outward nature of the content. This year I plan on starting with a 3 1/2 week Botany block. Hooray!

📚 Gather Your Resources

Over the years I have been a big fan of my local library. There is nothing more inspiring than finding the right area of the shelves, browsing the titles, and heading home with a big bag of books. It’s like book shopping — but free! I can’t tell you how many true gems I have found this way.

But I also can’t tell you how many times I couldn’t find a great resource that I remember using before. Just this morning I was desperately trying to remember a fantastic botany coffee table book I used years ago. I searched my order history on my favorite used book site, the local library catalog, and every search term I could think of — no dice. I wish I’d just bought it!

For this reason, a few years ago I decided to bite the bullet and buy all my own resources. Here’s my thinking.

1. Let’s face it. I’m going to be a Waldorf teacher forever. Those books will earn their keep.
2. Used books are cheap, and for some topics, the old books are the best anyway. This year I spent less than $100.
3. School resources get lost and stuck in colleagues’ personal libraries. I’d rather just have my own.

You may think it’s a little early to start gathering resources, especially library books. I mean, won’t you really need them when you’re teaching the block? Well, there are a few reasons to gather your resources now. First, it’s the fun part. There’s nothing that gets me more in the mood to plan than book shopping. I bought my books this morning and it got me so psyched I sat right down and started this post!

But the other reason is that it takes time for those books to get to you. Used books usually come from all over the country and they just take longer, and I’m not about to pay expedited shipping. Library holds also take time. There were a few books that I decided were too expensive to buy, so I’m just getting them from the library. With my name on the list this early, I’m pretty sure I’ll get them before the end of the summer.

But I’m telling you — if I end up loving those library books, I’ll keep an eye on the used book sites so I can add them to my personal library.

And because I’m such a book nerd, here are a few of my can’t miss fifth-grade books (in case that’s what you’re teaching, too). 

• The Plant vols. 1 & 2 by Gilbert Grohmann — I love this one so much I’ve bought it and loaned it out twice.
• Sequoyah’s Gift by Janet Klausner — Such an inspiring story for when you’re teaching the South in North American Geography.
• Buddha by Deepak Chopra — This biography of Buddha reads like a novel. Perfect summer reading.
• The Iron Ring by Lloyd Alexander — A great class reader for the India block.

Some others that I haven’t read (yet) but look promising:

• The Odyssey, translation by Emily Wilson
• The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
• The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wholleben
• Botany for the Artist by Sarah Simblet

So, those are the first things I do when starting my summer prep, and often that’s all I need to get the ball rolling. Once those books start arriving in my mailbox or coming in off my holds list, I can’t help but sit down and get reading. 

If you want more summer planning help, you might be interested in signing up for my annual Summer Productivity Course. It runs from late July through August and is designed to walk you through, step-by-step, the process of getting ready for the year. 

To get on the list to get more information about this course, click here and I’ll keep you in the loop.