PROFESSIONAL
Technology Solutions
Calendar Management
For most teachers, lesson plans and class goals are an unwieldy match for the time allotted. With the increased demand on FACS teachers, creating a year-long lesson plan, much less carrying it out, is becoming more and more difficult. Even the most organized teacher can get thrown off schedule by a single unexpected event.
Enter technology, in the form of time-management software.
The key to managing a busy calendar lays in flexibility and adaptability, so any software program you turn to has to offer features that will allow you to bend with changes in plans. For example, you may start your school term with a mapped-out schedule of exactly what you are going to cover in class every week. Everything goes perfectly—until there is an ice storm and power outage that closes your school for the better part of a week. Even one class day unexpectedly lost to a contagious case of the flu can ruin a plan. The right software will have allowed you expect the unexpected, factoring in such events.
Many Glencoe FACS programs include Glencoe Lesson Planner Plus, a powerful CD-ROM-based tool with a calendar format that can be used for teacher planning and resource integration. Lesson Planner Plus allows you to plan daily, weekly, and year-long goals for students. The Pacing Guide, also provided at the front of every Glencoe Teacher Edition, breaks down the program content into a 36-week course, or 180 days, with options for a traditional schedule or a block schedule.
"Initially I set up the class times, frequency, and 'no-class' parameters," explains Erik Amerikaner, a high school computer education teacher in Southern California who uses Lesson Planner Plus. "Then I select the units I want to cover in the semester. Lesson Planner Plus maps out he schedule and resources required to meet the goals. I also produce an online calendar and planning guide that assists my students in staying current with assignments and knowing when tests and projects are due." Should you have to miss a class day, you can save and print any section of Lesson Planner Plus and leave it for a guest teacher, who can seamlessly pick up where you left off.
