March 05, 2019
What do a class noise meter, Google teacher trainings, and presentation widgets have in common? They're all free and easy to implement in the classroom. Whether you're looking for help managing group work or you could use some training on Google tools, this list is for you.
As you browse through the websites below, you'll find tricks and tools to level up your classroom management. Take a chance and try something new!
Google Teacher Center
Price: Free
Platforms: Website
Grades: Pre-K–12
Platforms: Website
Grades: Pre-K–12
Google Teacher Center is a free site by Google that offers self-paced teacher trainings for Google tools. Get started with the Training tab to learn all about Google Classroom, Chromebooks, and more. Then there's the Certification tab, where teachers can take performance-based exams to demonstrate their new skills. This site is also a great place to grow a personal learning network (PLN) with options to join a Google Educator Group (GEG) or G Suite for Education G+ Community.
Bouncy Balls
Price: Free
Platforms: Website
Grades: K–12
Platforms: Website
Grades: K–12
Bouncy Balls is a free noise meter that uses plastic balls, emojis, bubbles, or eyeballs to measure sound. As noise in the classroom increases, the balls shoot up and move chaotically across the screen. Use this tool during group work to control noise levels, or turn up the sensitivity meter for use during exams or independent study time. Though some students may make more noise to see the balls move, this tool may help other students self-regulate their behavior.
ClassroomScreen
Price: Free
Platforms: Website
Grades: K–12
Platforms: Website
Grades: K–12
ClassroomScreen offers digital widgets in a variety of languages, all for free. Teachers can project the clock, timer, traffic light, and sound level tools for the whole class, or use the duo widget option to differentiate for two student groups. There are text and drawing tools to help with instructions, and the work symbols are useful for both individual and group work, with options like "whisper," "silence," "ask neighbor," and "work together."
Flippity
Price: Free
Platforms: Website
Grades: K–12
Platforms: Website
Grades: K–12
To use Flippity, start with a Google spreadsheet and turn it into flash cards, a badge creator, a spelling quiz, a memory game, a word search, and more. The website is free, but some features are supported by ads. Teachers can use Flippity to enhance class presentations, assess individual students, and get students to create. There are demos, templates, and detailed instructions for each use case.
Turn Off the Lights
Price: Free
Platforms: Android, iOS, Chrome, Windows, Mac Apps
Grades: K–12
Platforms: Android, iOS, Chrome, Windows, Mac Apps
Grades: K–12
This browser extension and app allows teachers to gray out everything but the video player on a website. Rather than expanding a video to fill the screen during a presentation, teachers can use Turn Off the Lights to quickly shift students' focus from a website to a video and back again. This simple app is surprisingly customizable: Teachers can alter the dimming, set it to automatic, or add background images.
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