Createl Publishing Teacher Planner Review (Pros, Cons & Video Walkthrough!)
Most teacher planners are made in the USA with USA holidays and run the academic instead of calendar year, which can be frustrating if you’re a fellow Aussie. So if you’re looking for a teacher planner with Aussie school terms etc. the Createl Publishing planner may be worth a look!
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of the planner in exchange for this review. As always, all opinions are my own!
Quick facts
- Size: A4 page size (cover is larger)
- Wire binding
- Cardstock cover
- Plenty of extra pages e.g. seating chart, attendance records etc.
- Australian planner – Aussie public holidays, school terms etc.
- Colorful inside pages
- 2 page weekly spread / lesson planner (starts Monday)
- 2 built in ribbon bookmarks
Let’s take a closer look!
To enlarge the screen of the video, click the square icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video (it will say ‘full screen’ when you hover your mouse over the icon).
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The Cover
I’m not a fan of the cover. Rather than being bound directly with the binding and the rest of the pages, it’s on the outside. It’s clunky, takes up a lot of room when you have the planner open and since it’s thin cardstock, I can see it getting damaged over time.
Monthly Calendar
This planner doesn’t have a monthly calendar.
Lesson Planner / Weekly Planner
The layout is different to most teacher planners in that it has the mini schedule for each day and space to lesson plan. The line spacing of the scheduling space is really small but then increases in the lesson planning space… and then increases again on the extra pages in this planner. It would be good if it was kept consistent throughout.
Different colors for each day add a nice pop of color
Huge writing space for Mon to Fri…
….But basically no writing space for weekends
Overview Pages
The cardstock cover has a dates at a glance calendar that’s always on view when you have the pages open. It’s a good idea and not something I’ve seen another planner company do, but it would be better if it was a flap you could tuck in and flip out when you need to refer to it, rather than have it there all the time as the planner takes up a lot of space.
The planner also includes these overview pages at the front for the days before the semester starts
Extras pages
The line spacing is very close together on the lesson planning pages, but very far apart on the notes pages
This planner includes heaps of pages most teacher planners don’t include such as:
- Assessment record
- Student behaviour
- Tax deductions
- Curriculum planner
- Professional development
- Australian Professional standards for teachers
- Parent / student interviews
- Contacts
- Additional needs student register
- Excursions log
- Staff meetings
For a look at all of the pages, watch the video at the top of this post.
The extra pages are numbered for quick reference
Pocket Folder
Tabs
There are no tabs but the pages are coded by theme:
And there’s also 2 built in ribbon bookmarks.
Pen Testing
The paper quality of this planner isn’t that great.
Most of the ballpoint, gel and fine tip pens plus the highlighters and stamps had ghosting / bleed through. If you use this planner, ballpoint pens will definitely be the best option.
Pros of the Planner
- Aussie public holidays, school terms etc. which is hard to find in planners
- Plenty of extras pages that teacher planners rarely include – seating charts, professional development etc.
- Lay flat binding
Cons of the Planner
- The line spacing is not consistent throughout the planner (good spacing in some sections, too close together in others)
- Very small weekend planning space
- The cardstock cover is weird and annoying
- Personalised cover options available (including your name in foil!)
- Large page size is bulky
- No cover personalisation
- The cover is a bit plain
- No monthly calendar
Would I use this planner?
No. I’m not a teacher and I work Mon – Fri so need more space on weekends and less on weekdays.
I’ve converted teacher planners into weekly planners before. However if I convert this teacher planner into a weekly planner I think I’d end up with too much space for each week! Although I can see how this planner could work well for Aussie teachers – it’s the most thorough Aussie focused teacher planner I’ve come across (dates, school terms, things applicable to Australia such as tax deductions etc.)
As a teacher, I love the secondary 6period weekly option from Createl.
I’ve tried the daily (that my husband uses), and my colleagues have used other variations.