In this post, you will learn how to set up and share a Google calendar for the purpose of keeping track of homework or assignments. See Part 2 of this post to see how to set up the homework entries and reminders.
Kids lose their agenda books. They leave them in their lockers, on buses, in desks. Sometimes they just vanish without a trace. And they take with them any clue the kid had about what to do for homework.
And then there are the kids that a paper planner just doesn’t work for. Their handwriting doesn’t fit in the boxes, or they keep putting things on the wrong page, and then they are gone forever! Or they write a project or due date down, and don’t check the agenda book when it’s time to do the work.
Turning Google Calendar into an assistive technology to help these kids is simple and helps them to build technology skills that will support them for life. I think this starts to be effective around sixth grade, if there are devices available regularly through the day, or if the child carries a smartphone.
First the child needs a Google account. Log in and choose Google Calendar from the menu of Google tools:
You will see a blank Google calendar, if you’ve never used it before.
I recommend creating a dedicated Google calendar, called “Beth’s Homework” or something similar to keep all the homework in one place. This is a good practice because hopefully the student will use the calendar to keep track of appointments, sports practices, and important dates down the road, and this keeps all that information from becoming smushed together and overwhelming.
Create a new calendar by clicking on the small triangle to the right of the words “My Calendar.” 
There are 3 steps to setting up a new calendar.
- Name the calendar. Mine is “Beth’s Homework.”
- Share it with others. Type an email address, and choose from the dropdown whether others can view only or edit (including adding and deleting) events.
- Click “Create Calendar” at the bottom of the screen.
Tune in tomorrow to learn how to set up repeating events and color coding to make it look like a student agenda book. I’ll also show you how to edit the events to record the day’s assignments.