Chalk.com

Good Day Readers!

I know I have been gone for a while, but this school year has been crazy! Anyway, I have been working on some new ideas for the blog and this one can’t wait any longer.

I have found out next year I am going to be a combo teacher; (I was switched to a combo in January) and I DO NOT want to buy 2 lesson planners to allow me to plan for both grades. With this in mind I went online to find a free online lesson planner for teachers. First, there is a plethora of websites out there. The one I have been using is called Chalk. So here we go!

Product Information:
Chalk.com is an online lesson planner for teachers. Teachers can make subjects and schedules BEFORE you even begin putting lessons in. Teachers can upload templates, links, standards, etc. Whatever you need is right there for you. The program is free to use and does offer a school and district package if you are interested.

Glitchy Review:
I have been using this program for a month now. There are parts which I adore and parts which need to be improved. Overall, I like being able to display my lessons (when admin comes in they know what I am doing) for my students so they know what the schedule is for the day. It is colorful so each of my grade levels knows which colors are theirs and which ones are whole class lessons. I can schedule in recess, tests, assemblies, etc. in the schedule as needed. Students like it because they know what is going on and what to expect. We go through the schedule every morning and the day seems to run smoother because they have time stamps to refer to. When I am going to need to link a website, video, or document I can attach the link to the lesson and click it open when I need it!

The actual lesson planning in the system can be difficult for new users, but once you have things set up, it is quiet easy. In addition, you can save these lessons and use them next year! It will alter the lessons for the days to make sure the dates are correct for the current calendar year and will change NOTHING else! Makes it easy to plan the semester with lessons and alter for anything such as assemblies, field trips, etc. I can’t wait to use this feature next year!

With this feature in mind you do need to put in the leg work in the beginning. You do need to input the lessons and items you need. This will take time depending on your technology skill and amount of details you want in your lesson blocks. However, once this information is in, you can reuse later with a simple copy and paste of the semester!

Another thing I enjoy about this program is BEFORE you enter any lessons is you need to set up subjects and a schedule for your lessons. Subjects can be academic or non-academic subjects. For example, you can add Language Arts as academic and the program will allow you to add standards, lesson templates, and UNITS! I was able to input my units and this allows extra organization to your lessons! The non-academic subjects I have added were recess, lunch, assemblies, read aloud, testing (state testing), clean-up time, etc. The possibilities are endless. Once you have created these subjects you are prompted to make a Timetable (schedule) for your lessons. It has an option for alternating weeks (my school has 2) and will automatically upload them to the planner when you give them a start date. WARNING: It will start with week A and I messed this up and had to redo my weeks because the schedule started with the wrong week! LOL One thing to remember is: if you have to change the lesson for the day ONLY you do have that option and the program will label it as a special schedule.

The planner of this program is awesome. I could easily spend 5 blogs on this. As this is an overview, I will keep this simple. You have multiple views for the program such as time, day, week, month, and unit. There is a reminder table on the right and a month calendar as well. If you need to move a lesson you can do this as well. Again, something for another blog.

After all of these goodies in the program I was super excited to be able to plan where ever I needed to plan and just needed a laptop or computer. As I have been using this program there are a few things which need to be fixed. The copy moved lesson option is great, but I think a drag and drop feature would be better especially for teachers who are not all that tech savvy. In addition, there are times when I am planning and inputting lessons and the program has saving issues, which is frustrating when you put in the whole lesson and it is NOT saved. There is an app to go along with the website, this was mediocre at best. The app is limited to displaying your plans and that is it. This is good if you want your plans at your fingertips, but if you are like me the plans are up on a computer, and I use my phone for Class Dojo. I ended up removing the app because of the lack of use; however, some teachers like it. Option is up to you.

User Rating:
This program is definitely a level 3. You do need some tech savvy to remember how to access the different options. I would not use this program if you are not fully committed to using a digital planer and willing to put in the leg work.

Glitchy Review:
This program is a 4 out 5. There are endless benefits to the program with few set-backs. I could see myself using this from now on.

I do plan on doing more blogs on this website. Please let me know below if there is something specific in the website you want to focus on. As always comment below and let me know if there is something you wish to see on Glitchy Teacher blog! Enjoy!

Classroom Layouts

Good Day Readers!

Welcome to 2018! I don’t know about you; but for me Winter Break is a time to relax, reflect, rejuvenate, and re-evaluate how I am doing as a teacher, parent, and person. During this last week of break I begin to think of how to make my classroom better for the coming semester. Part of this is to create a new seating chart (which we can all agree can be difficult). While my district has a great program for it, I tend to turn this into rearranging the WHOLE classroom. With this in mind I began looking for tools to help me.

I know most of use either free hand the design, but me being The Glitchy Teacher, I am looking for an online program or app to help me. Through my searching and testing I have found some which are horrible and some not-so-bad. Let’s face it there is not one really good program out there. They all have flaws and difficulties. With that being said I have made a list of programs which should help you. Please bear in mind I will be rating them on difficulty/ease of use (1-being easy and 5-super difficult). List order is based on where they popped in a Google search, so please look for the rating.

• Classroom Architect- Difficulty 3. This program features all the different items available for most teachers from desks to TV Stands and rugs. You are able to change the dimensions of the room, however, if you have an odd shaped room you are out of luck for it only has square and rectangle. You are able to create your own shapes in this program and adjust the design but really this is all the program has going for it. You are able to save and print your layout when done (which is a plus). The main downside would be you can’t change the size of the pre-loaded items; thus the teacher’s desk is the same size for a 25 X 17 room as a 20 X 10 room which can affect your layout. Second, trying to delete something takes a minute to figure out. You have to drag the item you want to get rid of to the trash button instead of clicking the item and hitting trash. If you are a teacher looking for something easy this is your best shot. 
• Scholastic- Difficulty 4. This program offers 3 different classroom layouts for you; however, still is restricted to the square or rectangle. However, this does have more features to place in the room than others such as: windows, bulletin boards, black boards, etc. It still has the different desks like teacher’s, student, horseshoe, but again the sizes are locked. This works for this program because you are NOT able to change the size of the layout, just the design. The program does state “approximate” to the user. Perhaps the best feature of this is the ability to put your student’s names into the program to place them at desks. Essentially you are able to change up your room and seating chart all in one! If you are not into that then this program is a 3, but if you do use it the difficulty goes to a 4.
• School Seating Charts- Difficulty 4/5. This tool is perhaps the best, but does come with difficulty. This program allows you to only place student desks so full layout is out of the question. However, this program does offer so fringe benefits which might make you use it. After you choose your layout, it starts with a default and you can change from there, you input your roster. This is where it gets good. You can then label your talkers and workers. If this would transfer to the seating chart it would be great. After this you can randomize students or place as you want. Again this is a great seating chart program, but not for full layouts. (This is a paid program, free if you only do 1 layout and roster.)
• Perhaps the 2 WORSE programs would be The Library Store and FloorPlanner.com from Kaplan. These programs are super difficult to use. 
• The Library store really should not market this to teachers because it really is for libraries. There is very little in this program for teachers (literally, just desks). 
• Floor Planner is basic and comes with a layout already. The problem with this layout is it is for lower elementary only (focus on the dramatic play area) and is ridiculously hard to use. In order to even begin you have to delete almost everything (titles of areas do not delete or move) then search through their catalog to find the items you need. It is basically a catalog show with no way to change dimensions. 

After this I went to the apps to see if there was something. Let’s just say unless you are a carpenter they will not work for you. Overall, I would say Classroom Architect is going to be your best bet. While it is not exact, it does offer ease of use, more options, dimensional changes, and the ability to print and save for free.

Please comment below on your opinions or other programs you like to use! Don’t forget if there is something you want me to review or check out comment below! Enjoy!