Get Organized: Make Your Own Pacing Guide
Before beginning a new school year, I begin the process of creating a pacing guide for the coming school year. I am fortunate in that I only have two subjects I am responsible for teaching. If I were self-contained, creating pacing guides for all the content I teach might not be as easy to do. However, I believe so strongly in knowing where I am going with curriculum, I would find a way to create multiple pacing guides. I would focus on two core subjects, math and reading, and then add in the remaining subjects. My grade level is departmentalized, and I am responsible for teaching both math and science for all 5th graders in my building.
The first step in the process is to print out a blank calendar for the months of August through May. I prefer to use the online site Time and Date for my calendar templates, although you will find there are many sites that have calendars available. I print two sets of the calendars. One set for math and the other for science.
Honestly, I begin the process of pacing for next year, as soon as the calendar for the upcoming school year is approved by the school board. I begin by filling in calendar dates, such as inservice days, holidays, early release days, etc.
I use a number system to keep track of the materials I use each week of the school year (See my blog post on Catch-All Drawers, so it makes sense that I avoid using actual calendar dates on the pacing guides but instead number the weeks on the calendars as well. This helps the pacing guide I am creating align with how I organize my lesson plans and materials.
After the weeks are numbered, I pencil in the various testing windows as well as the tests I am required to give which include state testing, STAR testing, etc. Also at this stage, I pencil in days that I know I will not be able to teach that content due to things like field tr. This includes things like field trips, assemblies and crisis drills.
I do not want to mislead anyone, these pacing guides are not set in stone. We all know that one of the most important characteristics a teacher can have is to be flexible. This is a pacing guide only. It serves more as a map, that allows me to keep track of where I am at and to where I need to go. Do I look at the guide on a daily basis? Absolutely not, more like weekly or even monthly. When I do check, if I am pretty much on pace, I keep plugging along. If I find I am way behind, then I may have to double up on a lesson. If I am way ahead (which we all know rarely happens), I spend a day or two reviewing previously taught concepts.
So, why am I so passionate about pacing guides? Several reasons come to mind, first and foremost, how will you know if or when you get to where you are going, if you don’t know the destination before you begin?
Secondly, there is satisfaction and peace of mind in knowing that you have a plan as you move forward with your students.
And finally, while it may seem like a daunting task, after you have done it once the proceeding years become an act of reflecting on what worked and what didn’t work. Then with those reflections in mind, you can adjust, tweak, slow down or speed up. Long story short, it gets easier each year you do it.
My advice? Try it today, you will not regret it…I promise!
