Back to school for teachers

This blog post originally appeared on the Inside Office Online blog, where you can find Office productivity tips blogged daily.

Students are still out having fun or looking for ways to make some money this summer, but most teachers are back to school this month.

If you’re a teacher who has resolved to let your computer help you with fall classroom preparation, why not test drive Microsoft Home and Student 2007. The Home and Student edition includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote, all the products you need to take advantage of the back-to-school templates collection.

Teachers of all grade levels can put these back-to-school templates to good use this month:

2009-2010 academic year calendar This Excel calendar automatically tabulates the total number of entries for each month. Use it in the classroom and print it out to send home with students when school starts.

School supplies sign-out sheet Budgets are tight this year, and so are supplies. Everyone will appreciate your thoughtful reuse of classroom supplies.

Back-to-school presentationThe PowerPoint 2007 Global read design template is an excellent slide background for a presentation developed for students, colleagues, or parents.

Electronic teacher grade bookIf you teach the same subject to multiple classes, try this Excel template to simplify translating points and percentages into a letter grade. An elementary school grade book template is available for teachers of younger students.

Classroom newsletterResolved to connect better with parents this year? Use a Word classroom newsletter template like this one to start communicating with parents and students immediately.

Don’t forget to submit your award certificate entries to the Office Online "School Rules Award Certificate Contest" and help millions of Office customers make their students, teachers, and volunteers very happy. Winners will be promoted online the week of September 7th.

What are your school year resolutions?

--leslie