5 Tools That Teachers Can Use to Improve Productivity in the Classroom

When it comes to educating kids these days, it is important that you make productive use of your time. The youth of today has a lot of other things vying for their attention, so, you need to make sure that your classroom is engaging and can really connect with the youngsters that you have in your care each day.

Whether you are working with older elementary kids or high school students, technology will be your friend when organizing your classroom.

If you’re a teacher, here are five tools you can use to be more efficient in your work.

Google Classroom

One of the tools that technology has made possible is Google Classroom. High schools and other learning institutions across the country are utilizing this beneficial mode of instruction to reach their students. Kids can access the classroom from their home computers, which allows children to complete their assignments even when they are unable to attend their regular classes.

You will find that using Google Classroom is also beneficial for you. It will allow you to keep track of all the things that you need and the way that your students are progressing. The digitalized information will let you get your kids materials graded and returned more quickly than ever before. Plus, it is easy for you to report the grades via the system used by your school to send out report cards and to meet state reporting requirements.

Spreadsheets

One of the things that you can do is learn how to use spreadsheets. Even if you think that this will just add to the amount of work you have, once you become proficient with them, you will discover that you are more organized and require less time to accomplish the tasks that you have used the spreadsheet for.

Microsoft Excel is the most prominent spreadsheet tool in the world. It has many useful features and functions that can help manage data. Even small techniques such as filtering data, sorting data, using Pivot Tables, creating charts, can improve your productivity.

You can find several online pieces of training that will guide you through how to use spreadsheets in general. Additionally, you can find examples used by teachers to help further spark your imagination on how to use these for your classroom.

Google Docs

Another way that you can increase your productivity is Google Docs. Even if you don’t take advantage of the entire classroom offered by the internet giant, their word document program is one of the best and you can use it for your kids to learn and for easy grading. Even younger children can be taught about the importance of minimizing paper waste by using this instead of paper and pencil for basic assignments.

You can use it to get assignments from students and can also give feedback on specific areas that can easily be accessed by the students.

Social Media

Social media sites are a fourth way that teachers can improve the productivity of their classroom. Many find that creating separate accounts related to their job allows them to interact with their students, their parents and the others associated with the school system without the added pressure of friends and family on the accounts.

You can set up professional social media accounts for free and give the contact information to your students as well as their parents. As you schedule assignments and have information relevant to your classroom, you can make the posts online. One of the great things about social media is that you can schedule your posts in advance.

This means that when you create assignments you can tell the sites to post about it on those days. If you are consistent with this, your students and their parents will learn that they can depend on you to provide updated information regarding when assignments are due, tests and related information. Of course, you should check into your account at least once each day to answer any queries that might have been directed toward your account.

Online Tutors & Websites

The fifth thing that you can use is the abundance of online tutors that provide instruction for students from their smartphones, tablets and other devices. There are several sites out there with videos, games and practice tests covering a range of subjects. Find the ones with material relevant to your classroom and check them out. Have your students visit the ones that you deem would be most helpful to improve their grades in your class.

You can include the information about the websites that you find helpful in your posts and tweets about your classroom to further help parents understand how their children are learning from you. If their youngster is having difficulties, they will have the advantage of knowing where to direct them without wasting valuable time on parent-teacher conferences and expensive private tutors.

These are a few of the ways that you can make your classroom more productive. Of course, the specifics will depend on the age of your students and the subject matter that you teach. Adjust your choices as per what will best help you and your kids to have a positive educational experience!