As mentioned in the post 5 ‘Apps’ for the new school year, after years of starting various academic diaries and planners and not being fully satisfied with options available to meet my needs, I’ve designed my own template for use throughout the forthcoming year. I’ve adapted this slightly and have decided to upload here, if anyone may find a use for this. My wants/needs tends to be centred around reflection, a lot of these are things are what I’d often scribble into various notepads, blank sheets or computer documents – I just want to bring this all together.
I am using with GoodNotes so all pages must separately imported as different templates, but I also have the three pages combined.
Page 1 has space to add the week date, a quick overview of lessons/meetings/other responsibilities in a quick timetable.
A ‘To Do’ list, where the first column will be rolled forward from the week before, then tasks separated by urgency.
A general SWOT analysis begins reflection
A very small area to make little plans for the following week – often to assist with marking/feedback or collecting homework (eg. “This assignment needs to be returned to class by next Thursday” so I add a note to the Thursday)
There is also space for specific notes on classes in “Cohort Reflection”. This is set up for 6 as it’s the number of distinct groups that current plans would have me delivering to next academic year.
The final page has a blank space to record anything in more detail – the joy of GoodNotes etc, is that you can also add further pages of various templates before the next week.
I also have an area to further reflect on my practice, adaptations for the future or new knowledge – formatted around Brookfield’s Four Lenses (1995).
If you are in a position to transition to electronic academic diaries by using iPads, tablets or even mobile devices – I really recommend spending a bit of time to construct your own PDF template, to get the ideal format for both your practical needs, but also to assist in the development of your teaching practice. It can be done in any programme that allows PDF extraction!
Installing a template in GoodNotes:
