Planning is such a sacred time for all teachers. This time allows teachers to work on creating scaffolds for lessons, creating enrichment opportunities and creating the necessary materials for the week. There is so much to be done and so little time that the first thing to cut out is a teachers planning time.
Not all planning time is the same. At our school, we have two planning meetings a week that include Administration, staff development and the content specialist. Our meetings spend most of the time talking about data and how we can create scaffolds and opportunities for enrichment or reteaching. We split the meetings into two days so that both math and reading can have their own dedicated time. However, when is there time for teachers to create those lessons?
Planning time is so important and teacher do not necessarily get to choose how that is spent. Yet, teachers are the ones who pay the price when they are not prepared. However, administrators are put in a tricky situation as they are a key stakeholders. Many teachers feel administrators are taking away their planning time and they very well could be. But meetings like ours are to help teachers come up with ideas to best serve the kids.
The link below is to an article about how teachers feel their planning time is being taken away and the importance of making sure they keep it.
Life of a 3rd Grade Teacher 