Long-term planning is an essential first step to set both you and your students up for a successful school year. My Long-term plan serves as a road map for the school year that guides me through the school year ensuring I follow my vision and my students meet my end of the year goals. Having an organized and focused vision of the school year pushes each of my students to meet rigorous learning goals. In order to prepare my students to meet and exceed every state standard and pass state standardized tests, I must take full advantage of my instructional time. My long-term plan helps me navigate those educational pressures and keeps my daily lessons focused without losing sight of the larger picture and my goals for students. Spiraling in difficult objectives throughout the school year prepares my students to meet the rigorous objectives. Additionally, it is easier for me to create cross-curricular activities and collaborate with colleagues because I have an overview of the curriculum I will cover during the academic year. 
 
The long-term plan details my projected timeline for each unit, instructional hours for each chapter as well as the Next Generation Science Standards phenomena and driving question I expect students to answer comprehensively by the end of the unit. I begin constructing my long-term plan by identifying the state standards I will be teaching, as well as enduring science and engineering practices (SEPS). These practices are essential components of scientific inquiry and a part of the Next Generation Science Standards. Including them in my long-term plan ensures that my students are actively engaging in scientific skills, processes, and thinking as they proceed through the unit. 
 
On the right is my long-term plan that I developed while working at Imhotep for 10th-grade high school biology in Pennsylvania. On the left is my long-term plan that I developed while working at Camino Nuevo for 6th grade integrated science in California.