All Posts in This Series: Introduction Starting with the Standards Creating Long Range Plans Writing Unit Plans Differentiating Unit Plans Organizing Your Units The Planning Calendar The chicken or the egg? The unit plans or the long range plan? I struggled with which post to type up first. I chose to focus on Long Range Plans next because that's what I start with each year. However, you would have to have at least an "outline" of your unit plans before creating your first long range plan. Since my unit plans are in place from year to year, I create my long range plans for the next year on my spring break each year. Well, usually...I wasn't able to do it this year because my district still hasn't released it's calendar for next year yet. There's a delay because state testing dates haven't been set. You know, let's revolve EVERYTHING around testing. *sigh* But, I will share my Long Range Plans from LAST year with you. These are my lifeline for the year. Not sure how I ever lived without creating these! {Download in PDF Form Here} As you can see, I have ALL of my units planned out for the year - how many days I'll spend on each, when I will teach what, etc - there's no more guess work! Of course, this is just a flexible plan and things DO change. If we need more or less time on a unit, that's fine! It happens and I adjust. But, this really helps me stay on track and know what is coming ahead. I print this little plan out - fitting each quarter on one-page is a must for this OCD girl - and keep it in the front of my lesson plan binder. I refer to it often to keep myself on track. No matter how you end up writing your lesson plans, I would highly recommend creating Long Range Plans for yourself. The more you are planned, the more you can be organized. The more you're organized, the less stress you will feel during the year! You can download the template that I start with for creating my LRP's each year below. It is a Word document, so experience with resizing and merging table cells will be helpful. {Download Word Template Here} Once you download the template, you'll just want to merge the cells to for each unit. For example, if my addition and subtraction unit was 12 days long, I would highlight 12 cells beneath math (see image below) then go to Layout and select Merge Cells. Once I have the cells merged, then I would be ready to add my text. I would simply type the text I wanted there and then change the direction of the text (see image below) by clicking on Layout and then Text Direction. One word of advice - make sure you have your unit timelines ready before beginning and to count your days carefully - it's nearly impossible to "unmerge" or "undo" after you start this process. :( I hope that this post (and/or template) is helpful for you in thinking about Long Range Plans. Seeing your year planned out ahead of time is a lifesaver and will really cut down on your stress during the year! I'll see you again next week for Writing Unit Plans! ** Update** Click HERE to download my 2015-2016 Long Range Plans. UPDATE: For future templates, starting with the 2016 school year, simply search for the year in the search bar on my blog.