The Bullet Journal as a Lesson Plan

I woke up this morning thinking about lesson planning because it's part of my job and I actually kind of enjoy doing it. I was thinking about how loads of you are now thinking about lesson planning, whether you know it or not, because your kids can't go to school.

You're not idiots, I know. In fact, I'd consider many of you (and your kids!) to be far smarter than I. I've actually learned to teach by watching some of you teach.

But this blog? It ain't about teaching. It's about lesson planning.

Actually, it ain't even about lesson planning. Guess what it's about! It begins with bu and ends with jo. Or joing. Bujoing. Or rather:

Bullet Journaling Is Lesson Planning

It makes a lot of sense to think of your bujo as a lesson plan. In this scenario, you are both the teacher and the student, guiding yourself through lessons and blossoming from the attention!

Consider the elements (which can be varied, but I'm keeping mine deliberately simple . . . maybe overly simple): 

Objectives 

When you're planning for students, this is where you'd state what the point of the lesson is. You could make this as broad or as narrow as needed, but you'd want to be clear about what they are learning and why.

In your bujo, your Objective would be like your intent for the day, week, month, or whatever time period you're working in. Again, this can be narrow or broad, and also clear or vague. My Objectives act as my guides through the month, weeks, and days, and are often narrow and broad, specific and vague.

A reminder to be mindful of self-care throughout the day

Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, what will my students have learned? "Students will be able to identify three different types of renewable resources." Specific and measurable.

At the end of the day/week/month/whatever, what will you have accomplished? Which of your goals will you have reached? Or perhaps your goal requires more time-- did you meet your checkpoint?

I use my monthly, weekly, and daily goals as my Outcomes, so I have a few going on at any given time. It's just a way that I keep track of my progress. If my monthly goal is to go to the gym 12 times a month, my weekly goal is to go to the gym three times.

Activities

This part's exciting. Meaningful activities will engage, inspire, and nurture curiosity, and have the bonus of educating your students. And the options are myriad. My favorites are the ones that my kids are challenged by and prompt lots of questions. I love it when my students debate with each other over a point they're learning and independently seek answers from their parents, the internet, and other teachers or friends. Because often I believe a huge part of my job is not only to get my students to learn to read, write, and communicate effectively, it's to teach them how to learn and think critically.

In your bujo, these Activities are your To Do lists or your daily goals, your chores, errands, and projects. And like the school lesson plans, these can be differentiated and scaffolded, depending on your ZPD!

What's ZPD? A student's Zone of Proximal Development describes the zone spanning what a student can do and what can be achieved with competent guidance. For bujo purposes, your emotional and psychological temperature can be considered your ZPD. If you know your emotional and psychological ZPD, then you can adjust your bujo accordingly.

When differentiating your lesson plan, you can choose to alter the process, the product, and content to meet the needs of diverse learners. And aren't you a diverse and complicated person? Are you not ambitious one day and completely lethargic on another? Differentiating your bujo based on your ZPD means if you're feeling particularly confident on Tuesday, your ten Activities might be more ambitious-- hiking up Koko Head in 45 minutes! Wash and detail your car and your neighbor's! On Thursday, however, just getting out of bed is hitting the high mark, and that literally is the one and only thing on your To Do list.

And how could you get through those ten items on Tuesday without the help of scaffolding? Let's break those errands and projects up into manageable chunks so you don't feel overwhelmed and give up entirely. If your goal is to give your kitchen a deep clean, break it down into doable chores: clean out the fridge, wipe down the counters, donate unused items, etc. And, hey, you could spread those chores over the course of the week instead of cramming it all into one day! If you need reminders, you can use Post-its if you're analog, otherwise set an alarm on your smartphone.

It's called "Dream Clean" because some (most?) of this will probably not get done, but I can dream

Assessments

How else are you to know if your students are making appropriate connections and understanding the material? You have to check! And you don't have to wait til the end to use summative assessments, you can do it throughout the lesson with formative assessments. They also allow you, the teacher, to check for the overall effectiveness of the lesson, reflect on the results, and capitalize on its strengths. 

At the end of the day/week/month/period, you can return to your bujo to check in. Take a few minutes to reflect on your day to recognize successes and gratitude. Think about what you accomplished and honor how you got there. But why wait until the end? Check with yourself throughout the day and ask: How do I feel? Can I get this done? Why am I doing this? Why is this important to me or important to do?

Reflection

Lesson planning to me is about knowing where my student is now, where she needs to be, and figuring out how I can help get her there. Preparing can take a shit-ton of time, and I only teach one subject to small groups! The time it takes to prepare, though, saves me time and stress. It gives me a sense of control and direction so that I can better manage my time in class and actually teach my students.

This is not very different from my own life. Preparedness brings me greater confidence in my daily life for a variety of reasons. I don't have to keep everything in my head so I'm less likely to forget (which can lead to missed appointments, rushing, and sometimes, losing money). I can organize my thoughts, errands, appointments, and projects and prepare for them. My therapist says that a lot of stress comes from feeling unprepared and not having the tools I need to meet the challenges I face. The more tools I can pull together ahead of time, the less anxious I am about hand-making most of my Christmas gifts or training for the Great Aloha Run or protecting myself and my family from Covid-19.

And like lesson plans, bullet journaling is not a detailed script I am obligated to adhere to. It is an outline to guide me toward where I want to be and what I want to accomplish. In this model, I am both teacher and student, positioned at a unique crossroads of self-awareness and action.