2 Incredible FREE Instructional Tools For Teachers

To further improve student academic performance and involve parents in the process, here are two tools to include in class routines.  Both support teacher efforts in holding students accountable and keeping parents in the loop with just a few clicks of the mouse (or taps on the screen).

Remind101 offers teachers a safe text messaging tool to remind students of assignments due, share information with parents, have both parents and students contact teachers with the teacher never using his/her own personal cell phone.  Teachers can communicate with ease at any time of the day or night without ever worrying about students harassing them.  This tool is also FREE. REMIND 101

SLIDE SHARE TUTORIAL ON REMIND101 Here is a power point on how to use this app.  It is very straightforward and therefore easy to follow.  VIDEO TUTORIAL ON REMIND101  For those who prefer video to power points, here is a video tutorial on the app.

The best description of EDMODO is that it is like Facebook only safe for teachers and students.  Teachers have total control over who enters the class site.  Through this friendly and highly familiar format, teachers can use the site to have students respond to polling questions, create discussion boards, share projects with fellow students, parents, or EDMODO classrooms from around the world.  There is much here for a teacher to love.  Here is the link to the site:   EDMODO   Here is the video tutorial for teachers on using the site:  EDMODO VIDEO TUTORIAL

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

A TOP 10 List of iPAD APPs For Teachers!

Keeping up with the latest greatest free (or close to free) apps could be a challenge for full time teachers.  After all, there are so many hours in the day and those are generally set aside for developing quality lessons and grading.  So how does a teacher find quality apps with such time constraints? 

This blog has several posts on apps (just search within the blog for earlier posts on this subject).  Every app listed has been tried out for classroom use by either myself or colleagues who needed suggestions from me.  Each app is either free or a dollar or two.  This is one great feature of Apple's iPad market--teachers do not have to go broke buying class instructional apps for their students.

In this post, I have a few more great tech tools for the classroom:)  SCIENCE 360 is an outstanding resource for science classes at any grade level.  The visuals provide the crucial support students need to connect with challenging subject material.  Further since SCIENCE is like a second language for everyone, both ELLs and English only students will benefit from it.

SKITCH I have just started exploring.  Basically, it allows a teacher to add text and highlight images, webpages, and more.  This tool eliminates guessing on the part of the students since teachers have total control over what they enter on the selected resource.  Students could also draw on this tool when doing projects, presentations, reports, etc.  It is free.

TEACHER KIT I have blogged about in the past.  I use it every semester in my university classes since it is a far more organized way to keep track of grades than recording them manually.  With the end of the class, I need only save everything as an EXCEL document with just a click.  Attendance can also be kept and seating charts can be generated. 

SIMPLE MIND+ is a mind map (aka bubble graphic organizer).  I have seen some of my teacher credential candidates use this in their lesson plan projects.  Students benefit from seeing content laid out this way.  It helps them seen those vital connections which add context to any subject area that they are working on.  Further, if the school allows it, students can use their cell phones to take pictures of the finished products (aka "the new way to take notes").

SCREEN CHOMP I have not tried, but plan to play with it tomorrow.  I like the option to record lessons and notes for students to go back to as needed in trying to understand a lesson.  By the way, "playing with apps" is the advice of almost everyone with an iPad who uses it regularly.  If the app meets a need, it is saved.  If not, it is deleted. 

STAR WALK I paid for since I personally love astronomy as a hobby.  It was only $1.99.  The charts are accurate and easy to navigate.  If students like astronomy, this is a must-buy.

The other apps are geared to younger students (those learning to read). 

TOP TEN APPS FOR TEACHERS 

Enjoy the apps:)

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

GREAT IPAD APPS FOR TEACHERS IN ALL SUBJECTS:)

With iPads now all the rage and thousands of free apps (or almost free) apps to choose from, teachers are facing some difficult choices.  The question most face is what apps are the essential ones.  This situation is especially true for those new to iPads. 

Here is a collection of 50 to start off with.  Most are free.  The others cost very little (from $.99 to $2.99).  The apps can be used at all grade levels.  A suggestion here is to try them out--basically play with them.  Experiment with them. 

My favorites here are Educreations (whiteboard),  Teacher Kit (free program to track attendance, record grades, etc.), Stick Pick (student name randomizer), Edmodo (Facebook for schools), LiveBinders (virtual organized binders to store lessons, student work, videos, etc.), Google Drive (not listed but still a favorite), DropBox (storage space up to 2 Gs for free), and Science360 (great videos to supplement any science lesson).  Again, these are my favorites.  For those new to iPads, consider this a starting point:)

GREAT APPS FOR TEACHERS

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

Google Nexus 7 32GB Tablet NEXUS7ASUS- (Google Affiliate Ad)

Acer A200 Iconia Tablet, 16 GB, Titanium Gray XE.H8QPN.001 (Google Affiliate Ad)