Paper planning is in the past!

Ever since I started teaching- even student teaching- I have always created my own lesson plan templates in Microsoft Word.  I would use cutesy font, my Sharpies and could change it up if I needed to.  I've never been able to conform to a pre-made plan book.  I always wanted one because what a fantastic organizational planning tool it must be, right?

This past spring, I finally got an iPad.  I use it a lot for personal use, but primary use was to be a tool in the classroom- for me though since our school is fortunate enough to have iPads for student use.  I downloaded a few apps for me to use such as Dropbox, Scootpad (to manage student accounts), CCSS app and then also created buttons for my home screen for things such as Progress Book, Everyday Math (excellent for their new online assessment management system), Superkids (our language arts program) and our districts homepage.

When my student teacher became more independent, I decided it was time to spend some of my free time, prepping lessons for when she was gone and I began to peruse lesson planning apps.  I researched, googled and read app reviews about each program I was interested in and one continued to standout; Planbook.

Planbook has an iPad app that is currently priced at $9.99 and/or a Mac or Windows program that is priced at $30.  I started by just purchasing the iPad app thinking if I like this maybe the Mac version would be a great addition some day!  I absolutely loved it!  You're able to create any type of schedule to fit your needs.  For example, last year, my building had a six-day rotation schedule and we labeled them A-F.  A traditional lesson planner could reflect this, but it was nice that I was able to easily label each day.  Snow day or weather delay?  No problem- you can push full days or individual lessons forward!  You can also create "Custom Days" for those special days when you may have a half day field trip or an afternoon assembly.

I decided to purchase the Mac version at the beginning of summer (they do offer a free trial so you can test it out- which I did and absolutely loved!) so I would have time to play around with it.  A big bonus of the Mac (and Windows) version is that you can store complete lesson plans in a "Library" and then reuse and plug-in next year!  For lessons that do not change (math and language arts) I just sent the basic lesson to the "Lesson Library" for reuse next year, then I will add differentiation in weekly to meet the needs of my current students.  The Mac/Windows version you can also document standards used.  It does not come preloaded with CCSS but you can visit this LINK and download your grade levels standards and import it into PB.

Possibly one of the neatest things I found about this software is the sharing!  You can share your Planbook plans on the website Planbook Connect (available with purchase of Mac/Windows version only), click HERE to see my Planbook Connect page.  I find this will be helpful to share with interested parents, team members and administration.  In addition to this neat feature, you can also e-mail your lesson plans and print them off.  I thought I would miss the paper lessons, but I don't.  I just grab my iPad and I'm good for the day.  If I ever forget my iPad or it breaks, I can access my full plans through Planbook Connect online.

If you buy the iPad and the Windows/Mac version, you can sync all lessons back and forth via Dropbox.  What I also liked is that with my user license I was able to put it on my home computer (Mac) and it also allowed me to put it on one other computer- I chose my school computer with is Windows based- no problem!  I did not have to buy any additional licenses!

The owner of the software, Jeff Hellman, is also the best tech support you will ever need!  Every time I've had a concern, issue or just have been confused- I've e-mailed him and always gets back to you ASAP- usually within a couple of hours.  I've also found this site very helpful answering questions I have.

If you like technology and have been looking to ditch paper planning, this is the way to go!  Through my account, I can "Invite" people to purchase it and when you're invited, you also get $5 off your purchase!  This invite is for the Windows/Mac versions only- which brings total cost down to $25.  If you would like to buy it, leave your email in the comments and I will send you an invite!

Update: August 2, 2013- I just found out that Planbook Connect (not the actual software, the online version that you can share with families, colleagues, administrators) is actually only a feature currently available for the Mac version of the software.  However, the developer is working on a version compatible with Windows. 

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