I’m continuing my preparations for the upcoming year and I’m getting all of my digital files ready. Last year I was trying to de-clutter-ize my classroom so I made digital forms!
I keep both my Parent-Guardian Contact Log and my Behavior Logs in a digital format.
Reasons I love having these in my Google Drive:
– I can easily share these documents with my principal and other educators. This way if they need to know whom I’ve already contacted and for what matters they can see it. I can control who can edit or simply view. It’s great!
– There’s less work required of me when my principal and peers need this documentation. They simply log on and print it out if need be. No more sending to the printer, entering my password, and making sure it gets to the right hands by the right time.
– I can access these files anywhere, anytime! You never know when a student is going to ask for specifics about why s/he was tardy!
– It frees up some desk/file space!
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Do you use technology like this to your advantage? Does your school promote the use of technology in this manner? I’d love to hear how you’re using these tools to your benefit.
La Clase de la Señora Dentlinger 
This is a great idea! I wouldn’t have thought to just log it in online. I’m not sure if I would keep up with it that way though. You’ve given me something to think about 🙂
Rachel
la Señorita Creativa
My first school asked us to document using Google Docs, because they were technology driven. Everything from suspensions, phone calls, student behavior, etc. was tracked on a Google Doc and shared so that staff could know what’s going on.
I’ve found it takes a lot less time this way, but that’s because I’m looking at the bigger picture (emailing it to several people, walking way down to the printer, walking back to print because I sent it to the wrong place, getting it in the right mailbox, etc.).
A few years ago, I started trying to log everything into a “notepad” type feature that was part of the overall work email system. Two years ago or so, my district went to Google Docs. I love it. We are expected to log all parent contact into Google Docs on a template provided by our district. At first, I cringed, thinking it was one more hoopla to go through. But I have actually come to appreciate it. Keeping everything online makes for easy sharing, easy location (for updates and such), and keeps my room clutter-free of papers. I HATE paper clutter. Our templates look similar to those which you have created. Looks great!
Awesome! I’m hoping my school as a whole moves more in this direction. Do you use Google docs for anything else school related (more on an administrative level, as opposed to a classroom one)?
Really like the idea of keeping a behavior log like this – I love using Google Docs for planning, keeping track of homework, etc., but this is a great extension. Hopefully this will keep me consistent with documenting behavior issues! Thanks for the great idea!