Whether you’re the person who thinks summer could not have ended soon enough, or the person who wishes summer could last for another 8 months, we are all facing the reality that school is starting just around the corner. Or maybe, for my friends in other states and countries, you have already had a few weeks back in school. Regardless, I think we are all trying to figure out the best methods for planning out our school year.
Do you prefer to see your day at a glance, week at a glance, or year at a glance? Do you like lists and schedules? Everyone is so uniquely different, but as a teacher or homeschool parent, we definitely need to stay organized...whatever form that comes in for you.
This month’s website feature is a website that allows people to customize their classroom organization in one place. I find that I often have to-do lists buried in my purse and located on my phone. I used to have a day planner at school and sticky notes with ideas at home. It was tricky to keep all my lists, schedules and plans organized in one place.
Planbook is a website that allows you to have all your information in one place, consolidated so it doesn’t get lost or mixed up with grocery lists or student work.
Planbook is an online daybook where teachers can plan for their day, week, month or class. They can choose to create weekly schedules or two-week schedules, A/B rotating schedules, term schedules or whole year schedules. Embedded in the website are the Standards for 50 states, and 75 national and international frameworks. As you can see, this website offers a variety of organization options for a variety of people.
This might sound overwhelming, but when I first signed up for planbook, there was a step by step tutorial to walk me through everything. I learned how to design and create week plans, lesson plans and units. I was surprised at how easy the creating and editing process was. Along with the ability to create units and lessons, there is also a gradebook section where teachers can record marks and comment on student progress. This website is great because all my work is in one area. When I want to change something in my day-plan, I can log into my account and add it in. When I have a sudden brainstorm for a unit, I can jot it down in the note section of planbook.
There are tabs for importing student information, student pull-out schedules, to-do lists, and account information. For instance, you can put in your Scholastic, BrainPop and Discovery account information - incase you haven’t memorized all the account numbers and passwords for all your teacher accounts.
There is a tab for substitute notes as well. Here you can jot down information about your students or lesson plans that you would like the substitute to teach. If you are not able to make it in for the day, you can send a PDF version of the sub notes.
To go one step further, students can access planbook as well. They can view lesson plans, links, videos or files from their teachers and view their own grades. They can also see any upcoming assignments or assessment that they should be preparing for.
If you like having all your information accessible in one area, this website might be one for you to check out. There is a $15 subscription per year for this website, but they offer a free month long trial to see if it’s the website for you. And they also have additional bonuses if more than one person from your school signs up and if you subscribe for more than one year.
What are some of your tricks for staying organized during the school year?
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