Planning

=__**Planning**__= Planning software is more aimed to help the classroom teacher design and implement various strategies for preparing his/her classroom, maintaining up to date lesson plans, inputting student grades into an online grade book and creating rubrics for assessing student projects.

Rubics (**Rubistar**) is a free online site that allows educators to use pre-made rubrics in their student assessments. Educators are also able to modify and change parameters of each rubric to specifically match an assignment.
 * __Advantages:__
 * Creates an easy to print rubric that can also be put quickly and easily into a Word document [[file:Lab Report Rubric.docx]]
 * It is completely free.
 * Teachers are able to change wording in the categories and criteria area.
 * Teachers can change the point values assigned to the categories.
 * It is easy to use.


 * __Disadvantages:__
 * Limited options to choose from as far as projects.
 * Some schools may have sites like this blocked.
 * Choices are limiting.


 * Classroom Design** this free site allows educators to create the layout of their classroom with not only student seating charts, but also with classroom characteristics like the door, teachers desk, chalkboard, computers, and much more.
 * __Advantages:__
 * Allows the teacher to design their enter classroom with furniture and seating charts
 * Great for substitute lesson plans.
 * __Disadvantages:__
 * Seating charts are not by student name, but rather by number which requires a key of names.
 * Print out is small.

Lesson Plan generators (**Teachnology**) this is an online resoucrse that gives teachers a lesson plan template to fill in with their personal lesson plan material.
 * __Advantages:__
 * Prints the lesson plans out in a neat, easy to read lesson format. [[file:Lesson Format (print-out).docx]]
 * Contains most aspects that school districts look for in teacher generated lesson plans.
 * __Disadvantages__
 * Cannot modify aspects teacher may want to include or disclude in a lesson plan (Cannot personalize).
 * Specific state standards/goals are not given like they are in other lesson plan generators

Grade books (**Teachers' Pro**) this grade book software would have to be purchased by a district that was interests. It has many features that make a teacher's job of planning easier.
 * __Advantages:__
 * Includes an area for lesson planning, grades, a teacher calender and student demographics.
 * Seating chart options
 * Ability to export items into excel (this is good when needing to make lists).
 * __Disadvantages:__
 * There is a lot of information on the main page, which makes it difficult to read and maneuver.
 * Not very user friendly, there is a lot of information on one page which is hard to follow.

Gradebooks (**Skyward**) Skyward is another grade book software that would have to be purchased by a district. This is the grade book system that my district adopted a year ago.
 * __Advantages:__
 * Ability to export items into excel (this is good when needing to make lists).
 * Color coded options for grade book and students.
 * Seating chart options
 * Print the grade book by I.D. numbers and a scramble option.
 * Teachers can post copies of the assignment to grade book for parent/student access.
 * Teachers can set up e-mail messages to be sent to parents daily, weekly or individually.
 * __Disadvantages:__
 * There is a lot of information and it is not set up in a user friendly way.
 * Internet based so if your school does not have a good internet connection (like mine) the grade book will not work on days the internet goes down.