The fastest way to write your reports - Use a spreadsheet to write your reports

When I was in the classroom report time was not my favorite time of year. I could never think of the words to get started, and it was all a little overwhelming.

At the same time I have always been fascinated with spreadsheets, and so put these two together and over the last few years I have come up with this spreadsheet that basically writes reports for you based on a comment bank that you set up yourself.

This new version puts the student name and gender pronouns using a basic code (### for their name, and #his/her etc for the pronouns.

Here is a direct link to the spreadsheet, and embedded here is a short video that will tell you how to use the spreadsheet.

If you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @shaunyk or leave a comment on this post.

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 .