Teaching Middle School ELA
Teaching Middle School ELA
Caitlin Mitchell
Episode 424: How to Cut Your Planning Time in Half Without Cutting Corners
16 minutes Posted Jun 25, 2026 at 9:00 am.
Welcome And Mission
Portal Registration And June Planning Series
Planning Versus Searching For Lessons
Hack One Build A Focus Zone
Hack Two Timers And Faster Grading
Hack Three One Trusted Lesson Source
Hack Four Use AI For Drafts
Your One Hack Challenge And Wrap
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Show notes
In today's Teaching Middle School ELA podcast episode. I walked through four concrete ways to cut your lesson planning time in half without cutting corners. First, I talked about building a truly distraction-free planning block so you can get back into deep focus and actually finish. Then I used Parkinson’s law to your advantage by setting a timer you honor for planning and grading, including a realistic approach to essay feedback that prioritizes targeted comments over marking every mistake....