Top 5 Reasons to Switch to a Digital Teacher Planner

For the past several years, I’ve completed my lesson plans – like the long drawn out plans with standards and all that jazz – in Google. Google Docs and Google Sheets have been planning game changers! However, I was on the fence about making the switch to a digital teacher planner. I have always been a die-hard paper planner person. And yet, last school year I made the switch to a digital teacher planner!

Digital Teacher Planner Equipment

To clarify, we’re talking about using what looks like a traditional planner on a digital device. You can use any tablet with a stylus and pdf annotation app for this kind of digital planning. Personally, I use my iPad, an Apple Pencil, and the GoodNotes app.

image of a list that reads "do you already have everything you need to start digital planning?" and lists equipment needed

The equipment was essential for me to make the switch. Sometimes when people talk about planning digitally, they just type their plans into some kind of app. But, I need more. In order for me to switch to planning digitally, I needed to be able to physically write. This is what kept me using paper planners for so long. The iPad and Apple Pencil solve that problem for me.

Reason #1: It’s Easier to Carry

Flashback to the previous school year and many years prior, my favorite way to prepare for back to school was to set up my own paper planner. With the Arc Notebook system from Staples, I was able to use my own templates and custom create my own planner. You can see what that looked like in this video.

image of a teacher paper planner and a teacher digital planner on an ipad side by side that reads "why switch to a digital teacher planner? large bulky paper planner vs. ipad"

However, with as many as 5 different courses to teach, that planner only increased in size, and rarely came home with me. If I did not have work to do at home, that was just fine. But when I did, it was a problem.

Since making the switch to digital planning, my planner is always with me because my iPad is always with me. I’m so grateful to be able to quickly jot down any notes and ideas I have, no matter where I am.

Digital Teacher Planners are Easier to Access

Versus online digital planners that is. Everything is in one place.

One thing that kept me from switching to a digital planner was ease of access. Or at least my perception that they are not all that easy to access. There are so many programs available online, and people even use Google Slides to make their own digital planners. However, this was not something I wanted to deal with. Having to turn on a computer, and log on to a program is an unnecessary step I don’t want to take. Especially to just add one thing to my planner.

With a PDF annotation app, like GoodNotes,I simply have to open my iPad, and then open the app. It’s literally right at my fingertips. Better yet, with Cloud storage, I can access my planner from multiple devices.

It’s Easier to Customize a Digital Teacher Planner

This is my favorite! This is the whole reason why I put myself through the pain-staking process of creating a whole planner using the Arc Notebook. No teacher planner on the market could meet my needs as a secondary teacher.

Each year I have about 100 students, not 30. (And, I’m not keeping track of 100 birthdays in my planner.) I teach anywhere from 3 to 5 different courses. What is marketed as a teacher planner, is really an elementary teacher planner. And, they just didn’t work for me.

It’s not just the templates. Every planner comes with a few blank pages near the end. These pages are like gold. You can use them for anything you need. But, I never used them at all because I was always afraid I would run out of pages.

That is not a problem in a digital teacher planner!

Using the GoodNotes app, it is very easy to not only add more pages, but to duplicate, move, and delete pages. I can even duplicate blank pages to create my own templates if I want. This means that a digital planner may not fit my exact needs at first, but I can customize it so that it does.

Changes are Easier to Make

You know it’s going to happen. Snow days and emergency closures and dismissals. Surprise meetings and assemblies. Lessons that take longer than expected. Any little thing that you can’t actually plan for.

Eventually, you will have to change your carefully crafted plans.

And in a traditional paper planner, that means taking out your eraser and pencil, and changing your plans. Not just for that day, but for all of the days that follow too. Hopefully, you weren’t brave enough to write them in pen!

There’s an easier way

Thank goodness for digital teacher planners!

Now I can simply (and I mean simply) rearrange my plans. In the GoodNotes app, it’s called the “lasso” tool. It allows me to literally pick up and move my plans from one day to the next. And when my plans spill onto the next page, it also allows me to copy and paste. (This feature is also amazingly helpful when designing a seating chart.)

In speaking of erasing, if you make a mistake, you can just hit the undo button. Who doesn’t love saving time?

Need more reasons to consider a digital teacher planner?

Here are a few more quick reasons:

They are environmentally friendly. There is no paper to print out, which means no paper goes to waste from the pages that you don’t use. And you don’t have to find a place to store the planner once the year is finished.
You will never run out of stickers. Some people love their stickers, and will happily purchase tons of expensive sticker sets. With digital planning, you can keep reusing the same sticker over and over without having to replace any physical stickers.
Undated planners can be reused from year to year. Confession: I enjoy setting up a new planner each year. But with a digital planner, you have the option not to. At least not completely. If you purchase an undated planner, you can reuse the exact same planner next year. The only thing you have to update are the dates.

Ultimately, Digital Teacher Planners Save Time

This is why I will never go back to a traditional planner. Using a digital teacher planner saved me so much time this year. Initially, I had to develop new habits around my planning, but once I was in a routine, it was so easy to keep up with. Planning is a joy now that it is so much faster and so much easier.

Need more info?

Check out this YouTube video from last year where I explain why I am switching to a digital teacher planner.

And in this video, I talk about how my first year of digital planning went.