The Survey Says
For teachers, time is one of the most precious commodities. Edtech apps – though they cause headaches and challenges at times – are one of the most significant contributors to time saving for teachers.
ESGI-ThinkFives surveyed hundreds of teachers and here are the Top 5 apps that save them time each week.
Most of us are familiar with Pinterest, and if you’re a teacher, you know how easy it is to swap pins and ideas with other educators across the globe. Pinterest’s graphic-centric approach makes it easy to search for educational content and find hundreds of boards for inspiration.
For thousands of teachers, Pinterest has become an important venue for professional development as well — a place to find creative lesson plans and teaching strategies.
If you’re interested in more classroom ideas or teaching-related entertainment, make sure to follow ThinkFives’ Pinterest page.
And maybe while you’re searching for your ELA activity, you can pick up a great recipe too.
Remind
Remind is an easy way for teachers to manage communication and send messages that students and parents can’t miss. Teachers love it because it maximizes time savings by scheduling class announcements and setting up availability.
Parents love it because they stay informed and get updates regularly from classroom teachers. No more school newsletters or long emails. Remind messages are shorter than 300 characters and sent directly to mobile phones.
In a world where less is more, Remind is a perfect solution for class communication.
ClassDojo
It’s no secret that teachers love ClassDojo and believe it saves them a lot of time. It’s convenient, effective and allows teachers to communicate with parents in ways they never could before.
Teachers use the free ClassDojo mobile app to communicate with students and parents and to compile student portfolios. A number of teachers highlighted how important ClassDojo has become for SEL (Social Emotional Learning). ClassDojo has a video series focusing on topics like empathy, care and other social skills, which are now part of the platform. And that’s something all teachers care about.
Google Classroom
For teachers and students, Google Classroom is user-friendly and brings the benefits of paperless sharing and digital collaboration. During remote learning this past year, Google Classroom became mission critical for many.
Teachers like the simple integration among a number of important apps like Docs, Sheets and Presentation, not to mention the many 3rd party apps that integrate with Google Classroom. This includes everything from Khan Academy to PBS.
Google Classroom is not just for remote teaching. In a survey of skills learned this past year which teachers believe will benefit them in the future, Google Classroom came in third.
Teachers Pay Teachers
Just about every Elementary teacher is familiar with the online marketplace, Teachers Pay Teachers. Founded in 2006 by Paul Edelman, a New York City public school teacher, the site features extensive lessons in math, science and English. There are also many types of activities in each: seasons, holidays, art, music, foreign languages and more.
With more than 1.7 million available resources contributed by over 3.5 million global members, the company estimates that one in three US teachers have downloaded materials from their site. No wonder why TPT is the #1 site listed by our teachers.
Honorable mentions
For pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st Grade teachers, nothing beats ESGI.
Other time-saving apps include
- Seesaw
- Near pod
- Quizlet
- Schoology
What time saving apps do you use?
I would highly recommend ESGI.
I love Pinterest because you get to see all of those billboards and walls, and teachers are very creative and artistic on Pinterest with their recommendations for class activities.
But ESGI is a very close second with so many check-in points to ensure that students are meeting their goals and expectations.
I always end up coming back to this post to maximize my productivity!
How did I not know Teachers Pay Teachers was available as an app?? Great idea!!! 👍
I love all things Google! I use Google Keep for notes and lists. So handy!