Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Online Plan book: Tried it Tuesday

I'm excited to link up again this week for Tried it Tuesday with Holly over at Fourth Grade Flipper.  There were so many fun posts to check out last week!

My tried it tip:

There are many lesson plan book websites out there, but this one fits me perfectly! 

I actually like that it is not overflowing with tons of bells and whistles. I don't want a planning website 

that is going to take me more time than just entering my plans in my old word processing planning 

document.  I just want to document my plans in a neat, organized, easy-to-access fashion.  

Planbook.com gets right to the point and saves me time!

 Here is a 1-week snapshot of my 6th grade plans.












Reasons why I love this site:

  • Easy to enter your plans and move them around from day to day.

  • You can add multiple classes and can view your plans in a few formats.

  • Printing plans is a breeze!  

  • Allows you to link to standards easily. (Honestly, I don't usually take the time to do this...I probably should!)

  • You can copy lessons from one year to the next.  I pretty much never teach the same lesson twice, but it is nice to easily reference a particular date from the year before.

  • The number 1 reason I LOVE this site is SHARING MY PLANS with my colleagues.  We have saved a TON of co-planning time by simply typing in our plans (which we would do anyway) and then sharing them with each other.  We still meet as a department, but our discussions are much more brief and on-target because this site provides a "window" into each other's classrooms.  (I'm lucky to work with two super talented teachers, so seeing their plans is a huge inspiration!)
This site does cost $12.00 per year, which is SO worth it for the convenience it provides.  You can sign up for a 1 month free trial to check it out if you want to give it a run.

Do you have an online planning website that you love?  Please share it!

Be sure to visit The Fourth Grade Flipper for the rest of this week's Tried It Tuesday blog posts!

In other cafe news... I've decided to open a Teacher's Network store.  Here is one of my first additions to the store.  Does anyone have advice to share about selling on TN?  The seller dashboard is a bit harder to navigate if you ask me, but I may just be used to TpT.  How do the giveaways work?

Thanks for visiting and happy teaching...

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6 comments:

  1. Principal PrinciplesOctober 22, 2013 at 7:20 AM

    I'm interested in this so I hope you repost again to let me know more. I may purchase it for my campus.
    Stephanie from Principal Principles

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KateOctober 22, 2013 at 8:51 AM

      Stephanie,
      I find it has really improved communication between the teachers in my department. One trick we figured out was having 3 teachers (all grade 6 science) share one login. (We all have our own too, but found using one easier.) It allows us to see each others daily science plans side-by-side. I'm not sure all teachers would like that, but we are a tight-knit team and welcome a very open approach to sharing strategies, materials and lessons. We have also found it helps with equipment sharing. For example, my colleagues can see that I plan on using 6 triple-beam balances on Tuesday which allows us to stagger lessons that require specific lab equipment.

      Thanks for visiting and feel free to email me with any questions!

      -Kate

      Delete
  2. Alison RoseOctober 22, 2013 at 7:09 PM

    I LOVE PLANBOOK!!!! It definitely is so worth the $12. I project my plans each day for my students and freeze it on my SMARTboard for them. There are times when I need to make adjustments and they watch me do this. It gives them a great visual to see that things are changing. I can not say enough wonderful things about this site.
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fourth Grade FlipperOctober 22, 2013 at 9:43 PM

    I have never heard of planbook but need to check it out! Thank you so much, Kate!! I love your detailed post. I also sell on TN but make very little profit compared to TpT. I find the dashboard difficult to navigate too and thought it would get better over time but I still have trouble. I don't want to give up on it though.
    Thanks for linking up! :)
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rissa WebberOctober 22, 2013 at 10:09 PM

    I stared using Planbook this year and I absolutely love it! One of my favorite features is actually being able to choose the standards that my lesson addresses. We have account for teaching all of the CCSS and this makes it easy. I also love being able to attach my documents that I am using during the lesson. I'm your newest follower and can't wait to read more!

    Rissa
    Keep Calm and Hoot On

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2015 at 6:19 PM

    I use PlanbookEdu and I love it as well. I will check this one out and give it a try though too!

    ReplyDelete