As I reflect on 2017, I wanted to share the top 30 technology tools I've used, trained on, or recommended to teachers this year.
- Answer Garden: quickly gather data in the form of a word cloud
- Canva: create images, posters, and presentations
- Classroom Screen: all your must-have tools are located in one place online
- Go Noodle: free brain breaks all in one spot
- Google Chrome and its extensions: log in to save all your bookmarks and preferences (click here to see a list of my favorite extensions)
- Google Custom Search: create a custom internet search with pre-approved websites
- Google Drive and all its components: I cannot say enough good things about Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Forms...the possibilities are endless!
- Google Earth Voyages: fantastic for virtual field trips or to just add a little extra "oomph" to your lesson
- Google Hangouts: Conduct meetings even when you're not in the same room! I love the "share my screen" feature, which allows me to let teachers see what my screen looks like as I walk them through a project
- Google Voice: gives you an extra phone number that connects to your existing mobile number. Great for making parent phone calls or texts without revealing your personal phone number.
- Instant Classroom: upload your class roster and generate seating charts, groups, and more.
- Kerem Erkan QR Code Generator: there is no shortage of QR code generators online, but this one is my favorite because you can create codes to plain text, maps, text messages, and more.
- Online Stopwatch: counts up or down, includes fun animations (if you want to use them), and gives your students a visual as to how much time is left
- Padlet: virtual corkboard that can be used for exit tickets, question parking lots, backchannel tool, and more. The addition of a column layout was HUGE this year
- Pic Collage: create posters, collages, and other projects by layering images and text
- Plickers: a digital assessment tool that only requires one device (the teacher's!)
- Poll Everywhere: use the "clickable image" feature to assess very young students or those that struggle with reading
- Popplet: create online brainstorm webs that include pictures, drawings, and text
- Quizizz: a fun game that provides practice for students and assessment data for teachers
- Reflector Teacher: mirror your mobile device on your computer screen, record movements on your mobile device, and all students to project as well
- Remind: communicate with a large group via text or email without revealing your personal information. I regularly recommend this just for the scheduling feature
- SafeShare.tv: crop YouTube videos while filtering ads and video recommendations
- Screencast-o-Matic: create videos of your computer screen
- Seesaw: ePortfolio tool geared toward young learners. The Activities feature has been a game-changer this year
- Shadow Puppet Edu: create slideshows with music or narration
- Sign Up Genius: I used this when I taught Science Lab to gather volunteers for stations during Science Night. Since then, I've seen it used for potluck lunches, field trip volunteers, and mystery reading guest sign-ups.
- Socrative: a digital assignment tool where any amount of planning will work
- Symbaloo: Out of all the ways to share links with students, this one is probably the easiest and most universal.
- TweetDeck: schedule your tweets in advance and keep up with Twitter chats more easily
- Wifi Mouse: an iOS app that works over Wifi to connect to your computer and act as a mouse, letting you control your computer screen from anywhere in the room
Are there any tools you'd add to my list?
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