6 Reasons I Love Using a Digital Teacher Hub to Organize My Teacher Life
Switching to a Teacher Hub has been a game-changer for me. One of the reasons I love it so much is that I can access my most used teacher templates (over 70 of them) with just one click.
This idea first came from my school actually. My principal had created a Hub for the staff to find curriculum links, phone numbers, Google Forms, and more.
The office staff was VERY pleased with this addition as it saved them a lot of time answering the same questions about where to find things.
It also saved me a ton of time trying to remember where the links were to Common Core Standards or where the updated push in/pull out schedules were for the aids in my classroom.
I decided to create my own Hub for my classroom and let me tell you, it’s one of the best things I’ve created.
Here are 6 reasons why the Hub has changed my teacher organization, saved me time, and decreased my stress levels.
1. Every Google Slides template I use on a daily basis is just a click away and so easy to customize
I don’t know about you, but I’m someone who constantly has 10+ tabs open on my computer, and it can feel quite stressful.
With this hub, I no longer have to manage a bunch of tabs or search through my Google Drive or computer to find the specific template I need. Everything is conveniently linked to the first slide, making it incredibly easy to access whatever I require.
Having all my daily templates – from morning meetings to quick directions, rotations, and checklists – right at my fingertips and organized in one place has been such a relief. It simplifies my daily routine and streamlines a lot of my preparation process, allowing me to dedicate more time to creating engaging activities for my students.
The best part is that the templates are all in Google Slides and fully editable. This means I have the freedom to customize the text and formatting to suit my classroom’s needs, depending on how I want to use them that day or month.
Check out the list of templates below! I’m absolutely loving having all of these pre-created and easily accessible.
2. The designs make me happy
This may be a funny reason to put at the top of the list, but honestly I love these designs. The Boho Rainbow Hub was my first design I created, and I love how super playful and fun it is.
I recently created Boho Chic designs after being inspired by a lot of art I’ve been seeing on walls at cafes, to be honest! I like that it’s a nice balance between my style and something students would enjoy seeing.
With the Boho Chic design, I can actually change the design any time throughout the year with just a couple of clicks!
Having a simple design that’s clean and eye-appealing definitely starts my day off in a good mood.
3. Every template is linked to an icon on the HUB and I can create new ones easily
Instead of having a lot of text on the slides, I found that using icons helped my Hub to be less cluttered and overwhelming.
Each of the icons is linked (Ctrl + K), so I can easily click back and forth between the exact slides I need instead of scrolling up and down through all the templates.
If you want to add other icons, like an envelope for your email or an icon for your attendance website, I’ve included step-by-step directions (and even color codes) to ensure your hub stays uniform and oh-so-pretty.
4. Checklists, parent/student info forms, and conferring notes all at your fingertips
As a teacher, I frequently found myself needing to access and even print off certain forms.
It made perfect sense to add them to the Hub, allowing me to access them seamlessly even in the middle of the day.
Some forms that I use a lot include conferring note-taking pages, checklists for marking homework and assignments, and student recognition forms.
I decided to link those pages to my Hub, and it has been an enormous time saver!
If you haven’t used Google Sheets before, don’t worry; it’s super easy to use with these pre-created templates.
You’ll find all the templates conveniently located at the bottom of one Sheet presentation, allowing you to switch between any of the checklists and forms without having to open any new tabs.
The templates include digital checkboxes, and you also have the option to print the sheets if needed.
Check out some of my most frequently used checklists and forms below:
5. Link your favorite websites, daily agenda slides, and Google presentations make this magic!
Even before Covid, I discovered how helpful it was to house my most used websites and videos for students in one place.
I like adding a website’s logo as a visual and then linking it to the site or video.
This is a slide you could also copy and give to students whether it’s for early finisher websites or websites specifically for one unit of study.
I shared this slide with my students during virtual learning, and it was really helpful for them.
You don’t have to limit yourself to just the slides in the Hub. If you have other Google Slides presentations that you frequently use, you can actually link them here too. (Watch the GIF above!)
For instance, I like linking my own agenda slides to the work time icon. I have tons of different agenda slide templates that I use for holidays and morning meetings. With just a few clicks, I can link them to the timer icon, making them easily accessible whenever I need them.
6. Your to-dos, meeting notes, and awesome teacher ideas in one place
You might be more organized than I am, but I’m very guilty of writing down ideas on random slips of paper and quickly losing all those little pieces.
The same thing happens with websites where I find cool ideas. I bookmark them in my toolbar, pin them on Pinterest, or email them to myself, and soon all these ideas are scattered across a million different places.
To tackle this, I started adding ideas to a slide in this presentation (and duplicating the slide when needed). It’s a great way for me to remember what the ideas were, and I love including visuals right on the slide.
You could create idea slides for each month or different units you cover. By linking text and images (Ctrl + K) to the respective websites, it’s easy to access the original sources.
What’s great is that when the ideas are in this Hub presentation, I’m more likely to see them frequently, and it motivates me to start using those ideas in my teaching!
So, what do you think? Are you on Team Teacher Hub yet?
If you’re ready to de-stress and organize your teacher life right now, click the button below to start customizing your templates!
This is honestly one of the best products I’ve ever bought on TPT. The amount of work and detail that went into this resource is amazing. Thank you sooo much!!
Jaclyn, Teacher
I LOVE this resource. I’m a pre-k teacher and edited most of it to fit my needs. However, I love that I can access basically everything I need from one spot. It makes me so much more organized and less chaotic.
Harley, Teacher
This makes my life so much easier. I have all of my tools in one place. I know that if my computer shuts down on me and I loose all of my tabs, I will be covered. Great resource!
Sarah, 2nd Grade Teacher
I can’t get over how helpful this is! I love how I can add icons that are exactly what I need at my fingertips.
