Have you ever heard the phrase, “work smarter, not harder”?
Well, teachers of the U.S., this especially applies to you!
The average class size is about 21 pupils for elementary and about 27 for secondary schools. As a teacher, you know that this ratio can sometimes seem daunting.
You’re one person in charge of the safety, education, and well-being of anywhere from 20-30 kids at once!
So if there are tools for teachers out there, you need to use them. They’ll make your job easier as well as more efficient and convenient.
Spend the rest of your summer off studying up on these awesome tools and come back more prepared than ever!
- Adobe Spark
As a teacher, you’ve likely got a ton of great ideas in your head. But how can you turn those ideas into “stunning visual stories” that engage students?
Adobe Spark lets you do exactly that.
It has an amazing amount of features that allow you to create quickly and vividly. Need some certificates printed last-minute for a ceremony? No problem — use their free certificate maker.
Make posters, webpages, presentations, you name it.
- Projeqt
No one’s listening to a 20-slide PowerPoint with no graphics, zooming images, or fun font. If your presentation lacks creativity, it’s probably not making an impact.
Give students something to remember using Projeqt. You can start from scratch, creating projects anew. Or you can rejuvenate some of your tried-and-true stuff from the archives.
Keep slides alive with things like interactive maps (and more!) with this tool.
- Quizlet
Let’s be honest: while these are tools for teachers, they’re really all about the students. Quizlet is no different. Over 90% of students who use it report better grades.
Quizlet has 335,784,000 study sets — full of games, flash cards, and more — that cover every topic you can imagine. These sets are full of useful information that gets delivered in a memorable way.
- Remind 101
With Remind, teachers can alert students and parents of can’t-miss information like tests, field trips, school events. It’s great for parents and students, too, as they’re always staying on top of what’s going on.
Teachers send out school-specific text messages to anyone on the Remind list. This allows messages to get received immediately.
Avoid lost permission slips or miscommunication with this service!
- ClassDojo
Communication between parents and teachers is crucial. It’s a time to report concerns, accomplishments, progress. So how can we improve the conversation between the two?
Remind 101, just mentioned, is one way to do so. ClassDojo is another. This classroom communication app lets teachers and parents track behavior, grades, and the like.
You can even post real-time photos or videos of classroom moments on the app. This gives parents a chance to see fun activities happening that they normally wouldn’t!
Try These A+ Tools for Teachers
As you can see, your job doesn’t have to be difficult. With the aid of some essential tools for teachers, it can become easier than ever.
This gives you more time to focus on what’s important: our youth, our future generations, the kids!
We’ll let you go for now, teachers of America — but we regularly post life hacks like this. Keep checking back daily for more!