Well, I did it. I took the plunge and bought myself an Erin Condren teacher planner. I was hesitant to say the least- they are pretty spendy when compared to most other teacher planners... and for the last several years I've been doing just fine with the generic (free) one that my school district gives us! That being said, there was a decent discount available so I thought "what the heck" and decided to give it a try. There are so many other teachers out there who say how much they love theirs I figured it wouldn't be a completely regrettable purchase. If you are on the fence about getting one, I hope that this post helps you out!
If you viewed my Periscope coffee talk yesterday, then you got to see my planner live as I talked through some of its features- while broadcasting from my basement "office" (aka pile of teacher stuff next to a desk). In real life my office looks like this:
There is so much "office work" to be done that it is much easier to set up camp on my dining room table- this way I can multitask and still be mom. We are in the process of selling our home, so hopefully there is a new, more centrally located office in my future! (Side note- is the fact that that chair isn't centered driving anyone else nuts? lol)
So back to the planner...
Deciding on the theme was probably the most difficult. I decided on this one because I have a lot of these colors in my classroom, and I was kinda just drawn to it.
So, here are a couple of the different pages you will find inside the planner. Pretty much your standard "planner" pages. I have to say though that I LOVE the colors as well as the different quotes that are found throughout the book.
Ok, pause here for a moment... when was the last time you kept a paper record of your students absences? Umm... I'm not sure that I ever have. There are quite a few of these pages which are a pretty big waste of space if you ask me.
Love the big, 2 page monthly calendars with the tabs on the side!
The boxes for planning seem to be a little small for my liking, so we'll see how that goes. One of the reasons I loved my old planner was the big boxes. I'll have to let you know!
Grade book... might not be enough for older grades, but this is perfect for the amount of grade recording that I do
Stickers to be used on planner pages and calendar. There are blank ones as well in multiple colors!
Durable folder pockets (2 sided)
Plastic page protectors and a plastic pouch
Overall, the general quality and durability of this planner is top notch (it is heavy and big though!). There are a few pages/ documents that I like to keep in my planner/ binder that aren't included so it doesn't completely eliminate my need for a teacher binder. I know that I will enjoy using it this year, but ultimately I probably won't be purchasing another one next year. There are so many wonderful teacher planners/ binders out there (including in my tpt store!) that can be printed out (a lot of people are having them printed and bound at office supply stores- genius), I think I will probably go that route next year.
I hope this little review helped you decide for yourself! I am in no way saying NOT to get one of these planners- do you, and if that means having an EC Planner then rock on ;-) Please feel free to use this code towards your purchase!
No comments:
Post a Comment