Ever wonder what the teacher across the hall has planned for the upcoming week? Wish you could sneak a peak at a veteran teacher’s curriculum calendar? The “What I’m Teaching This Week” series was built for this very purpose. Each Saturday morning for the past school year, I’ve grabbed a large coffee and cataloged the upcoming week while my family slept in.
Now that the school year is done, I’ve gathered all of those blog posts on this single page for the sake of convenience – both for you and me. Next time around, I’ll just copy a week’s agenda, make a few tweaks, and get back to the weekend.
Whether you’re building a course from scratch or just want to confirm that your writing load is reasonable, dig in to find the answers you seek. These lessons were used with freshman English classes of varying skill levels, but the same curriculum could also serve eighth and tenth graders. Hope this is useful!
Week #1 (8/31-9/4)
Week #2 (9/7-9/11)
Week #3 (9/14-9/18)
Week #4 (9/21-9/25)
Week #5 (9/28-10/2)
Week #6 (10/5-10/9)
Week #7 (10/12-10/16)
Week #8 (10/19-10/23)
Week #9 (10/26-10/30)
Week #10 (11/2-11/6)
Week #11 (11/9-11/13)
Week #12 (11/16-11/20)
Week #13 (11/30-12/4)
Week #14 (12/7-12/11)
Week #15 (12/14-12/18)
Week #16 (1/4-1/8)
Week #17 (1/11-1/15)
Week #18 (1/18-1/22)
Week #19 (1/25-1/29)
Week #20 (2/1-2/5)
Week #21 (2/8-2/12)
Week #22 (2/15-2/19)
Week #23 (2/22-2/26)
Week #24 (2/29-3/4)
Week #25 (3/7-3/11)
Week #26 (3/14-3/18)
Week #27 (3/21-3/25)
Week #28 (3/28-4/1)
Week #29 (4/11-4/15)
Week #30 (4/18-4/22)
Week #31 (4/25-4/29)
Week #32 (5/2-5/6)
Week #33 (5/9-5/13)
Week #34 (5/16-5/20)
Week #35 (5/23-5/27)
Week #36 (5/30-6/3)
Week #37 (6/6-6/10)
Summer on, everyone!
UPDATE: After posting this collection, several folks in the comments section asked if I could also post my junior-level agendas. Happy to do so! Those upperclassmen American Literature-based calendars can now be viewed here. Hope these are useful to folks. 🙂
How long are your periods?
Great question, Angela. We run 55-minute classes five times a week. I imagine block schedule folks will have to slide and shuffle things a bit. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing this. I actually teach a 6th grade GATE class so much of it is way over their heads, but I glean great ideas of time management and am able to tweak some of the ideas to fit my 6th grade curriculum like the the cell phone wallpaper. They loved that!
So glad this is useful for you, Gina! Thanks for taking a minute to send along your comment. I love that! 🙂
You rock. Thanks.
And thank you for the note, techlady911. 🙂
This is amazing–thank you so much! I’ve followed your blog for a while and implemented some of your ideas, but I love that you put this all together in one place. Even though this is my 6th year teaching, I’m looking to make some changes to my curriculum and it’s great to see what you do. Thank you!
My pleasure, Jenna. I’m entering Year 19 and I’m still changing things in my curriculum. I have a feeling that’s a process that won’t stop til retirement. 🙂
I found your blog right after Christmas break and I must say that you, my dear, are a brilliant, creative, and awesome soul. Thank you ever so much for the time and effort you put into this blog and your products, both free and paid. Though I am entering my 14th year in the classroom, the learning never stops! You have been a huge source of information this year! Your series on classroom management was golden. One million thanks!
Ah, Janice, thanks for this awesome note. What a great way to start my day! Glad you found me and happy to know the materials have been useful to you. Yea! This blog, my cozy little corner of the internet, has definitely become a real passion, so if you’ll keep reading, I’ll keep writing! 🙂
I’m on vacation and a friend sent me this link. I can’t wait to get back and start using it!
Awesome, Dana! Hope this list is useful and gives you some mental breathing space. Now, go enjoy that vacation!
🙂 Laura
Love this! Can you still get to your posts when you taught juniors?
Hey Patty,
Thanks for checking in! I do still have all of my junior calendars, but they’re not in any sort of shape/format to share on the blog yet. Sorry about that. Putting all of my American Lit. calendar pieces together for everyone is definitely on my big project to-do list, but I’m deep in construction on a research-based writing assignment right now. When I come up for air, rest assured the junior-level/American Lit. collection will get more of my attention.
Be patient with me. 🙂
UPDATE: The junior-level calendars are now uploaded! Click here to check ’em out.
This was so awesome. I am a fourth year teacher but needed some new ideas/clearer structures and this really helped. Thank you.
So glad this list of procedures is useful, Jizelle. Thanks for commenting!
I know you used to teach juniors…Do you happen to have this for your previous juniors?
Hi Melinda,
Yes, indeed! My junior-level calendars are now uploaded. Click here to check ’em out. 🙂
Me too…looking forward to the weekly agenda posts for Juniors. Thank you!
Gotcha, Sarah! It’s on my “gotta do” list. 🙂
UPDATE: The junior-level calendars are now uploaded! Click here to check ’em out.
Thank you for this! We are homeschoolers and your lessons have been my kid’s favorite! Even the youngest joined in when he could! You just make it all so fun and they rise to the challenge without even knowing it!
One question, do you have a list of all of your products that you use for freshman year? I would love to follow this next year! Thank you!
Oh, thanks so much for this note, Mollly! I love knowing that the materials I build for my traditional classroom are a good fit for your homeschoolers, too. That’s so great! 🙂
Unfortunately, I haven’t put together a single list of freshman products, per se. These weekly posts, though, will hopefully be a helpful guide, since this is the path I walked with my freshmen this past year. I tried to link things as clearly as possible when I built each blog post, so you should be able to pull together each week’s worth of materials without too much trouble. I know there’s A LOT to wade through in these posts, so feel free to send me a message (“Contact” button at the top of the page) and I can answer any specific questions/concerns as they arise.
Your prep load as a homeschool teacher/parent must be madness! I get tired figuring out just one prep and would lose my marbles if I was also navigating math, science, history, PE (ack!), etc. Good on you!
🙂 Laura
This is amazing! This will be my third year of teaching, but I always second-guess myself with the general planning process. Seeing this made my entire face light up. Thank you so much for posting this! You’ve outdone yourself!
Ah, my pleasure, Betsy! The series was a full year in the making, but now that it’s done I’m so glad I saw it through. Happy it’ll be a help to both of us. 🙂
Okay, I just have to ask. If you give your Vocabulary words on Wednesday, do students complain about having a test on them only 2 days later? How do you handle that? Or do you give them additional time? I’m loving your stuff! Thanks!
Hi Dana,
Great question! Early in the year, I always give them more time and give vocab. quizzes only about once a month. As the year rolls on and we’re more comfortable, there might be a week or two where words learned on a Wed. could appear on a Friday quiz. The list builds for the whole semester and I just grab three of the words we’ve had that semester at random, so they should be adding to their flashcards/knowledge base each week. Also, it’s only five new words a week, so their complaints really don’t hold much weight. And finally, I’m old now, so they don’t try to weasel and whine as much as they did when I younger.
Hope this helps,
🙂 Laura
Great idea! At first, I thought maybe I could test them on the Wed prior to receiving new words, but then I started to wonder why I should even push it weekly. I like the idea of doing it monthly or bi-monthly. Thanks so much!
Oh yeah, Dana, no need to quiz them weekly. Monthly will get the job done just fine. TGIF!
Hi Laura –
I noticed in your schedule your first unit with your freshmen is the personal narrative. I usually start freshmen with the short story unit. I was just wondering if you had a reason for starting with the narrative first or if it was just preference.
Thank you for all of your work that you share. Your units have improved my instruction (and panic attacks!) greatly.
Hi Randall,
Yes, indeed, I launch with narrative writing intentionally for two reasons. First, I want to get going on their writing instruction to see where they are in terms of skill base. The personal narrative/Autobiographical Incident essay really helps me see that AND helps me to get to know them a bit better in the first month of school since they’re writing about themselves. Also, I move into the short story unit after the personal narrative writing because the stories lead into literary analysis writing. Narrative style is SO much easier and less threatening to my freshmen, so I start there. Then, I use the short story unit as baby steps as we take on the tougher task of lit. analysis.
Really, though, there’s no perfect path. I know some freshmen teachers who launch with the lit. analysis/short stories to set the bar high when everyone’s fresh at the beginning of the year and then use narrative in the spring semester, when everyone just needs some academic breathing space. I think we can make compelling cases to use either of our launches to the year. My vote? Go with your gut. 🙂 Laura
Hi Laura! Thanks for these posts! I made the jump this year from teaching elementary to teaching high school. Even though it’s my seventh year teaching, it feels like my first year all over again. Our school is small, and I’m the only 10th grade ELA teacher. My boat has been quickly sinking in the overwhelmed ocean. It has helped me to see what another teacher is doing, especially in the “novel study” area. I also LOVVVEEE the quarter trio idea!
So glad you found me and these posts, Sandra. Hopeful the info will be part of the solution to buoy your boat. Hang in there!
Hi, Laura. I love your lesson plans – you have helped me tremendously this year! I have used your first semester M.U.G.s, and I was wondering if you have a second-semester set? Again, thank you for all of your help this year!
My pleasure, Ava! So glad these proofreading slides are working for your class. You can find semester #2 here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Full-Semester-2-of-Grammar-Proofreading-Lessons-to-Improve-Teen-Writers-718833
Enjoy!
🙂 Laura
Hey Laura,
Do you, by any chance, have your freshmen agendas in a format similar to your Junior agendas? I love being able to see everything in one document! If not, no big deal. Thanks so much for sharing your ideas and knowledge. You’re awesome!
Hi Krisanna,
So sorry to disappoint, but I never circled back to put these weekly posts into a month-at-a-glance format. Sadly, life keeps throwing more and more balls in the air for me to juggle and there’s no time to recreate the 9th grade posts. Sorry about that.
Hope you had a good week. TGIF!
🙂 Laura
You are a literal teaching superhero to me. I follow you on Teachers Pay Teachers and Pinterest and use so many of your fabulous methods/ideas/lessons/concepts. Thank you for being so inspiring and providing ways to find that balance in teaching. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Ah, Jackie, thank you for this sweet note! I love living in a world where teachers might be thought of as superheroes. Can I be Wonder Woman? 🙂
In what state are you a teacher?
A state of confusion, Samantha. 😉 When I built this series, I was teaching in California, but my family relocated to Idaho last summer so that’s where I’m teaching now. We traded beaches for mountains.
You are definitely one of my favorite English teachers in the world!! I have pretty much bought your entire TPT store, especially since I usually teach 9th graders and this year I am teaching 11th graders, which I have not taught in 15 years! You are so amazing, and you inspire me more than you will ever know!! Have a rocking school year!
Thanks so much, Tatia! I’m touched by your words and so glad I can play a small part in lightening your prep load. Enjoy those juniors! 🙂
Thank you so much for this! I am terrified to begin my first year of teaching HS English next September but this will be so helpful in my preparations. Thanks again.
Glad you found the blog, SweetSocratic! More excitement, less terror now, I hope. 🙂
Oh man, oh man. Do you happen to teach senior English? I have been teaching seniors for 6 years now, but I’d love to see what someone else is doing.
Alas, Kelly, it’s been many years since I was assigned seniors and then that was an Adv. Composition class. Not much help, I’m afraid. For the past few years, 9th and 11th grade have been my jam.
Laura,
As a “newbie” to the English department this year, you have been an English life saver for me! I appreciate your willingness to share all of your hard work. 🙂
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! 🙂
Thanks, Lesli, for sending along this note. I’m SO glad you found the blog and that my materials are helping you get through this first year. Hang in there, kid! Just a few weeks left… 😉
OMG! I almost paid $200 for something so similar! I love it!
So glad you found me, Cristi! 🙂