I am an independent and free spirited teacher that never wanted to be reined in with the dreaded Pacing Guide. This year, we were informed that we were required to use a particular curriculum, “with fidelity.” Therefore, using a pacing guide made sense, and reluctantly, and with much reservation, I submitted to the practice.

With much chagrin, I must say that I’m now a convert. My grade level colleagues and I chose a pacing guide that had already been produced by another school district using the same curriculum as us. We tweaked it to fit our calendar, and began using it the second week of school. Here is what I discovered:

• I spend far less time planning.
• I spend less time checking the standards, because they’re in the pacing guide.
• My students are more engaged, because we are moving quickly through the material. There’s no time to get bored.
• I spend less time creating reteaching lessons. Built-in spiral reviews give regular reteaching opportunities.
• I spend less time creating materials to use. The pacing guide we chose has many outstanding materials for classroom use.

So, although I was dragged into using a pacing guide bucking and kicking in protest, I’m finding that it has made my job much easier. It’s not too late in the year to create a pacing guide of your own, if your school or department doesn’t provide one. If you try it for a trimester or quarter, you may find it makes your teaching life easier as well.

I always try to live by the words of my educator friend Rob. “Work smarter, not harder.” Simple, yet elegant.