Google has changed my life, and it has greatly shaped my teaching practice. I am now able to comfortably teach from my 3 different classroom locations flawlessly. I no longer have to carry around flash drives or email myself large PowerPoint files and wait for what seemed like hours from them to download onto the laptop I was using that day. GoogleDrive allows me the convenience of “grab and go” without compromising quality. In this blog post, I will explain ways that GoogleDrive has helped me organize my teaching practice & my own personal life.

Before we get started, you need to have a google account set-up. Ask your tech person for your school google account- they will have the log-in & password for you. Using your school account will give you way more storage than using your personal account! If your school is not set up yet, you will have to create a personal google account in the meantime.
Access my full detailed instructions on how to do so here! 

Just like on your Mac or PC, you can create folders to store documents, photos and videos. These folders are generally kept in "My Documents" on your computer, but in with Google, they are stored in your cloud called, "GoogleDrive". You can create however many folders you like, name them, share them and color code them. What I love most about this feature is that it really helps me to stay organized on the go. 

To Create A Folder:

1. Log-in to your google account and then go to: drive.google.comdrive.google.com
2. Click on the blue button in the left hand corner called, “New”
3. Select Folder
4. Name the Folder

To Color Code a Folder:

1. Once you have a folder created, you can now right click on that folder
2. Select “Change Color”
3. Pick a color

NEW!! Google Lessons from Teaching Sunny Side Up!

Step 1: How to Create a Google / Gmail Account. 

Follow me so you can continue this fun Google How To video playlist as I continue to post videos! We will be learning all about: 

Truth: Planning has never been my favorite thing about teaching. Being a new teacher, everyone keeps saying that I should be planning my lessons down to the tee. Every Friday, I would sit down with my bland, boring Teacher planner and plug away at crafting the following week’s plans. I would sit at my back table, stack all of my Teacher Edition books and grab a pencil (and a large cup of tea), and start plugging lessons into the black & white blank spaces in my planner. 

Black & White. No color. No sparkles. No stickers. No fun!

I got to the point where I dreaded sitting alone at that back table making plans for the following week. That is when I realized, it was time to switch things up!

Introducing: The Happy Planner, Teacher Edition! This colorful planner is absolutely beautiful and motivating! I love how colorful it is. They definetly had a teacher help them create this planner - it is exactly what I needed!

Cover: Double thick, clear protectors on the front and back! Michael’s offers 2 different Teacher Edition covers. Each kit comes with different sticker styles and extras.

Pages: Each month comes with:

• 1 Cardstock divider with Month’s Name on Tab. This is a colorful, thick page with a motivational quote.
• 1 Overview Page for the Month. This includes a quick look at:
• Student Birthdays
• Events
• Holidays
• Your Top 5 Tasks
• Your Month’s Goals
• Focus of the Month
• Quick Look at current & next month calendar (located on top)
• 5 weeks of “Weekly Calendar” Planning Pages for each Month
• 2 pages of: Monthly View Calendar of the Month

Monthly View Pages: 

• Large Boxes: Lots of room for writing and decorating!
• Side Column for Notes
• Weekends are Color-Coded
• Holidays are already written in
• Cute Designs surround the name of the Month on top of calendar

Weekly Page View:

• Upper Left Corner: Area to Write Week Number
• Days of the Week go Vertically down the left side, while the subjects are horizontally written across the top
• Each Day has 7 Large, color-coded boxes for your lesson plans
• Lots of room for stickers, washi tape, highlighting and more!

Checklist Tab:

• Unlike most of the other planners out there, The Happy Planner has a Classroom Checklist located in the back!
• Write your students’ names and assignments for a quick accountability resource within your planner!

Planner Rings:

• Heavy-duty Plastic Rings
• Allow User to pull papers in and out of planner without any damage to the paper
• Cute Heart design in the center of rings

-Extra: Purchase the Happy Planner “LARGE” paper puncher to add your own additional papers to this planner! 

Take a look at my YouTube video to see additional items I purchased for my planner! (link below)

Happy Planning!