As a teacher, the juggling act of lesson planning, grading, and managing a classroom can sometimes feel like a daunting task. However, with the right tools and strategies (aka The Ultimate Organization Hack: Google Sheets Checklists for Teachers), you can stay organized and focused on what matters most – your students’ learning experience. After all, that’s why we spent all those years getting a degree (or multiple degrees) in education right!? Not for the money and fame!
But first! Be sure you subscribe to my free newsletter so you never miss another resource or idea!
In this blog post, I’m going to show you the ultimate classroom organization hack! How to harness the power of Google Sheets checklists to streamline your organizational efforts, use less paper (aka those paper mountains where things get lost), and help you become a more efficient and effective teacher.
There are many benefits to using Google Sheets checklists in your classroom! From assignment tracking and gradebooks to school paperwork, to monthly literacy and math assessments, I love using these so I have everything in one place!
Benefits of Using Google Sheets Checklists for Teachers
So why use Google Sheets checklists anyway? Well, I don’t know about you, but the millions of papers, checklists, and sticky notes on my desk can get a bit overwhelming… and ineffective! I found myself constantly losing lists, making too many lists, and feeling like I had to reference 5 or more different checklists to mark off a simple task.
That’s exhausting! And we know teachers are already exhausted and don’t have time for that kind of silliness.
So here are 3 main benefits of using the checklists:
1. Centralized Organization
Google Sheets provides a centralized platform where you can create, edit, and access your checklists from any device with an internet connection. This means no more hunting for lost papers or forgetting important tasks. You can access them at school or at home, in a meeting or on your phone!
2. Customizable Templates
Most checklists are customizable and can be tailored to your specific needs, whether it’s for lesson planning, grading, assessment tracking, behavior tracking, special education data, or classroom management.
3. Collaborative Planning
You can collaborate with colleagues by sharing your Google Sheets checklists. This feature is invaluable for team planning and staying on the same page with fellow educators.
Setting Up Your Google Sheets Checklist
1. Creating Your Checklist
You can create your own checklists for free in your Google Account by going to Google Drive and opening a new Google Sheets document. It’s not terribly difficult if you are tech-savvy, but it can be a little time consuming if you aren’t sure how to use Google Sheets or you’re just getting started.
If making your own sounds overwhelming and you’d rather have a “done for you” checklist, you can grab the ones I already made and just edit them to fit your needs: Google Sheets Checklist Bundle
2. Customizing Your Checklist
You can easily change category titles and headings, colors, add checkboxes, etc. Add student names, the title of the assignment or category, and toss all those papers in the garbage! Let me know in the comments if you’d like a post that walks you through how to customize your checklists!
Ideas for Using Google Sheets Checklists to Stay Organized
1. Lesson Planning
Use Google Sheets to plan your lessons efficiently. Organize topics, materials, and objectives, and track your progress throughout the school year.
2. Grading and Assessment
Create grading rubrics and use checklists to keep track of assignments, assessments, and student progress.
3. Gradebook
So many teachers that have used my checklists use it to track grades in place of a traditional paper/pencil gradebook. Because as we all know, the district’s online gradebook has a tendency to “go down” or delete things… If you know, you know!
4. Classroom Management
There are many ways to manage your classroom effectively with Google Sheets. From seating charts to behavior tracking, you can add just about anything to those colorful little checkboxes!
5. Special Education Data
I know firsthand how much paperwork and data special education teachers have to collect! These checklists are amazing for tracking individual student data and progress toward IEP goals. (Just make a tab at the bottom for each student’s data and VOILA! Everyone’s data is in one document!
6. School Paperwork
Do you all have to collect 48684956 forms and papers at the beginning of the school year? Yea… SAME! Using Google Checklists makes it super simple to add each child’s name down the left-hand side, label the columns for each paper/form you need from them, and check the boxes off as they are turned in. Many teachers will testify that this is a LIFESAVER!
What teachers are saying!
So what do you think?
Are you ready to start using Google Sheets checklists in your classroom? Say goodbye to the chaos of disorganized paperwork and hello to a more efficient, organized, and productive classroom experience. Start using Google Sheets checklists today, and watch your teaching career soar to new heights. Haha, that might be a little dramatic but it’s definitely a time and sanity saver.
Remember, you can always make your own, or you can grab the ones I made for you and just customize them to fit your needs like hundreds of other teachers have done! Google Sheets Checklist Bundle
I hope you find a way to use Google Sheets Checklists to stay more organized this year so can toss the pile of never-ending paperwork and have more time to do what you love: TEACH!
Happy Teaching,
Megan