Teaching online can be a struggle and the huge time commitment can be an absolute pain. It seems to take so long to do everything. I feel like I am constantly doing the same tasks over and over. If this is one of your struggles with teaching online, keep reading. I have discovered a few tools to save you time and let you work more efficiently when teaching online. These are 7 of my favorite tools for teaching online.
Google Classroom
In my district just like so many others we are using google classroom. Google classroom is also known as LMS or a learning management system. Google classroom is your hub for organizing everything your students need for your class. Other LSM include Schoology , Moodle and Blackboard Learn.
Jamboard
You can use jamboard as a white board in your google classroom. I love this tool because it is easy to use and it does not require students to go to a website or put in a code. I can pull up a jamboard right inside my google meet.
Google keep
You can use Google Keep for things you need to type out on a regular basis. For example, websites I visit often. I even keep a class list in Google Keep so that I don’t have to type them over and over. This works great when I use wheel of wheelofnames.com to select helpers for the day or If you need to drop your students’ name into a google sheet.
Google Priority
This is a function inside google drive. This allows you to pull up your most used items quickly. Sometimes I have a really hard time finding stuff in my google drive. Priority also allows you to create work spaces. In workspaces you can add files that you need for a particular task. For example , I have a work space for all items, I need to turn in with my lesson plans, like parent contact logs and other items we are required to turn in each week. All these items are now in one place so instead of spending 10 min looking for each of these each week, i can now open them in seconds.
Mote
This is a google extension for chrome. Mote will allow you to record audio. Mote also allows you to speak responses in google classroom, saving you time. Personally I can speak way faster than I type,lol.
Google Classroom Tile Setting
This new feature allows you to adjust your view to see all your students at one time. This feature was just added in an update, prior to this I was using an extension called grid for google classroom.
Classscreen
This site works like a jamboard but it is loaded with cool engaging features. Some of the features include random name, draw a time clock and stopwatch.A feature called sound level measures the sound level and changes colors as sound gets too loud. There is also a QR code and you can import images. Video from your webcam and youtube videos on one screen.The white board has a ton of features.
These tools have been some of my go-to’s for a while now. These along with more tools, tips and tricks I have crafted while exclusively teaching students online has allowed me to provide my students with fun, engaging instruction while allowing me to work more efficiently. I have been able to save time and enjoy teaching online so much more. If this sounds like something you are interested in, you can find more information here. I hope these 7 tools for teaching online help you be more efficient and save you lots of time.
