How to Share Long-Range Plans with Google Slides

Long-range plans. What does this term bring to mind? A set of dusty, blue binders – full of obsolete plans that took months to create – pop into my brain. What a waste.

Fortunately, two tools in your Google Apps folder can solve this age-old problem. Yep. Here’s how you do it. First, create editable Google Slides for your quarterly plans. Then store them in a shared Google Site.

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Creating Editable Long-Range Plans with Google Slides

This is way easier than you may think. First, create a grid that suits your needs. I made this one with PowerPoint then saved it as a jpeg.

Long-Range Plans Grid Created with PowerPoint

Next, make a new set of Google Slides. In the top menu, click on Slides. Then choose Change background. Finally, select your jpeg.

Change Background to Long-Range Plans Grid

Once you’ve done that, add a shape or text box. Size it to cover one rectangle on your grid. Play around with the fonts and justification until you’re sure it will work for your content. (I also color-coded mine by subject.) These are your moveable planning pieces.

Long-Range Plans Grid with Sample Overlays

Then, to make your life easier, select the entire row. (Just hold down the shift key and click on each one.) Copy and paste the entire set of moveable planning pieces until you’ve filled the entire grid.

Lesson Plans Grid Filled with Sample Pieces

As you plan, type the name of each unit in one or more moveable planning pieces. Then simply click and drag to reposition. This allows total flexibility. And you don’t have to recreate the wheel every time a change is made.

Long-Range Plans Grid Showing Moveable Piece

Presenting and Sharing Long-Range Plans with Google Sites

Since I’m a visual person, I wanted to be able to view my long-range plans all the time. And – as always – I strive to be organized. Google Sites let me do both. I created this website to store my long-range plans – and more.

Long-Range Plans in Google Site

Created as a digital teacher binder, it also includes my lesson plans, seating charts, and daily schedule. It’s the ultimate teacher dashboard! Best of all, any time the district (or teaching team) makes a change to the original slide, it’s displayed instantaneously on my website.

Google Sites Organize Teaching

When you create one site like this, you gain control of your teaching life. From lesson plans to unit plans to sub plans, this website has the power to manage the stuff in your Drive. Like a filing cabinet, it branches to other sites, arranging your curricula virtually. Ultimately, you can create a teacher dashboard and/or sub plans that link it all together. Try building your own Google Site today!

Want to learn more? Check out 20 ideas for using Google Sites in the classroom.

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