Planning for next year

Let me start this by saying I have no idea how to plan lessons. Okay, that's not completely true, but sort of. I was never taught how to lesson plan in my teacher education program. We had to write lesson plans and were instructed that they were what you planned on doing during a class, but that was really about it. Not a lot of information on how to actually go about doing it. Side note, I was in a webinar and the lady said that chemistry teachers have to have detailed instructions with specific examples for their subject. That's true, how exactly do I do this for chemistry. 

Another problem I have is that in 13 years of teaching, I have not hit on a good method for writing lesson plans that work for me. I know that I need a physical copy to look at but I just haven't found a good way to have that copy that actually works for me and it's driving me crazy. I came across this in my files 

Apparently I made this last year but then never followed through on it. I like this because I can just list the various things and then go through them. If I finish what I planned, I can just keep going. If I don't finish, I can do it next class. So I might play around with this and see if I can make it work. 

I also think I need to have a place to keep track of each class. I will have 6 chemistry classes and I won't be able to keep them all on the exact same schedule. I know that I will get off now and then. So I need to have a way to note where I stopped for each class. At the same time I can't keep a different lesson plan for each class, that will end up in a giant mess. 

So what I need is:

• a way to keep track of the sequence so I know what is happening next
• a way to keep track of each class so I know what we did, where they finished, notes to remember, etc. 

Okay, I think those are definitely two different things. I think I can lay out the lesson plans on a document and then have something else where I keep notes on the individual classes. 

So what if I made a document something like above and just listed all the things in order. Then use my teacher planner for keeping track of the individual classes. The planner I have has 5 boxes for each day of the week. I only have 4 classes so I can use a box a day. There is also room to make expanded notes on the side if I need to. That might work. 

Part of my problem is also the follow through. I make these great plans every year and then after a few weeks or days lose track of them and then I'm floundering again. If I'm teaching 7 classes, I can't do that. I will need to develop a routine that supports my systems. I can totally do that. I just need to make it a routine. 

For example: 

Every morning: 

• turn on computer
• open email 
• review lessons for day
• open any presentations/videos/websites that will be needed 
• make sure all supplies are ready for lesson

Every afternoon: 

• review day
• make any notes necessary
• write any log entries
• answer any emails
• review next day lessons
• make sure everything is ready for next day
• shut down computer

I just need to be diligent and do these things. Then anything will work. So it's not so much what I do but that I develop a routine and make it work. 

Off to work on the routine.