Personalized Teacher Planners - Erin Condren and Plum Paper

A teacher planner is an essential tool for all teachers.  Every teacher has their personal preferences about what works best for them.  Personally, I've used a wide variety of planners since I began teaching.  I've bought the standard planners from the teacher store, I've made my own planner and hand written plans, I've made my own template and typed plans... you name it, I've tried it.  I'm always looking for a way to plan that works best for me.  This blog post will not be about what I see as the essential components to a good lesson plan.  If that is what you are looking for, stay tuned - a future post may be coming.  Today I am going to focus on the two biggest names in personalized teacher planners - Plum Paper and Erin Condren.  I have personally used both planners, and will hopefully give you plenty of information to make your own decision about which planner will work best for you.

Plum Paper planners can be purchased on Etsy.  There are many options to choose from.  You can purchase a 6 month planner starting at $16 or 12 month planner starting at $31.  You can have the classes or time periods customized in your planner for an additional fee.  Included in your planner are weekly, monthly, and year at a glance pages.  Each month includes 2 notes pages.  There are also student contacts pages, 4 student checklist pages, and a student birthday page among a few other random informational pages.  In addition to the pages that are already included you may add additional checklist pages, notes pages, and stickers for a reasonable fee.  There is a 2 sided "for keeps" paper pocket at the back of the planner.  The cover of the planner can be personalized in many ways.  When I ordered my Plum Paper planner I stuck with one of their standard designs but I've heard of many people customizing the cover choices by e-mailing Plum Paper.  The actual cover is printed on a thick card stock paper with a protective plastic cover over it.  Now for a little pictorial tour of my Plum Paper Teacher Planner.

Here is the cover of my planner with the protective plastic on top.  It is hard to see in the picture, but the year is printed on the planner.  This was a 6 month teacher planner that I ordered around Christmas break.  These planners are dated, so I did not want to order a planner including summer months I wouldn't need or use.  

Here is the cover without the protective plastic on top.  As you can see the colors are quite bright.  

After the usual page to write your name on, you find this colorful 2 page year long calendar.  

Each month begins with a divider with a laminated tab.  

A two page monthly spread comes first each month.  

That spread is followed by the planning pages.  Please note that they are dated, so you need to choose when you would like your planner to begin when you order it.  I really liked using the weekly check list.  I also used the space for Prep Work on the right most weeks.  The Class Subjects can be customized for an additional fee.  There is a monthly calendar at the top of each weekly planning spread.  Please note that each day goes down in this planner (with the classes going across the planner).  This is the opposite of the Erin Condren Planner.

As you can see from the next two spreads when a week is spread between two months it will appear in two places.  The days in grey belong to the following month (or the previous month as the case may be).  

 I added extra checklist pages to my planner, and found that during the time I was using the planner I did like them.  They are colorful and fun.

 
The student contact pages would have probably been more useful to me if I had started using this planner at the beginning of the year.  Since I only used if for a few months I did not fill these in.







 

There is one contact page, and a special dates holiday calendar in the back.  

The very last page is a full calendar for the following year.  There is a 2 sided "for keeps" pocket in the back of the planner.  This pocket is made out of card stock.

I had trouble making this planner work for me due to it's size (more about that coming).  I tried to make the planner work by making my own template so that I could type out some of my lesson plans and then write the rest.  I will be posting this template on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store in the next few days for anyone that may find it helpful!  

UPDATE - You can find this template here:  Plum Paper Teacher Planner - Editable Template


Ultimately, the Plum Paper planner was just too small for me.  It is beautiful and the paper is very nice.  If I didn't have to write so much for each lesson, the size would have probably been fine.  SO, with that being said - here are some size comparisons.  Please remember that my Plum Paper planner was only a 6 month planner, but I did include some extra checklist and notes pages.  It is thinner than a 12 month planner would be.

Plum Paper Teacher Planner on the left, Erin Condren Teacher Planner on the right.  

As you can see the Plum Paper planner is quite a bit smaller than the Erin Condren Planner.  This could be a pro or a con depending on what you need.

Once I discovered that my Plum Paper planner was just too small for my needs I ordered an Erin Condren Teacher Planner.  For the purposes of this blog I am using my new planner (simply so I didn't have to worry about blocking out student names and information).  This planner sells for $59 (or less if you have a coupon code).  If you haven't already signed up for an account, you may use the following link to get $10 off your first order:  https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/amygauger0131

  

 Just like the Plum Paper planner, there are many options for customizing your cover.  The cover is laminated with a sturdy hard laminate.  My old planner was used heavily for 5 months and still looks good!  The ruler is included with the planner, but I also chose to add personalized note pads for $20.  These notepads can stick to the back cover of the planner.  I choose to slide my notepads into one of the sheet protectors at the back of the planner instead of sticking them to the back cover.  You'll see the sheet protectors in a minute.  

The Erin Condren planner is loaded with cute graphics and colorful quotes.  

The holiday and dates to remember page is a two page spread and very colorful.

I hope to utilize this year at a glance feature more this year.  Please stay tuned to an upcoming blog post to see how I'm using this year at a glace.  











All of the calendar spreads are at the beginning of the planner.  Each month includes a laminated tab to help you find it quickly.  This year there are actually 3 notes pages per month, which will be a welcome addition to my planner.

The calendars are large two page spreads and are undated.  Each month is colorful and includes a quote.

The planning pages are all together with a colorful laminated tab to help you find them.  Each day goes across the book.  I found that I did have enough room to write in these boxes, but as an elementary teacher I did have to write small to fit it all in.  

This year I added additional checklist pages to my planner.  There was a charge for adding the additional pages, but I'm hopeful that I'll be able to keep track of data better having it right in my plan book.

There are two pages of printed stickers and two pages of blank stickers in the plan book.

In the back you will find a two sided "Keep it Together" pocket.  Included is one heavy plastic sheet protector.  For a small fee ($3) you can add two additional sheet protectors.  I have done this both years and haven't been sorry that I did.  I use one of these sheet protectors to store one of my personalized notepads from Erin Condren.  There is also a zipper pocket just like in the life planners.  Of course, there were fun gift labels included too!  On the back cover you will find two year at a glance calendars.  


Ultimately the Erin Condren planner was a better choice for me, but mostly because of its size. This blog post is not meant to persuade you to purchase one planner over the other.  Both are very nice planners, but will appeal to different people for different reasons.  I hope that this post helped you pick the right planner for you before you place your order!!  Happy Planning!!  

Hoot!!

*Mrs. Gauger*