Plan To Succeed with Planbook Plus

Student Led IEP Meetings – Giving Students the Power

February 1, 2017Effective Lesson Planning, Planning Strategies Standard

IEP implementation is demanding for special education teachers. Students are evaluated and based on their strengths and needs, a plan drafted and implemented. Evaluation and reevaluation reports often list needs including, “math fluency, reading fluency, organizational skills, executive functioning skills … SELF ADVOCACY.” As committed and diligent special educators, drafting IEPs includes SMART goals and SDI that address these needs. Finally, the team meets around a table and discusses IEP implementation. Hopefully, the team will ask the student if they understand, how they feel, etc. But what if the student were to explain what they need themselves? [...]

Tech Boost: Engaging Your Students Collaboratively

January 25, 2017Planning Strategies, Tech Boost Link

When planning collaborative assignments, think about the focus of the lesson? Is the focus on engaging every student? Often, the focus strays from student engagement to ensuring every student completes their share of work. Students end up splitting up the work, going their own ways, and submitting the project. Fortunately, with tools like Planbook Plus [...]

Planbook Plus Demo Day: Real Life Application

January 19, 2017Classroom Activity, Effective Lesson Planning Standard

Planbook Plus continues to give educators the tools to plan for a highly engaged classroom. Planbook Plus is suitable for any subject ranging from Pre K to high-level calculus. Tools of the trade to create a highly engaged classroom range from using humor in the classroom, playing to student interests and applying the lessons learned to real life. Math class poses challenges when it comes to creating a highly engaged classroom. “When will I ever use this?” “How does this apply to me?” Sound familiar? Real life applications to math lessons help put the lesson into perspective for our students.

Take correlation. Correlation for many students is a bunch of dots on a graph. For math-challenged students, it is guessing “yes or no” and “strong or weak.” However, it doesn’t have to be that overwhelming for students. Check out or “demo lesson” on determining human wingspan and height. Feel free to adapt to your needs! [...]

Teacher Hub: 5 Lessons for MLK Observance

January 11, 2017Uncategorized Standard

As we approach the observance of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., educators must create plans that challenge all students’ current thinking with the goal of diversity and learning from history. This is a challenge. Simply popping in a movie for students to view and reflect on will not engage students. Unfortunately, mid-terms, state [...]

5 Prompts to Ring in the New Year

January 4, 2017TeacherHUB Standard

Teachers and students are just getting back from winter break. Holiday getaways have come and gone and school is back in session. What’s the last thing anyone wants to hear? “Get ready for those writing prompts when you get back!” Ba humbug! Of course, as educators, preparation is at the forefront of everything. Check out these 5 writing prompts ready to go upon the return from break. Modify any prompt for your grade level!

All prompts are applicable to the criterion: Conventions, Style, Focus, Organization, and Content. [...]

Planbook Plus Teacher Hub: Top Ten Apps & Websites in Education

December 28, 2016TeacherHUB Standard

The amount of technology in the field of education leaves most regular and special education teachers overwhelmed with choices and the task of checking out individual apps and websites until they find one that is useful. Fear not! The apps and websites featured below are special education and regular education teacher tested and approved! Additionally, Planbook Plus’ [...]

Goals For Your Classroom

December 22, 2016Effective Lesson Planning, Getting Started, Holidays Standard

You made it! Another fall semester is in the books and you can now enjoy your winter break. Hopefully you can go into this time off feeling accomplished. Everyone sets goals for themselves and their respective workplaces and your classroom was probably no different.

I’d wager some of your goals touched on these ideas: [...]

Tech Boost: 5 Tips to Effectively Use Technology in the Classroom

December 20, 2016Effective Lesson Planning, Planning Strategies Standard

Worksheets. Every teacher has them. Typically, each course is indexed by binders and teachers tap into their worksheets arsenal to support or supplement instruction. Standards-aligned, rigorous, and relevant worksheets assess knowledge, but the question remains: are they engaging? More often than not, students will confirm that worksheets are not the reason they look forward to school. As the new year approaches, consider a few ideas that may save some paper and contribute to a highly engaging classroom. [...]

Four Fun Post-Winter Break Activities and Tips

December 16, 2016Classroom Activity, Getting Started - January, Holidays Link

After a busy weekend, Mondays can be a struggle. So just imagine how hard the Monday after winter break will be! A prepared teacher will have those first days after holiday break planned. Planbook Plus has put together some ideas for educators for the opening week of 2017! [...]

Help Students to Ultimately Succeed by Planning for Failure

December 14, 2016Effective Lesson Planning Standard

High stakes assessments, IEP goals, summative assessments, extracurricular try outs, homework, the list goes on and on. From school age to adulthood, we are all faced with the challenge of achieving success. But what defines our success? Many state bureaucracies define success as achievement of SLOs, standardized test scores, SAT scores, etc. However, what truly defines any person’s success is their ability to learn from failure. Jessica Lahey’s The Gift of Failure outlines ways by which parents and teachers can help students learn to fail. The importance of failure is not the act of failing, but how students learn from the failure. [...]