New notebooks may be a form of journal lovers’ addiction. There is nothing like a new notebook to make you feel like you can conquer the world or take on a new project. A new notebook purchase would logically take place when one notebook is filled up and can’t be used any longer. If you are an avid journal lover; however, you will often find yourself making up a new reason to jump into a new notebook.

Whatever form of journaling you use, I find that most people who carry some form of an everyday notebook or journal or more likely to need to move over to a new notebook for whatever reason. This journal could be a planner, feelings journal, diary, or bullet journal. Bullet journaling has become an incredibly popular method for organizing your life, tracking goals, and unleashing your creativity. However, there may come a time when you need to move your bullet journal or just your everyday journal from one notebook to another. Whether you've filled up your current journal or simply want to switch to a new one, this step-by-step guide will walk you through the process of migrating your bullet journal seamlessly.

August always feels far away, and then all of the sudden it is here. It has to be one the fastest moving months throughout the year. Back-to-school advertisements and sales are everywhere. All of the teachers I know (including myself) are struggling with how the fall will look for students, teachers, and families as we return to teaching during a pandemic. How quickly will burnout set in? Will everything be okay? The new dynamic of being a mom will also be on my plate as I enter the upcoming school year. Managing family schedules, daycare, and finding time to fit in what really matters is going to be an added challenge. I have loved bullet journaling for the past 4 years, but I have also used a Passion Planner occasionally when I need to get myself back on track in terms of organization and goals. This post outlines how I plan to use BOTH a Passion Planner and a bullet journal to keep myself on track in terms of goals and tasks, but also dreams, family time, and trying to fit in a certain amount of self-care to avoid burnout.

This summer marks my first summer as a mom. The school year ended abruptly with virtual teaching coming to a close. School ended by saying goodbye to kids over the internet. Little circles with initials on a Google Meet screen. Many of whom I have never seen their face throughout the whole year. Most of my students were relieved that online school was over, but there was also a handful of them that didn’t want to log off on that last day. It was hard in many ways. I was ready to be done because I was ready to start summer with our new baby. The last day of reporting for duty all teachers were emailed our assignments for the fall. This email brought up uncertain ideas, assumptions, and predictions about what it would be like to return full-time in-person.

I have no idea what the fall will hold.

I am going to be taking our baby to daycare for the first time, we will return in-person to school in masks and go back into my classroom, and we are going to navigate what school looks like after being online for over a year. I miss my classroom more than I can tell you. I miss the way kids would browse books in my classroom library. August comes with so many uncertainties. I am planning on keeping my bullet journal for regular journaling and ideas as I enter the new year, but I am looking to move back into a Passion Planner for August to get myself organized for the school year. This post outlines how I am approaching the middle month of summer as a teacher and new mama, and it shows some key pages that are keeping me organized and motivated. In the past, I have used the month of July for a mid-year check-in. This year, I am taking it one month at a time to learn how to adjust to motherhood.

It’s officially November! Last month, I wrote about my new journey with a traveler’s notebook. In a traveler’s notebook, there is a cover, notebook inserts, and an elastic band system to hold those notebooks. I got a chance to play around with my new system, and I tried out using four different inserts for the different parts of my life. I am keeping the traveler’s notebook system for the month of November, but I am adding in a different notebook insert that resembles more of the bullet journaling I have done in the past. This post shows you all of the different parts of my November planning, a review of my new Archer & Olive notebook insert, and some of the ways I am planning for big goals using project planners.

I love all things paper. A new notebook, journal, or planner is enough to get me to feel motivated about my goals. Fresh pages that are blank are sometimes all you need on a rough day to feel like a fresh start is in order. However, maybe like me, you have also had a notebook or office supply obsession get out of hand over the years. While I love a fresh notebook or journal, I will be the first to admit that I am one of the first people to not finish a notebook or journal and move on to something new. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that because of the inspiration that a new notebook brings, but I also know many of us are on the hunt for notebook, planner, or journal peace where we find a system that works for us in all ways.

If you check out examples in the planner and journaling communities, you can see a variety of journal types, writing and typography, designs, layouts and spreads, and ideas for organization. New notebooks make us feel good. Half of the fun in this journaling journey is the trying out of new ideas and systems to see what will work for us. If you are like me, you know what definitely doesn’t work for you. This post proposes different styles, types, and considerations when trying to find a journal or planner peace. The goal of this post is not to present you with a correct option, but show you the options that I have encountered along the way so that you find what works best for you.

So, I understand now that there are these things called traveler’s notebooks that everyone seems to love. I have been obsessed with my Leuchtturm 1917 bullet journal for over a year and a half now. When I first discovered bullet journaling, I couldn’t stop looking things up on Pinterest, checking out YouTube videos, and seeing how other people were doing layouts. It helped me discover a love of drawing I never knew I had as a teen or even as an adult. Who would have thought that a woman in her 30’s would discover a love of doodling? I think that is one of the main reasons why I love all things journaling and keep talking about writing and journaling here on the blog. Now, when I wasn’t in my bullet journal, I was working in my Undated Lush Green Passion Planner. Passion Planners are amazing. They serve a specific purpose because they help you figure out routine when everything feels like chaos, and there is a layout for everyone. Journals seem to have different purposes for different parts of life. Cue the traveler’s notebook.

As I reflect on the planning that I did at the beginning of August, I am keenly aware of the transition to the fall teacher schedule that happens in September. Yesterday was the first day of school and our first day implementing our district’s online learning plan. While today was the first full day, and I think it went pretty well, there still is something to be said about the major adjustments in the schedule that happens in not just my life, but in the life of a teacher. Really, anyone associated with someone going to school. Different pockets of priorities sneak up around keeping track of new tasks, email inboxes, trying to stay organized, and encouraging personal creative growth and inspiration. One way I like to try to maintain life’s course during times of transition is through journaling. Last month I wrote about how I was utilizing the Undated Daily Passion Planner in Lush Green in order to take things one day at a time. I can focus on the goals and the tasks that need to happen that day. This has been an adjustment in how my brain thinks. I am a habitual planner-aheader. I want to know what is happening a week from now, a month from now, and a year from now. I am constantly making lists. However, I think this particular fall season calls for all of us to maybe considering slowing down.

However you find yourself slowing down this fall season, I hope you get a chance to focus in on your goals, get curious about your own learning, and indulge in small moments that make you happy. One way to do that is to focus on your journaling habits. You may be choosing to use a bullet journal system, keep a Passion Planner, or write down your thoughts in any notebook you have around the house. My process for September involves figuring out where my motivation is through an inspiration layout, and then planing for each day, one at a time. This post is a preview of my inspiration layout for the month, some dailies, and my process for tackling the rest of the 29 days ahead.

What a time to be a teacher! I finally got a chance to relax a bit in July, and then August snuck right on up to say hello. It’s August. Officially. What this normally means in my mind is that I need to start getting around for Back-to-School. Like an alarm that went off in my mind, I woke up early on August 1st ready to start thinking about school. I even walked outside to let out our dog, Laker, and saw that the bush that turns fire-engine red in the fall indeed had three new red leaves. It was crisp in the air. Fall decided it was going to show up early. Like other teachers this summer, I never really shut my brain down long enough to feel like it was summer. Earlier in June, I participated in moving an in-person writing camp to an online format, and I finished up an online summer book club with The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson for all middle schoolers in my district. Summer flew by. It always does. I went from being eager and anxious about my district announcing the Return-to-Learn plan on August 3rd, and then I spent some time this week processing what it would mean for me for the upcoming year.

I do know August 3rd still has not provided a ton of answers. My district is offering two main options for students: 1.) A tiered return approach and 2.) A fully virtual option. The tiered approach will work by trimester or every 12 weeks. The first twelve weeks will be online, the second twelve weeks will be a hybrid model of online and in-person learning, and the last twelve weeks will be fully in-person five days a week. This is all contingent on the phase or status of COVID-19 here in Michigan. I wanted to spend the first week of August figuring out how I am handling my own morale and motivation considering returning to the classroom, and I wanted to focus on the items in my routine that are favorite things to use. This post is an August products favorites haul of sorts and inside peeks into the day-by-day schedule that I am using with my new Daily Passion Planner.

I feel like I would normally be starting this post with what it feels like to finally be in summer. it’s official. Writing camp at Western Michigan University wrapped up last week, and I started to work on the anthology this week with a renewed sense of feeling (more) free from obligations. While I always stay busy, summer is a freedom of sorts from time. However, this year has been so different. We had five weeks off in between schools closing down and starting online learning. We then ran through online learning at a sprinting pace, and June hit all of a sudden before I could even register that I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to my students. I can’t honestly say the number of Google Meets I have been on since April. I miss my classroom. I miss my students. Now, it’s July. I am just as tired. I feel just as drained. However, I am wondering if it is for other reasons than the weird way the school year ended.

I think I am exhausted because I was not feeding my own creativity and growth in terms of reading and writing during the time of online learning. I felt so frustrated with online learning and the systems and processes in place that I realized that my own goals in terms of creativity just weren’t there. So, after figuring this out about myself, I made July’s plan-with-me post a mid-year check-in review and inventory of where I am at in terms of goals, habits, and dreams. This post outlines how I set up my productivity pages for the month of July, and it also includes how I am doing a mid-year check-in. If you want to also do a mid-year check-in, follow along with the prompts. I hear so many people in the teaching profession and in my own personal life saying that they have “given up on 2020” and “I am already looking forward to 2021.” We have this time, and I know that living in the present moment has been the necessary water my life garden has needed for each phase of my life.

Let’s grow in July.

On Monday this past week, I walked outside to let the dog out and stretch and was met with the following scene: the clearest blue sky, bright sunbeams, fresh morning air at the just-right temperature, birds chirping, and leaves fluttering. The grass beneath my feet was almost glowing. It was the kind of morning that makes you feel alive and ready to face the day. And what a time right now to need to feel alive. I have found myself looking for the “blue skies” in everything right now. Seeking positivity in the people and places around me.

With the murder of George Floyd on May 25, and the protests following the outcry in response to his murder, Breonna Taylor’s murder on March 13, Ahmaud Arbery’s murder on February 23, and countless others, the days of the first week of June have blurred together. The time has been spent watching the news, talking to friends and colleagues, and seeking answers within myself and the world around me. Black lives matter. As an educator, the fight within our classrooms to hold discussions, talk about books and resources, secure funding for materials, and to help facilitate conversations on the district-level have always been a continual journey. The journey continues. I am hoping with relentless action and voice, teachers can help make the changes needed in our country and classrooms.

In the month of June, I am holding on to blue skies to ground me where I am in the present moment. The here and now. This post contains all of my layouts-include monthly and weekly spreads-for the month of June.

As I sat down to plan the coming month, this little phrase kept repeating in my mind. I am hoping it is true. Because April seemed like “showers” was the theme. It almost feels like April didn’t happen. I experienced the move to distance learning, got my items from my classroom, and digested that this academic school year was officially over in terms of going into a school building. The learning isn’t over, but it definitely does not feel the same. I sometimes feel that the season we are in right now is all too appropriate. Spring is in the middle. An in-between. It is not hot and not cold. Quarantine is not productive and not lazy. Social-distancing is hard for some and easier for an introvert like me. We are all trying to figure out the middle. I took this picture while I was outside this past week walking around the yard. It captures the moment before the leaves on this little bush are fully sprouting out to say hello to the world. My goal and theme for May is to honor the middle ground that is spring and look for the moments of growth that are about to happen. This post outlines my bullet journal plan with me for the month of May, as well as some new materials I am using to keep things full of color.

April 1st means it is officially poetry month! I woke up this morning to an email letter from Jennifer Benka, executive director of The Academy of American Poets or Poets.Org. In her email, she stated, “More and more people are turning to poetry at this moment, because amid fear and uncertainty, poetry can help bring needed strength. At a time of anxiety and alarm, poetry can help bring tranquility. Poetry has the power to bring us together.” Poetry is powerful. I have to admit that over the course of the past week or so, I had started reading a little less. I had tried to keep up with my journaling, I was writing away on the blog, but my reading was something that sort of fell off. On a day I was feeling particularly funky, I remembered a line from The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney where the main character asked, “What else is possible?” in response to not assuming the worst outcome right away. The poem stuck in my brain as being so important right now. There is always something that goes awry. Stubbed your toe? Slow down. Dishwasher broke? You have an opportunity to learn how to fix something. Unexpected school closures in the last third of the school year due to a pandemic virus? Perhaps there is a reason.

I repeat, perhaps there is a reason.

I immediately started to round up the poetry books and novels-in-verse that were in my house and on my bookshelf. I am making a plan for my reading this month focusing on novels-in-verse and poetry. I was scared I had left a ton at school. I had. However, I had more access to poetry and books than I realized. I made a giant stack, and then I spent the rest of the day making a plan for my journal around poetry. I got excited about collecting poems, making lists, and trying to find the right words. Then, I paused when I came across Sarah Kay’s Poem “The Paradox.”

This is not a blog for finances. I cannot offer specific information about how to invest money, create a magical envelope system, or use a snowball payment system to pay down your debt. However, during the time away from school, I am taking the time, like many of us, to look at my simple budget and make some goals during the school closures. A simple budget is something we all should be doing often. I love using my journal for everyday life. I find that there is something satisfying about having one page be journal writing and the next page to be my monthly budget. Our journals should be living documents of our lives. I like to break down steps and make goals that go into my monthly plans. Financial practices are a form of self-care. I feel like financial self-care is a place that opens a world for us in terms of new learning, growing in good habits, and making goals. In this post, I outline four simple steps to use your journal to create or review a simple budget.

When I was 8 or 9, one of my favorite books was a light blue field guide of North American birds. I would browse through this book for hours. I loved owls and hummingbirds, robins and blue jays. The sight of birds always makes me smile. I have the same feeling about the month of March, specifically when I can feel spring is coming. The moment when the snow starts to melt and the wet grass is exposed to fresh air after a while. March is right before Spring Break. If you are anyone in the teaching world you know that Spring Break signifies a major benchmark in the school year. You can feel like you have accomplished so much…or you might have a long way to go. You may be gearing up for the testing season, or you may be trying to wrap your mind around the last 14 weeks of a school year and how to tackle each day with sanity.

Wherever you seem to be, my hope is that you find some moments to notice things like birds in the trees, find some moments of reading, and enjoy early morning journaling. Small things. Things that matter. March means we are three months into the new year, but there is still lots of time to do great work. It isn’t too late. This post outlines my plan for the month of March with a monthly layout, weekly layouts, and a reflection page in my bullet journal. I also have included “more” and “less” sections on each weekly layout to help guide a focused reflection each week. What do I want to do more of? Read, sleep, write, and spend time with my husband. What do I want to do less of? Taking work home, to-do list piling, anxiety, and not being proactive about stress. I am still using the same materials from my February post, including my Leuchtturm 1917 Medium A5 Dotted Journal in Port Red.

Journal in hand. Let’s do this, March.

I have been laughing quite a bit at all of the posts regarding how long the month of January feels to those in the teaching profession. On Friday, it really did feel like we were on the 62nd day of the month. The process of coming off of winter break, entering back into a routine, and realizing that 2020 goals are going to take the same grit from 2019 are all jarring realizations, to say the least. I went back to the yearly overview post I made around New Years to recenter myself on how I am moving forward into the next month. February is about moving forward. Moving forward with any goals, moving forward with ideas, and moving forward into the rest of the school year. At the beginning of January, I had written about the two books I am focusing on for this year: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy and You Had Better Make Some Noise: Words to Change the World by Phaidon Editors. I have many words that connect to goals for 2020, but both of these books are strong reminders to insert love and kindness into the world and do so loudly.

“What do you think success is? asked the boy. “To love,” said the mole.” -The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charles Mackesy

The first step in moving ahead into February is to challenge the negative mindset that has crept in throughout the month of January. Thoughts such as:

• The school year is already halfway over, and I feel as if I am not accomplishing as much as I want to do.

• I am tired.

• I already feel behind, and it is only January.

• I feel defeated when it comes to sustaining the same energy each day.

• I should be writing more.

• I should be reading more, and yes I am in a reading funk.

• Why haven’t I started the big project, yet?

There are more. However, the battle with negative self-talk enters right around February. Right when the feeling of the New Year subsides. Right when you realize that snow days aren’t happening this year in Michigan, and you adjusting to the idea of survival mode as a means of living. Just surviving is not a way to live. As teachers, the goal of February should be recentering ourselves out of survival mode and moving forward into a place of love. Love for self, others around us, our profession, and our own goals. For many of us, we say to ourselves, “I simply can’t.” Our daily demands are forcing us into a “when I open my eyes, until when I close my eyes” type of mentality. We still have to find a way to move forward even if it is small. Small progress is progress. In order to move forward, we are going to need a lot of determination and a lot of coffee (or the beverage of your choice). This month, the theme is coffee.

You don’t know how tempted I was to put a pun about “20/20 vision” in the title of this post. I am so ready for the new year! I don’t mean in the sense that all of my lesson plans, copies, and grading are done, but more so in the way that I feel rejuvenated after winter break. I really tried not to work the entire time over the two weeks, and I feel the benefits in my creativity and in my writing motivation. I started to wake up yesterday with new ideas and the desire to fill notebooks up with thoughts, reflections, and more. This came in handy because I was procrastinating about migrating over into my new bullet journal for the new year. My local independent bookstore, This is a Bookstore and Bookbug, started carrying my favorite journals so now I have a constant supply to look at and plan for when I go get a chai latte and grade or pick up new books. The goal of this post is to show you how I use my bullet journal to plan for the new year with year-long goals and plans, and also how I set up my monthly plan for January. This post is similar to the other bullet journal “plan-with-me” posts on the blog, but it provides more information as I am moving into a new journal and it is the start of a new year.

November calls for gratitude. It includes the first big holiday since maybe Labor Day or the Fourth of July when people get together. I am often struck by these holidays that sometimes the people closest to us are family, but not connected by blood. While I am not an advocate for celebrating the known reasons behind Thanksgiving, I am a person who loves holidays. This post outlines my November bullet journal inspiration, my November pages, and some key points of reflection. If you choose to celebrate Thanksgiving, you might feel the same as I do. The push and pull of recognizing the “Hallmark” holiday absurdity of it all or really loving the atmosphere of the day. To me, there is something comforting about the food (my husband makes the best turkey), the people, and the purpose that everyone has for taking time out of a busy schedule. It makes me want to plan more holidays throughout the year for no reason. at all. I always focus on the opportunity to be grateful for this moment in my life and then also trying to be more mindful of this feeling throughout the rest of the year.

I love October. I fall for all things pumpkin and leaves and warm coffee. The inspirational books from this month were very deliberate, and yet they all sort of fell into place naturally. I am going to be reading Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes with my classes this month in preparation for her author's visit to Kalamazoo in November. We will be writing ghost personal narratives while studying this mentor text, and also learning skills in scene writing, dialogue, snapshots, and imagery. Some other things I am excited about this month:

• My husband and my birthday are on the same day this month.

• Michigan Council for Teachers of English is this month! I am presenting on mentor texts and receiving an award!

• I am presenting in my district about mentor texts this month.

• Jason Reynolds Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks comes out on the 8th!

• The FIRST marking period of the year comes to a close this month.

• The FIRST round of parent/teacher conferences is this month.

• I speak at Western Michigan University to a group of pre-service teachers this month.

• Happy Halloween!

September is one of those months that everyone has an opinion about. Either people love the start of a new academic year, or they miss the days of summer where things were a little bit slower and more carefree. I fall into both camps; it is a time to reminisce and a time to jump back into routine. September is about re-finding your rhythm. I love the inspiration from this month’s books, and also the idea of of holding onto the ideas of empathy, perspective, and adventure as I get ready to start year 10 teaching middle school.

Get ready with me for the new school year! I love my bullet journal for keeping my general life focused and for daily morning pages; however, I am going to try to also use a bullet journal for my teacher planning this year. I end up always writing my teacher plans, dreams, and schemes all over the place. This could be in countless random notebooks, my personal bullet journal, and on my little clipboards. My goal is to put all of these things in one location-including my meeting notes-so the end of the year reflection will be easier and I will stay more organized. I also want to take much of my teacher planning out of my personal bullet journal and use that more for life goals, personal reflections, and other writing projects. I recently posted my August Plan With Me for my personal bullet journal, and if you don’t know where to start, here are some amazing Teacher Bullet Journals to follow on my Bullet Journal Round-Up Post. It is important to note that my spreads in this post are not all the way filled in yet. Once our calendar/contract are finalized, I can add in some dates and marking period cut-offs to my schedules. Also, like in my classroom, I like to leave some things blank because I find that there is something about filling things in as you go that is part of the bullet journal process. I think it encourages reflection at the end of one marking period to stop and reflect, and then go on to plan the next six weeks. I will post these as they are updated throughout the year.