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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

THE Best Online Resource For Teachers...aside from TPT....

I'm linking up with some lovely ladies for helpful hints today!

Click the picture to link up.


Have you heard?





During professional development at the beginning of the school year, I went to a technology training and was introduced to planbook.

This was after I had spend ooddles and boodles of dollars on my Erin Condren lesson plan book.

You know the name. 

It's popular in the teacher/pinterest/blogger world. 

We see one and begin to instantly salivate like a dog hearing the dinner bell.


You're drooling now.

Go ahead.  Get a kleenex to wipe it up and return to this post.

We'll be right here waiting....

Don't get me wrong.  I love my paper plan book.  When it came in the mail, I took tons of pictures as I opened it up from the purty little box. I have labeled, and planned, and graded in the Condren.

But let me tell you why I will not be purchasing a paper lesson plan book next year.

(All opinions are my own.)

I signed up for the one month free trail for the month of August.

It's nice that they give you a trail before paying or giving any kind of credit card information.  


They are not as sneaky as netflix, where you sign up for a free month but also give them your payment information, then conveniently forget which day you need to cancel before the payment......two years later you are still using netflix......sneaky I tell you.....sneaky....

Once you log in, you will need to create your classes.  


Click on classes and enter the subject areas you teach.




It's easy to adjust this based on elementary or secondary teachers.

Mine looks something like this:

Notice it is color coded?
Just as cute as Erin.

Once you add classes, you can edit the times.




For instance, we go to the computer lab on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so I can adjust that setting accordingly on the planbook.

On my paper plan book, I cannot get this specific.  
There is just not enough room to hand write all of the lesson plans.



Once you have your book set up, you can share and link it to other teachers, administrators, or parents.

This feature is too cool!

I can also add standards to my lesson plans easily!


Check it out:


At any time, I can see how many times I have taught the standard over in the right.

(Don't judge....I have not been good about labeling standards with my lessons.  At my school we are not required to put them into the lesson plans.  Inputting standards lasted through the second week.)


Here is what a typical week looks like on planbook.com



I can include homework, links, pdf files, notes to myself, small group information.  
You name it, there's a spot to input it into this website!  

It's amazing!




Notice at the bottom you can attach files?

And the best part?

Next year, I will input my first day of school in the calendar and it transfer all of my lesson plans accordingly.

What a waste of time to rewrite everything by hand!

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Now, what if I don't want to teach the same lesson next year?  OR what if my students work at a different pace and I need to extend or bump a lesson back a day?


Don't worry!  They've thought of that too!

When I am ready to print my lesson plans for the week, all I have to do is print to PDF.

Planbook has made my life as a teacher much easier.

It truly is worth it.

Next year, I will not be buying a paper lesson plan book.


Are you willing to take the leap of faith and go online?

Come on.  Everybody's doing it.


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