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The Four Food Groups of Band Directing:

| Communications | Organization | Lesson Planning | Lesson Delivery |

Organization is the KEY to a well-run band program.

Want Less Stress in your day? Become Organized!

Want your school staff to be happier every time they see you? Become Organized!

Want to not feel like every deadline is happening right now? Become Organized!

Without a system of organization, our band programs would suffer from a great deal of internal stress, spending more time on tasks that have nothing to do with teaching music than necessary.

Strive to LEVEL UP your organizational skills. If you are successful, you will:

be part of a band staff that acts more like a well-oiled machine than a broken one, with everyone knowing what tasks need to be completed next,
have confidence that all required paperwork and forms have been submitted on time,
and give your school staff (bookkeeper, secretary, front office staff) a reason to love you!

And it all starts with:

... SPREADSHEETS ...

Getting good at Spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Excel)

Everyone can benefit from a crash course in spreadsheet software
- - There are many courses out there that will walk you through the basics.
    - - I HIGHLY RECOMMEND www.BenLCollins.com
        Ben has several different articles and free courses you can follow to gain mastery of each tool within Google Sheets. I learned all the basics from him. He also has a weekly newsletter where he sends out solutions to common problems people have with spreadsheet formulas.
Google Sheets is the software I use most
- - It is online and always available from any device.
  - It automatically saves after every edit so no more lost work.
  - The files, like all Google Drive files, are easily shareable with other directors and school staff.
  - Many of the concepts below will likely work just as well on Microsoft Excel but might require slight tweaks to make work.
Once you become comfortable with Google Sheets, you can use it for almost anything.
It's like an open box of Legos...
- - A blank Sheet is an open canvas with which you can accomplish almost any data-related task.
  - Google Sheets allows you to build a list uniquely customized to your program's needs.
  - All you need to do is break down the barrier to entry and give it a try! 😁

SO WHAT DO I USE GOOGLE SHEETS FOR?

Use-Case #1 - Dashboard

A "Dashboard" is a Google Sheets file you create to easily see all the info you need in one place.
- - It is uniquely customizable, upgradable, and shareable, as all things are in Google Sheets.
My TO-DO List is housed here.
- - I tried using various apps to control and manage my to do list, and many of them were wonderful to use.
  - But the challenge with a to do list is you need to remember to look at it everyday. Having one more app to open regularly was an issue for me. Instead, I just made my Dashboard the first place I go when I get to work.
  - I also included here a "Year-at-a-Glance" (YAG) To do list, so I can see what tasks I did last year at this time.
My dashboard includes links to all the other Google Sheets files I use daily
- - This includes links to my Student Data, Inventory, Music Library, and Finances.
  - Throughout the year, I add other links to the dashboard for files I need quick access to regularly, like those used for our 5th-Grade Recruitment or Dallas Trip.
I even learned how to import a list of upcoming events from a Google calendar, so I can see upcoming events right next to my To-Do List!

Use-Case #2 - Student List

How do you organize your student data?
- - I learned a long time ago that we band directors need to keep track of more info on our students than most teachers.
  - We can't just use the default info we see in our district gradebook.
    - - When is the last time you thought of a band student and didn't immediately associate them with the instrument they play?
      - Can you imagine doing attendance for a band class of 100 alphabetically by last name? 😱
  - For each kid, I need to keep a record of
    - - What instrument they play
      - Forms they have turned in
      - Bus seating assignments for trips
      - Payments they have made
      - Uniforms checked out
      - T-shirts sizes
      - Serial numbers for instruments they have checked out from the school
      - and much more!
Even if you use a paid online service to manage your data (CutTime, Charms, RankOne, etc.), you will still need to keep your own record of students for one reason or another.
- - I honestly haven't used an online service for many years, simply because I couldn't get the exact customized list of data I needed as easily as I thought I should. So... I got good at Excel and then translated it into Google Sheets.
What does my student list allow me to do AUTOMATICALLY?
- - #'s (how many students on a part for each band class?)
    - - Easily printable to hang up next to the copier.
  - Forms (who turned in what form?)
    - - Use pre-built drop down lists for quick entry.
      - Use CountIF formulas in my main student list to mark who has turned it in (makes it easily searchable later).
  - Skyward Import (a special tab where I can import my skyward class list)
    - - Using various filter and sort functions, I can take this information to my main student list and have an always-updated list of who is in what class.
      - I have a similar place to import student contact data from Skyward as well.
  - Email List (Filtered to the exact group of kids/parents I need to message)
  - Custom List Builder (what I call a 'Dynamic Query' or 'DQ')
    - - Using a special set of formula, built around the Query function, I can pull up filtered list of students with exactly the right set of data I need in the right format.
      - This is great for: custom bus lists, shirt size orders, trip payments owed or paid, and custom lists to upload to a paid online service or software program like iDoceo (more on that later...)
  - First day of School stuff (Things to help make the first day of school go smoothly)
    - - Customizable sheet of mailing labels. Good for putting kid's names on instruments, folders, and lockers.
      - Printable Name Tags, formatted to be foldable and hang over a music stand. Good for first day of school seating assignments and learning new names!