The Unit Planning Mistake 90% of Teachers Make (+ The Simple Fix)

Transform your teaching with strategic summer unit planning!

🌟 Stop the last-minute Sunday night scramble and walk into September feeling confident, organized, and excited about your lessons.

In this episode of I share my game-changing 3-pillar framework for effective teaching and lesson planning that will revolutionize your classroom management and boost student engagement. Learn how thoughtful summer planning creates better learning experiences and saves you countless hours during the school year.

What You'll Learn:
✅ The 3-pillar framework: Clear learning targets, authentic assessments, and engaging tasks
✅ Step-by-step summer planning process that actually works
✅ How to create flexible unit plans without perfectionist overwhelm
✅ Practical tools and templates for instructional strategies
✅ Why December/January units should be your summer priority

Perfect for teachers, education coaches, instructional leaders, new teachers, mentor teachers, and anyone focused on student success and education transformation. Whether you're implementing innovative teaching methods, working on inclusive teaching approaches, or seeking professional development, this episode provides teaching tips that support the whole child and create thriving students.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction - End the Sunday Night Planning Panic
1:00 The Secret of Strategic Summer Planning
2:00 Welcome to Summer Series - Your Teaching Reset
3:00 Why Summer is Perfect for Unit Planning
4:00 The Problem with Survival Mode Planning
5:00 Three-Pillar Framework Introduction
6:00 Pillar 1: Clear Learning Targets & Objectives (Bloom’s Taxonomy of Measurable Verbs)
7:00 Pillar 2: Authentic Assessments That Matter
8:00 Pillar 3: Engaging Tasks That Bridge Learning
8:30 Step-by-Step Summer Planning Process
9:00 Assessment Design - Start with the End
10:00 Why Start with December/January Units
11:00 Building Flexibility Into Your Plans
12:00 Practical Tools for Summer Planning
13:00 Wrap-Up - Your Foundation for Success
14:00 Closing & Connect with Olivia

When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

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🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

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When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hey there, amazing educators. Welcome back to Schoolutions Teaching Strategies Summer Series. Picture this, it's September. You're juggling a million things, caregiver emails are pouring in, and you're frantically trying to throw together a unit plan at 10:00 PM on a Sunday night. Sound familiar? I hope not, but we've all been there and it's absolutely exhausting.

What if I told you there's a way to walk into September feeling confident, organized, and actually excited about your units? What if those late night planning sessions could become a thing of the past? Here's the thing. Most of us approach unit planning completely backwards. We're in survival mode during the school year, grabbing materials, adapting on the fly, and hoping everything comes together.

But hope isn't a strategy, my friends. The teachers who seem to have it all [00:01:00] figured out, they're not superhuman. They just know the secret of strategic summer unit planning. And here's what blew my mind when I discovered this. The units I planned thoughtfully in July always outperformed the ones I threw together in November, December, and January. Every single time.

Today I'm diving into the three-pillar framework that transformed my unit planning forever. I'm talking about crystal clear learning targets, meaningful assessments that actually measure what matters, and engaging tasks that bridge the gap between where students start and where they need to go. Think of summer planning as your teaching insurance policy.

Instead of drowning in last-minute prep work, you'll have a solid foundation that makes your teaching life easier and your students learning deeper and richer. Because let's be honest, you didn't become a teacher to spend your evenings [00:02:00] frantically Googling activities. You became a teacher to change lives. So grab a cup of coffee, find a comfortable spot and let's talk about how to set yourself up for the best school year yet.

This is Schoolutions Teaching Strategies, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that isn't just theory, but practical try-it-tomorrow approaches for educators and caregivers to ensure every student finds their spark and receives the support they need to thrive. 

Welcome to Schoolutions Teaching Strategies Summer Series. This is your Summer reset, and I am your host, Olivia Wahl. Today we're diving into one of the most impactful ways you can spend summer break creating or updating your unit plans with crystal clear learning objectives, meaningful assessments, and engaging [00:03:00] tasks that will set you up for September success.

If you're like most teachers, you've probably got that familiar mix of excitement and overwhelm. Thinking about the new school year, maybe you're teaching a new grade level, implementing a new curriculum, or just want to refresh units that felt a bit stale last year. Whatever brought you here, you're in the right place. 

Today, we'll walk through a practical framework for summer unit planning that actually works. One that will save you time during the school year and create better learning experiences for your students. So let's dive in. 

First, let's talk about why summer is the perfect time to do this work During the school year, unit planning often happens in survival mode. You're grabbing materials, adapting on the fly, and hoping everything comes together. But hope isn't a strategy and summer gives you something precious: time to think strategically. [00:04:00] When you plan units during the summer, you can actually backwards design properly. You can start with where you want students to end up. Then build everything else around that vision. 

You can research new resources, think through potential student misconceptions, and create assessments that truly measure what matters. Here's what I've learned after almost 30 years of teaching. The units I planned thoughtfully in July always outperformed the ones I threw together in November, December, and January. Every single time.

But here's the key. I'm not talking about creating perfect Pinterest-worthy unit binders that you'll never actually use. I am talking about building practical, flexible unit outlines. Long-term planning that makes your teaching life easier and allows for your students' learning [00:05:00] to go deeper and be richer.

So let me share the three-pillar framework that transformed my unit planning: clear learning objectives, authentic assessments, and engaging tasks. Think of these as the foundation walls and your roof of your unit house. 

Pillar one: Clear learning targets or objectives. Your learning targets are your North star. They tell you and they tell your students exactly where you're headed. But here's where most teachers go wrong. They write targets that are too vague or too numerous. Instead of “students will understand fractions” try, “students will compare fractions with different denominators using visual models.” Make sure you're cognizant of how many verbs you include in targets and make sure you're considering bigger ideas and unit targets.

Maybe two or three for a [00:06:00] four-to-six-week unit of study, and then some supporting targets. For each long-term unit target again, only two to three per unit. Create two or three supporting targets. So for one, four-to-six-week unit of study, you would only have two to three max long-term, and then maybe six to nine supporting targets.

You don't really need to map out your daily lessons yet. That can be informed, matching your long-term and your supporting targets, but really needs to be based on exit tickets and student learning day-to-day. And once you know where you're going, that's when pillar two comes into play. You'll need to figure out how you'll know when you've arrived.

Your assessment should directly align with your objectives. No surprises, no gotcha moments for your students. And please think beyond traditional tests, how could your students demonstrate their [00:07:00] learning through projects, presentations, portfolios, or performances? The best assessments feel like natural extensions of learning, not interruptions to it.

And pillar three, engaging tasks. Your tasks are the bridge between where students start and where they need to go. Each task should clearly connect to your targets and prepare your students for your assessments. 

Now, let's get practical. Here is your step-by-step summer planning process. Week one, standards audit. Pull out your standards or your curriculum guide, and for each unit identify the three to five most essential standards. Don't try to cover everything. Depth always beats breadth. Next, objective writing or target writing. Ask yourself, what are the big ideas students need to leave this unit understanding about life and how they are going to be a better [00:08:00] human?

And then craft your long-term and supporting targets to transform standards into student-friendly learning objectives. Make sure you're using verbs, and I will include a PDF that marries Bloom's Taxonomy with action. Verbs like, analyze, create, compare, or explain and make sure that each target is specific enough that you could design an assessment for it, whether it's an exit ticket, whether it's a smaller project that will be used for the bigger project at the end of the unit.

Next, consider assessment design. Create your end-of-unit assessment first. Yes. First, this backwards design approach ensures everything you teach actually matters for student success. Include both formative check-ins and summative evaluations. Now design your learning tasks. What do students need to experience to read, to [00:09:00] write, to problem solve, to watch in order to craft that bigger end of unit assessment? Will their audiences be? How will they offer feedback to their peers and receive it? And then move on to resource gathering. Collect your materials, create handouts that students can use to track their thinking. Bookmark digital resources. Future you will thank, present you for this level of organization.

Make sure to collaborate with your colleagues and adapt materials you already have. The goal is efficiency, not originality, and we both know you could spend your entire summer perfecting unit plans, but that is not sustainable and it's not necessary. Oftentimes, I will speak with teachers that begin with their first unit and have that well planned, perhaps even their second unit.

Everything kind of falls off [00:10:00] later in the year. I suggest starting with your December, January, February unit this summer. Those are the units that often get neglected because you have everything else planned and you're trying to build the plane while you're flying at mid-year. You also need to build in flexibility. Don't script every day. Instead, think of long-term planning, flexible frameworks with room for adjustment. Make sure to plan for differentiation. Summer is the perfect time to think about how you'll support striving learners and challenge advanced students. Build these supports right into your unit structure, not as afterthoughts and create systems, not just content.

Develop consistent routines and systems that carry across units. When students know what to expect, you can focus on content instead of procedures. Remember, good enough is perfect. A solid, flexible unit plan that [00:11:00] you actually use is infinitely better than a perfect plan that overwhelms you. Let me share some practical tools that make summer planning easier for me.

Planning templates, I have simple templates for unit overviews, lesson plans, and assessment rubrics. Consistency saves mental energy during the school year. Digital organization. I use cloud-based folders to organize everything I recommend one main folder per unit with sub folders for objectives, assessments, tasks and resources. 

Collaboration tools. This is where you can connect with other teachers through social media, professional learning communities or district partners. Sharing the workload makes everything more manageable. And make sure to gather and invest in quality resources that time investment in finding really good resources rather than [00:12:00] creating everything from scratch. Educational blogs and professional organizations often have excellent materials. 

And one more thing, document your thinking. When you make planning decisions, jot down quick notes about why. Six months from now, you'll remember what you did, but not why you did it. As we wrap up, remember that summer unit planning isn't about creating perfect lessons. It's about building a strong foundation for the school year ahead. When September arrives and you're juggling a million things, you'll have clear targets guiding your teaching, assessments that actually measure learning, and tasks that engage your students. Your future self will thank you for the summer investment and more importantly, your students will benefit from the thoughtful planning you're doing right now.

Start small, pick one unit. Again, I advise starting with November, [00:13:00] December, January, and work through the process. Once you see how much smoother that unit runs, you'll be motivated to tackle the rest. Thanks for listening to this Schoolutions Teaching Strategies Summer Tip episode. Until next time, happy planning and here's to your best school year yet.

Schoolutions Teaching Strategies is created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son, Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Schoolutions wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube. Now, I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com. Tell me about the unit you’re excited to revise this summer so that you feel more prepared during the school year. And don't forget to tune in every Monday and Friday this summer for mini episodes filled [00:14:00] with tips and ideas that will help you prepare for September while still resting and rejuvenating this summer. See you soon for another tip episode. And until then, enjoy the sunshine and take care.