Over the past several months I have had the immense pleasure of student teaching at some incredible schools in West Michigan. A major perk of my placements has been picking up new ideas for how to use technology in the classroom. Here are some of my favorite resources from the semester that have become my go-to teacher tools:
- Google Drive (and everything related)
Google Drive and its tools are great because Google continually innovates. Periodic updates and improvements are worth acclimating to; files are easily stored and shared and can be used for just about any function, whether you are using spreadsheets, forms, documents, slideshows, or others.
Google Classroom is wonderful enough to deserve its own bullet point. It represents all of the tools and functionality of Drive in classroom-friendly form, plus teachers have the ability to communicate with students, post updates and assignments, keep grades current and more.
This is an app worth investing in. The cost to download it onto your smartphone via iTunes is $12.99, but if time is money, this technology is well worth the price. It essentially replaces the Scantron machine while allowing teachers to grade from the comfort of their own classrooms. Check it out in the app store
here.
Kahoot offers teachers a refreshing, fun way to incorporate formative assessments through real-time audience polling. This site also has potential for creating engaging anticipatory activities and even encouraging student involvement. Anyone can create a Kahoot.
It's free!
This site is the grown-up equivalent of Kahoot for upperclassman (or for simply adding some pizzazz to professional presentations). This live-response audience participation poll offers the same benefits of Kahoot, minus many of the bells and whistles tailored to younger users.
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