#15: Using Google Docs & Drive to do your planning

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>30 Days of Google series #15</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>Have you ever wondered if there is an easier way to do your daily/weekly/year planning and lessons than either writing them out by hand (worst scenario) or typing them out and keeping them on your own computer? One of the best applications to use for planning and preparing is Google Docs because you can then access your files from any computer as well as share them with anyone else who has access to the Internet. Amazing!</span><br /><strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></strong><strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Distinction between Google Docs and Google Drive</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Google Docs, Spreadsheets, and Slides are known as productivity apps. They let you create different kinds of online documents, work on them in real time with other people, and store them in your Google Drive online — all for free.</span><br /><strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></strong><strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">How to plan a lesson using Google Docs</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly it is free. If you have a Gmail account you have a Google Docs account which contains a great selection of applications to use. Anything created using these applications can be saved in Google Docs and the finished products can even be downloaded as Microsoft Word documents should you so wish!</span><br /><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JEPD3UDinWdzhUarB3SLY5_a-khAzMstAsNAgktUAGkEv8lxw1TBpdj1rukH_OjS9VAagLG6HUE-3NNNJdZvnOcS6rGZ2Al0yT6Jc1bjJTl3dAUOFoKJp1Lu3P1QkWp8j6rKmo5Tr5M/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1R2euOQE0EmlGDCNIuFs0ALokqy_6L6Dz6claFa8Fld_kNRgw_3DTAIn4DFjWMQYxrjRY_l-2AC4JopbA8MDRS6n-_NW4ttd5ScDcChgUlIH9mv0xvDmiLBW12T1kH3VTMi_sPDsLUU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="247" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></blockquote> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. If you already have everything typed in Word or Excel etc. you can upload them to Google Drive. In that way you won’t have to carry around a flashdrive.  This means that everything you create will be available from any computer that you use and sign in to Google on.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. If you want to create a lesson plan but you don’t want to make a template take a look at the templates supplied by Google. Just ask Google for ‘Google Docs templates and you’ll be taken to: </span><a href="https://drive.google.com/templates" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title="https://drive.google.com/templates">https://drive.google.com/templates</a>. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then be specific and ask for ‘lesson plans’. You will be shown a whole selection to preview and choose from. Once you have decided on one and click on it it becomes part of your Google Docs where you can customize it.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZz26dgDJiLsnf75jdbP6aArZA6u15jYk08JgdYR7K6JsQn5kqRBLGc4Vw-ksbDdkrc3v-dy3GoYR_sPa_PScAcNrhPP2lHtQigvrw7BhLDlAbuMV2m1jqShFS4PHY7QjqyzxAWkCbv50/s1600-h/image%25255B12%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcn9SJbTbA8NDjKUqiGJk4ZNOrOk3FFzAwthbT3NZ38TU3JTUFu_idpheIK2t8tCHDpL_jeK9A3q5NG88gnL_KSMCxWPUYUb1zCIkeBb8jfEz-o0eAAzTEpgJu9-k81B8KT8cgtOMN_rA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong></strong></span></blockquote><strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Keep all your documents in a folder in Google Drive</span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You’ll want to keep all your documents together in a folder. You could create a folder called, for example, Grade 3 English. In that folder you could put all the documents you need – calendar, timetable, year plan, term plan, week plan and daily plan. You could add your classlists, all your wordlists and assessment rubrics/sheets etc.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a)  To make a folder click the ‘Add folder’ button at the top of Google Drive.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoma3yWmEvFZnFzWRcoUiBBrHPmSrNdnECNexKve0NxKdukvb3GGQ73zhngdoUWH9zzyG3lgWGPcaHKSoYQ40z7tKhPrBnm0E4FeXIkdKCTLG-ojvy5CRzJ9oejzkxLHXe3GLsWzDk4s/s1600-h/image%25255B16%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2S34yHd8r-PYxLEjtM7oLKYxpDDHAyYdi8sYdW13Hjz4XZjnuRJLqf8kPmudsVRUts-PYf99flr41qaTY9bs_FAnRFTMCENiKRO2V4eATiK1cAr8H4LHyrr24uEI-9sCBuOlVuPnURts/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">b) To place the documents you have created into this folder find the document, add a check in the box, right-click on the document and choose <i>Organise</i>. This will show you the list of folders you have created. Choose <i>Grade 3 English</i> and your document will be added to the folder.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJeqCuD9TUl1j73Cp6FkVIwZm_MNhoq7PTDWon4A5r7qq2tOnxumxLbftowsZz4bRq4mm9bGSUNEyf65CCaQkGpjRPeCLmVNC3iJvL1N6oYGjd0CXVWP140jD6QuzhTjozpVp72715YGA/s1600-h/image%25255B27%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaw0yDEVZBJNNd6QqZq9Kmgs6TAwu5it2u6aV31m0tIj0XLRLrL_qOHoPWLPE1232BtF9vwjMNUqpwSSNUegM6YYUyRHZlUPqc5GGQHTcuPbVCRu1IP86QXsFONgMqcFUwL5VSCqPcEjk/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></blockquote><br /><blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9JRHIgKGwg7YnpnU03G46a7WKxbsBHLrT8l8-Zc5Qthit7htSYYK-V7AyDqCUaq4N88__X8RogB6mXRlF5-EBow_E5VsITX1zhl9Q2id3wLSN9wD61jvLPj5LynHWhipfvmC5a8D3iI/s1600-h/image%25255B23%25255D.png"> </a></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9JRHIgKGwg7YnpnU03G46a7WKxbsBHLrT8l8-Zc5Qthit7htSYYK-V7AyDqCUaq4N88__X8RogB6mXRlF5-EBow_E5VsITX1zhl9Q2id3wLSN9wD61jvLPj5LynHWhipfvmC5a8D3iI/s1600-h/image%25255B23%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCtcGUgLOu0j_Zm3OpD5zu5GAOwVrKOgBbs5lGRZ8RoRo0KuB68IKHlFoaonJXIN0KycLKAYuqS7uDOfgvrA0B7FkKp33lntLD7C7VuV3-YUNglhw460eMsdXCghQadTjXJSBDcGzoAc/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></blockquote><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Keep one another accountable </span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The beauty of it is that you can share every document with your colleagues so easily if you wanted to. What I like about this method is the accountability it could bring because if everyone in Grade 3 shared their documents you could see at a flash who wasn’t keeping up etc. etc. It could be shared with your HOD and Principal as well. </span><br /><strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Use Google Drive offline when you are at home</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It would be very easy to work at home or at school without using a flashdrive even if you didn’t have Internet. You can access Google Drive offline and work on it. Your computer will sync the next time you go online.   </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, without a doubt I would say this is the easiest (and cheapest) way for doing daily and weekly planning.</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Further reading</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a) Tuesday Tech tips - <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/techtipstuesday/ideas-for-using-google-docs" target="_blank">Ideas for using Google Docs</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">b) Below is an interesting collection of things you can do using Google Docs in the Classroom started by Nik Peachy </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">using a Google Presentation</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Click on the image to be taken to the original Google presentation.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_8323t58h3ft" target="_blank"><img alt="image" border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgnRDGuKoFSvGywBYgoJXSgjZk4_HnS_lGbqc0ECOmk-JSKlYJuJE61yamjLd6euHndzI-qcKsVuwD-F8cOPfirqgqv7Ef5oI0_R9fN63v28g9tnJfccDtpgL_ok6EGYpX0PTamZ2MMA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></span></div><br /><br /></div>

30 Days of Google #15: Using Google Docs & Drive to do your planning

30 Days of Google series #15 Have you ever wondered if there is an easier way to do your daily/weekly/year planning and lessons than either ...

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