I was flicking through an old notebook today, wondering whether it was worth keeping or if it could be disposed of forthwith and it got me to thinking (I have time to do that -thinking I mean – during the summer break).

I don’t think I have used the same lesson/unit planner more than a few times before moving on, redesigning it, rethinking the format or just plain discarding it completely. This made sense when I started out teaching – you need to find what works ‘for you’, but now that I have been teaching for more than 6 years I am worried about my lack of ability to settle into some reliable routines for such a major part of my work practices.

My problem? I flit around…I jump from thought to thought in the blink of an eye…I struggle to be systematic, ordered and documented. So much of my work processes are done on the run, instantaneously. This means I am a really good relief teacher who rarely gets the luxury of preparation time and yet can pull together an engaging lesson with minimal resources and still achieve curriculum linked outcomes. Nevertheless there are some areas of my professional practice that I need to improve and I think I have identified what I need to focus on for this year.

So here’s to 2013 being a year of reflection, improving work processes and planning skills until I am closer to achieving a sense of routine and habits that are personally and professionally valuable.

Do you have a lesson/unit planner that works for you? I would love to here about how you like to plan and what works for you.

I would love to find a digital planner as so much of my work is in the online environment but so far I am still looking, any suggestions would be gratefully accepted.