Every year the same thing occurs - you return to school in the fall full of energy and tell yourself this is the year you keep that momentum going until May, only to slump after a handful of weeks. The reality is, come October many educators have already lost that back-to-school momentum. There is so much to do during those first weeks of school that many teachers play catch-up until winter break. Keep your educators on the right track with these Microsoft resources designed to help teachers be more efficient. 

Microsoft OneNote Class Notebook

This app allows teachers to set up OneNote Class Notebook for their classes. Each class notebook has three sub-notebooks:

Student Notebooks - These private notebooks are shared between the teacher and their individual students. Collecting and checking homework has never been faster and easier. These notebooks are only accessible by the teachers - who can view them at any time - not by other students.

Content Library - This notebook is for teachers to organize and share course materials with students. It eliminates searching for lost handouts or hearing, “I didn’t get that sheet.” Teachers can add and edit materials at any time, but this notebook is read-only for students.

Collaboration Space - This notebook is designed for all students and the teacher in the class to share, organize and collaborate. Teaching becomes interactive since educators can gather web content and embed lessons to create custom lesson plans. It makes working in groups a snap.

The only tools you need to get to using this app is an Office 365 subscription for Education that includes OneDrive for Business, an organizational account for the teacher with permissions to use the OneNote Class Notebook app and the students must have an Office 365 organizational account. Microsoft even has a step-by-step guide to help teachers set it all up.

Templates For Education

Why remake the wheel? Creating lesson plans, syllabus and course overview documents from scratch takes up a HUGE amount of time. Microsoft’s ready-made templates save tons of time, plus with so many different types and styles that exist, you and your teachers will have no trouble finding ones that work in your school.

Lesson Planner Templates - Make it easy to plan. These lesson plan templates are available in calendar, list and chart form.

Syllabus Templates - Traditional, accessible or teacher’s, all different types of syllabuses are available. These syllabus templates put all the course information in one tidy place for students and they can be personalized.

Course Overview Templates - Spend more time preparing students for classes by using an academic course overview template. They help organize and cover key points of a class.

Emergency Phone List - Gathering emergency information from students is essential. This template ensures nothing is left off the list.

These shortcuts were created to help educators focus more on teaching and less on housekeeping tasks. Download these timesavers to help keep the early-fall momentum going.