Lesson Plans

Planning lessons for our classroom can be a daunting task.  For the 15 years I've been teaching, I've been searching for a ways to make this easier, faster, and using the least amount of paper possible.  Like many teachers, I used to purchase lesson plan books or make my own.  This summer I discovered the answer to all of my issues...Planbookedu.com. This is a free website for educators, unless you'd like to pay $25 for the year to receive the premium service.  Here's what I know so far (some features are only available if you purchase the Premium version):

• You get a 14 day trial period of the Premium edition.
• It's completely customizable.  You can add up to 20 different subjects per day, change how you want the days of the week displayed, and too many other things to mention.
• It can be linked with you schools website.
• Your administrator can see your planbook -- no more printing and copying your weekly plans to admin(if you need to do that).  An email link can be sent and they can view you book at anytime.
• You can print out in various formats and you can print one single day for sub plans.  I found the best format is to print the left side of the plan-book page and the right side of the plan-book page separately directly from the browser.  The height of each box is determined by the tallest character in the box and how much you've typed there so you may need to experiment a little with how much you write or even the set up of the book itself.  
• You can add state and Common Core standards to your lesson plans.  Not all states are up yet but you can customize standards and add your own if needed.  (The National Standards for Music Education are on!!!)  More states are being added every day.
• It can be viewed from any device that has an internet connection.  Yes, this includes your iPad, iPhone, or any other smartphone. Some devices will even allow you to edit entries without being at your computer.
• It's really simple to use.  The help system is great and easy to work with.
• They are always looking for suggestions of how to improve the sight.

Overall, I've really enjoyed using planbookedu.com.  It's made my life simpler and planning a whole lot easier.  Here's the link to check it out for yourself!!!

www.planbookedu.com