Okay okay… I know. I have been a FAITHFUL Erin Condren planner user for over 4 years. I loved personalizing my covers and how much of a good quality it was. The binding of it was top notch and the pages were so thick! I even got one made for this year when they went on sale in May.
I mean look how cute?!?! Well, in comes The Tutu Teacher , who did a Facebook live video about how much she loved the Happy Planner. I was still skeptical because I bought one last year for a personal planner. It was smaller and was just a life planner. I still felt like the binding was not good enough PLUS to use it as a teacher planner wouldn’t work for me because I needed place to write lesson plans. I like to use my planner to scope out my topics for the 9 weeks. Well… in her video she explains that there is a hole puncher you can purchase to add things into your Happy Planner…
I CAN ADD THINGS TO MY PLANNER?? LIKE ANYTHING??
Game changer. Now I don’t need to have a notebook for notes in meetings, a separate binder for my grade book, a folder for my IEP cheat sheets, and a million other things I can just put inside my planner!
Also, I CAN MAKE MY OWN COVER!
So… I ran to Michael’s and bought the Happy Teacher Planner Kit and the matching hole puncher!
This is what the outside of mine looked like. Black with bright colors is, of course, my theme but you KNOW I was going to make my own cover. lol
If you are interested in the hole puncher make sure you buy this one. The smaller life planner hole puncher is blue, so you want the pink one to match the teacher planner’s size.
These are the stickers that came with the Happy Teacher Planner Kit. I’m not really into decorating each week with a bunch of stickers because of time. I do have a bunch of extra stickers from my old Erin Condren planner that I may use for this one.
There is a cardstock divider for each section including each month. Each divider is different and colorful!
At the beginning of each month is page like this! I do like how I can look ahead and plan some main things for the month. This is something that EC did not have.
These are those generic pages in the front that every planner seems to have. Here are a few substitute notes. I probably won’t use the sub page because my planner is always with me and never left for a sub. The calendar page is great. I will likely print out my district’s holiday calendar and insert it after this one for a long view of dates!
Here is the view of the entire month which is great for long term planning. Behind this page starts the individual lesson planning pages which you can see up top on the page with the stickers.
A lot of teachers were excited about these pages included in their Happy Planner so they can use this for a grade book. I do like these pages for maybe tracking my students turning in certain forms but I can’t function with this as a grade book. First, I have two separate classes. I track grades for Math, Science, and Social Studies. I like to have a page for each subject for each class. This wouldn’t be enough space for me to list all of my students. So I decided I would use my grade book product (that I’ve been using for years) and INSERT it into my planner! No more carrying around a separate grade book! (Also, if you don’t want these pages or any other pages, you can simply pull them out. You want them back in, they easily go back in. It’s magic or something.)
Here is how I did it!
I punched holes in my gradebook pages just like I do any other paper.
Here is what the magical holes that keep everything in your planner looked like! I printed this page on cardstock to make it sort of like a divider so I can access quickly in my planner.
After, all you do is simply push down to line up the holes with the rings. THAT’S IT!!
Its magical I’m telling you.
After it is in place….
So then I put my grade book pages in. Again, you just push down to put the punches in place with the rings. If you want to take something out you just pull from the top down and it will come right out unharmed so you can either put it back in somewhere else in your planner or not.
Good to go! Of course I don’t have the names typed in yet because I don’t have my class list. In this product in my store you can type your students names in and test names if you would like!
Again, I have two classes, I need a page for each. I have these attendance pages I use to mark absences.
Here is a master student list I use. Also editable!
Note pages that I keep behind my gradebook. I usually end up writing here when students add to my roster and when students drop. Makes it easier at the end of the year when we are going through our roll seeing who has been here all year for data purposes.
NOW ON TO THE COVER!
I designed a cover on my computer in PPT with a picture of Ross and I and a cute background. I saved it as an image and uploaded it to be printed at Walgreens. Once I got it printed I took a large piece of scrapbook paper to back it with for stability.
I then traced the size of the cover onto the scrapbook paper and trimmed it. This was it would be the size needed to keep the rest of the planner covered.
Then, I put my picture on the scrapbook paper with double sided tape and put it through my laminator. After it was laminated I used my hole puncher to attach it to the planner. I did keep my original cover behind my new cover just for stability purposes! BUT what I love most is that I can make another cover whenever I want!
So…. how do you feel about the Happy Teacher Planner now?? This is why I had to run to Michaels and get one ASAP! Also… the rings are very stable. You can hang your planner over and drop it on the floor and everything stays in. I told you… magical!
Interested in my EDITABLE grade books?? Check out the links to the different themes I have available! 🙂
Check out these blog posts and see if digital planning is right for you!
Digital planning is increasingly popular! Check out how you can track your data easier, go paperless, and have fun customizing this planner!
Meet Kristi
Hey friend! I’m Kristi! A 5th grade teacher, wife, and mom from South Louisiana. I help teachers improve their planning and data documentation by utilizing digital planners!
