Last month I mentioned (in The Wonder of Google Calendar for Teachers) how I’d started to use Google Calendar for my lesson planning. Well it’s now a bit further down the line and I’ve spent a half term with it in action. Now’s the time to reflect on how I’ve used it now that I’ve refined my practice a little further! :D

Let me just say before I start this that every teacher plans slightly differently. I’m not a believer in planning miles in advance – partly because I believe good teaching to be responsive, partly because you never know what’s going to disturb/distract/interrupt lesson time, and, well, partly because I’m lazy…

(click to enlarge)

1. I’ve got my timetable set up in Google Calendar, set to repeat every week. This took about half an hour to set up and is quite straightforward. I’m not going to go into details as to how to do this as it’s fairly self-explanatory. (Please feel free to get in touch or leave a comment if you’re stumped!)

(click to enlarge)

2. I outline my lessons about a week in advance. This involves making a note of the topic of the previous lesson, any homework that is due in, and the title and objective for that particular lesson. I use Google Docs for my programme of study, which is based upon the generic programme of study for the History department at my school.

(click to enlarge)

3. When you come to save what you’ve entered for a particular lesson, you must make sure you select the Only this instance option, otherwise you will change it for all the instances of that lesson, not just the one for that particular day/week!

(click to enlarge)

4. After each lesson I write a brief evaluation – usually just what went well, what I could have improved upon, any behaviour issues and things to chase up. I then usually review this quickly before the class come in for their next lesson, or if it requires further action, make a note of it to pass on to the relevant person.

(click to enlarge)

5. Unfortunately the Google Calendar interface doesn’t accept HTML syntax at present, but it does turn anything beginning html:// into a valid hyperlink. If I create a resource I want to use in a lesson, or find one online, I therefore just link to it directly in the lesson planning area. (This is actually great as it forces me to upload more of my stuff to sites like historyshareforum.com)

Miscellaneous tips and advice

• In holiday time simply delete each lesson, selecting the This instance only option. Then create an event that spans the whole of the holiday and give it a title such as Half-term holiday.
• You can add reminders to yourself by creating an all-day event. I do this when I need to speak to one of my tutees about something in particular, or to remind myself that I’m on break/bus duty on a particular day.
• Plan for your free/PPA time! I plan what I’m going to mark, what I’m going to plan and what I’m going to achieve in my non-contact time. This tends to make me more productive…:p
• If you use an Interactive Whiteboard or projector and don’t want students to see your calendar/planning projected, simply press the ‘freeze’ button on your projector’s remote control. I use this at the beginning of lessons so that they see the title and objective of the lesson whilst I’m quickly reminding myself of what we’re doing that lesson!

If anyone else is using Google Calendar to plan their lessons I’d really value your input/advice/ideas! :)