It is summer time! Officially and completely.
For us teachers this means family travel, road trips, camping, or maybe just a second job (especially if you don't budget during the year for 2.5 months without a paycheck). As the school year ends, talk to any teacher and you are bound to hear lofty plans for lesson planning too. We all know how that goes sometimes though. =)
But this brings me to my question for the blogosphere:
How do you lesson plan?
I have used sticky notes, the back of envelopes, word documents (with and without templates), and a wiki... but i always felt there should be a better way to do it. With all that web tools can do, it seems lesson planning and organization has been overlooked. Or maybe it is just me that has overlooked them. Please respond to this with comments telling me all about the ways you paperlessly plan your lessons.
I'll start with one I think is a game-changer for the curriculum publishing but which is just getting going. It is being developed by a former teacher from Baltimore named Scott Messinger and takes a lot of tools from the web and applies them to solving the problems of collaborative lesson planning. It is still in beta but if you are interested in getting an account, I can send you an invite. The site is called Common Curriculum and is quickly becoming my favorite way to organize my semester's plans. Below is a screen shot of a page from the 1st Grade Math curriculum (not what I teach, but an example of it in action already as being used by the Baltimore City Public School System).
As a newly qualified teacher in Scotland, I hunted for months for paperless solutions to replace my planning files. I've eventually settled on Planbook by Hellmansoft. It's compatible with both Windows and Mac, and if you're running a Mac like me, you can sync your plans onto an iPad.
ReplyDeleteSo now I type all my lessons up on my Mac, sync to my iPad before I leave the house and take it to school with me, ideal!
I just finished my first year teaching. I have struggled with lesson planning this year and I have made lesson planning one of my improvement goals for next year. I do pretty much everything online. One switch this year is I am going to scrap ppt and go with google docs for presentations so they are easily shared with students. I would love to take a deeper look into Common Curriculum. If possible, can you send me an invite? pwhitelaw AT rivervalleyschools DOT org thanks
ReplyDeleteCommon Curriculum looks interesting, though it is hard to get a real sense of its scope and power from just a screenshot. I'd be interested in poking around. Like you, I tend to use hodge podge methods to lesson plan, and would like to have a method that is more collaborative and more easily shared with colleagues.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in test driving Common core web app. The software Planbook by Hellmansoft looks good but they do not have a linux version.
ReplyDeleteMy email is erikweese @ gmail dot com.
My Social Studies department has been using google spreadsheet to plan. Individual lesson plans are word docs though. I would like to open it up to students more. Kinda saying," Hey, this is what we are doing in class and where we are going".
What P Casey said about Planbook looks awesome, as I have a Mac and an iPad. I am actually looking for something paperless that works well for me and my students, especially if my students all get an iPad. Please send me a link and/or invite to Common Curriculum - looks cool. I also tend to "use hodge podge methods to lesson plan" and rely heavily with my students using a site I created on wikispaces (where I upload EVERYTHING for them.) Working within a quality community and sharing plans and ideas would be wonderful. My email is fsiracusa@countrydaylargo.com Thanks so much!
ReplyDeletePlanbook.edu is my pick! My partner and I use the same code and collaborate together. We upload our links, docs, and even color code. Got to love planbook.edu
ReplyDeleteIn the new year we are looking at curriculum design for information and digital literacy in our k-12 school. WOuld you please send me an invite to common curriculum as well? abond@iics.k12.tr Thanks
ReplyDeletePlanBook is my solution as well.
ReplyDeleteHow can you plan a lesson about anything until you know who the students are and what they want to know about?
ReplyDeleteI plan using OneNote, I can share my notebooks with whomever I wish whether in the collaboration process or by publishing as pdfs for administrators.
ReplyDeleteNorman, you raise an excellent point. As a public school teacher and the only Latin teacher in my school, I plan very generalized thematic units with benchmarks along the way. I also use Edmodo.com extensively to communicate with students during the semester. I keep the groups active for my level 2-5 classes, so I asked them to send me Edmodo.com notes over the summer if they spot anything they want to learn more about. In addition, whenever I have an idea for an assessment or project, I allow my students to help edit and/or develop the ideas. So, in this way, I never truly teach the exact same thing, I establish the parameters and let the students help flesh out the details.
article published quite interesting to read & add new value to me
ReplyDeleteSome instructors still prefer the traditional paper works to prepare their lesson plans. For those who are comfortable with digital files, this systems is going to be really useful. Is the system made in such a way that it's going to be friendly for new users, especially those who are not used to using computers?
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to go more and more paperless, as well as keep more of my files off the school server (where it's inaccessible unless I'm ther) and use online services such as Dropbox. I would love to check out Common Curriculum.
ReplyDeletekristi.veitenheimer@esc9.net
We are a 1:1 school and I'd love an invite as well. Missaldrich540@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteWould love an invite, if possible. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteterryheick@gmail.com
I use a combination of Google Docs and yellow legal pads right now, but I'm interested in learning more about PlanBook and Common Curriculum. I'd love an invite. Thanks. scott.lilley @ gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteAlong with all of the advances made in business, I think we are headed towards a more paper-free society. You can see that in this video how that works http://www.articlesbase.com/corporate-articles/converting-to-a-paperless-office-business-process-automation-4906520.html#axzz1PNh8s7G8
ReplyDeleteIt is yet another advance we are making towards a Paperless Office.
My companion and I use precisely the very same code and collaborate together. We upload our links, docs
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