Adding multiple events to Google Calendar using a spreadsheet

Adding individual events to a Google Calendar can be annoying and time consuming. But there's a super easy way!

Using a simple spreadsheet in the form of a CSV file you can upload as many events at one time into any of the calendars that you manage. 

There is one big warning! Be careful when you set it up as there are only two ways to delete the events you put in, either delete the whole calendar or delete the events one at a time. In that regard I'd advise adding a new calendar to house all of your new events, or at least test the file in a temporary "Test Calendar".

Click here to download a copy of the CSV file

These are the basic instructions, there is also a step by step YouTube instruction video below.

1. create a spreadsheet with the correct headers (as per example)
2. export as a .csv file
3. Go into calendar and click on the arrow next to My Calendars and click on Settings
4. at the end of the list of your own calendars, click on 'Import Calendar'
5. Choose the .csv file you created and choose the calendar it goes into and 'Import'

There is a second video at the bottom of this post that shows you how to set up the spreadsheet to accommodate multi day timetables (like a 6 day cycle) that don't stick to the days of the week. 

Hopefully this will save you quite a lot of time!

The Awesome Fast Report Starter Spreadsheet!

It's that time of year again when teachers need to write reports. When I was in the classroom I always had trouble getting started, so I created the "Awesome Fast Report Starter Spreadsheet"

Click here to get a copy of the "Awesome Fast Report Starter Spreadsheet"

It uses just a few basic functions to compile together, the Vlookup function which searches for information in another table based on a value existing, Concatenate which joins text together, and Substitute which swaps out the wildcard ### for the student's name.

This is a great way to get started on your reports, and a practical way to use spreadsheets to get started with your reports. As a disclaimer putting in high, medium and low comments is not the end of my report writing. Once I have my spreadsheet start I then go and edit the prepared comment, adding personal examples, next steps, pronouns and other individual feedback.

If you find this useful I'd love to hear back from you either on this blog or via twitter where you can find me @shaunyk .

Streaming School Events - How Google Hangouts saved the day!

Today we had a great story telling performance at school, but it almost didn't happen because we couldn't have all of the classes attend. So by using some Google Magic, we set up a Google Hangout on Air. Hooray for a Google Win!

Google Hangouts on Air allow you to live stream a google hangout conversation or vision from your webcam, live to an audience that you send a simple youtube link to. And it's FREE!

You will need to have a Google + account set up to run a google Hangout, but that's it. When you're in your Google plus account, go to the hangouts section of the menu, and select, Start a Hangout On Air. A hangout will open and you press start broadcast. You can find detailed instructions on this link to Google Hangouts instructions.

Once the broadcast is finished it is saved in your YouTube videos for sharing out later which is a great advantage too.

Using Google Hangouts on Air was a great experience for us, and I hope that it works well at your school too. There are so many ways it could be used, enjoy and stay Googley!