As a teacher, technology is often our best friend (until it isn’t working). I have certainly tried my share of apps and websites. Some of them have been great and some were more trouble than help. Below you will find a list of apps that I use most often in my classroom. These apps are in no particular order – just as I thought of them. If you have a recommendation please feel free to share it with me. I am always looking for ways to work smarter not harder.
1. Remind
You can schedule messages to send out to parents – yes, set it and forget it! I am one of those “if I don’t write it down I’ll forget it” people. With this app, I can quickly type a note to send to parents about a field trip permission slip is due, a no school reminder, etc. in a minute or two, decide if I want to include a cute picture to go with it, and schedule it. This prevents me from forgetting to tell parents something important. I can also direct message parents as needed.
2. Class Dojo
This is another app you can use to schedule messages to be sent to parents. It was designed to be used as a form of classroom management as you can award and remove points from students as needed. You can customize what you give points for and the number of points. Students can customize their avatar and have a portfolio that they can use to directly share stuff with parents. You can encourage parent engagement by sharing photos and videos directly with them as well. I also use this app for data collection. For example, if I want to collect data on how often a student is going to the bathroom, I can create a bathroom button and set it to 0 points as this is for data collection. It will time and date stamp each entry. You can also add notes when rewarding or removing points. At the end of the year, I print the data before archiving my class.
3. Planbook
You can customize your lesson plans and add standards (most standards are already included). You can share them with your teammates, parents or administrators and you don’t have to worry about them messing them up. Plans can be color coded and you can upload your own fonts!
4. iGradr
This is super convenient to have because I’m not a math whiz. I love that I can input the total number of questions and it will give me a list of all the scores. I can simply scroll to see the percentage correct. It is such a time-saver.
5. Google Tasks
As a teacher, we have tons of things we need to get done. In the past, I would write things down on sticky notes and they would either disappear or I would forget or lose them. Google Task allows you create lists for whatever you want. You also have the pleasure of checking them off when you have completed them (yes)!
6. Cloud Storage
This includes Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. All of my work is saved to my Drive. The folders within my drive are color coded. I use the same colors for my online folders that I use for my classroom systems. For example, I use red folders for reading in my classroom so my digital reading folder is also red. If you download these storage apps to your computer, your files will automatically be updated in the cloud as you work on them on your computer.
7. Prodigy
Prodigy is a math standards aligned game that parents and teachers can sign up for. They now have an English standards aligned game. Student progress can be monitored and differentiated as needed. Students are wizards engaged in math battles in Prodigy Math and in Prodigy English they collect and harvest resources to build their own world. Prodigy Math has been a hit in my classroom for many years.
8. Lexia
Lexia is a reading program for students PreK – 12th grade. If used according to their recommendations, it can improve students reading ability. Several of my students have progressed from learning to read to reading to learn. Lexia offers several different types of programs. We use Lexia Core5. They also have training videos and guides for teachers, offer certificates for students as they move through the levels of the program and you can monitor and adjust their progress. In addition to progress monitoring, Lexia will flag students that have been struggling on a specific skill/lesson and provide printable lessons for you to work one to one with the student.
9. YouTube Kids / PBS Kids Video
I use a lot of the YouTube Kids videos for science and social studies related topics. They are often short, informative and cute. They are safe and family friendly videos. The PBS Kids Videos are often used for entertainment, as they are videos of various PBS Kids shows. We will often watch one when we have lunch in the classroom or on Fun Fridays when using our tablets.
10. Epic
Epic has over 40,000 books, audiobooks and videos for students to explore. Books can be assigned and read to students that struggle with reading. There is also a dictionary included for words that students are unfamiliar with. I often used this as a center or for morning work. Students progress can be monitored as well.
