Finally, the first semester is officially behind us and we’re already in the midst of our long-awaited holiday break. For most teachers, these next few weeks will be a much-needed vacation from the sleepless nights, the daily mental breakdowns, the unrealistic expectations, and the unsustainable work pace. For the first time in my career, I will not be doing any kind of school work during my time off. Nothing is so urgent after the grueling semester we’ve all endured. Furthermore, we need to recharge our batteries in order to prepare for the spring semester roller coaster ride that awaits us.
Since our March lockdown, the journey has been anything but smooth as we’ve flip-flopped between in-person, remote and hybrid teaching models. I can honestly say that it could’ve been much worse if it weren’t for the existence of technology. Without it, we probably wouldn’t have enjoyed even a fraction of the progress that we’ve somehow managed to achieve in this most challenging educational environment.
For most educators, technology has been our savior, as we’ve relied heavily on the plethora of platforms that exist to manage student work, communicate with students and parents, present lessons and create assessments. It’s now an essential tool in our teaching toolbox, without which, we can no longer survive. But with so many applications to choose from, the process of figuring out which ones work best can be downright overwhelming and extremely time-consuming, and time is something we’ve all been struggling to find lately.
For this reason, I’m sharing a list of the tech apps and websites that I find most useful for my high school Spanish classes with the hopes that you could find one or a few that will simplify your teaching experience, especially in remote situations. While I use many others, these are my go-to platforms. I recommend them for secondary world language classes, but I’m sure most can be adapted for use with elementary and intermediate levels too.
For clarification, I teach Spanish 1 Standard, Spanish 4 Honors and AP Spanish Language and Culture. Our curriculum and our resources for Spanish 1 through 4 are teacher-generated, which means that we have no textbooks. The exception is AP Spanish Language and Culture, which has its own College Board approved curriculum and a textbook.
1. Schoology
Schoology is a robust learning management system that is fully customizable and enables educators the ability to house entire courses within its platform. It offers a broad range of tools for editing, lesson creation, media integration, assessment development, performance reporting and student communication. It offers loads of functionality which are extremely beneficial for remote teaching and learning environments. In my opinion, Schoology is a complete digital classroom.
However, because Schoology is so dynamic, learning how to use it can be overwhelming and daunting, especially for those who aren’t so tech-savvy. I strongly recommend watching the tutorials when getting started. Schoology’s website is full of great resources, plus a quick search on YouTube will find you many more.
Before I received training in Schoology as an educator, I had taken a course that was housed on its platform. I’ll be honest, I didn’t like it at first. I felt like I was floundering around, lost within a labyrinth of color-coded folders. But after spending some time working within it, I really began to enjoy it.
After receiving training as an educator, I realized how amazingly powerful Schoology is. I’m able to digitize my courses and not just print applications. I’m embedding a variety of media such as presentations and videos, and I’m also creating digital assessments, all of which can be saved, tweaked and reused with future classes.
Schoology for me is a game-changer as it allows me to integrate the print resources I’ve been using for decades with the digital resources that I’m currently using to enhance and reinforce lesson topics and it’s all housed in one convenient location. In my opinion, it doesn’t get much better than this.
What I like:
- Schoology is clean, logical and completely customizable.
- The grade book feature can stand alone or it can sync with other grading management systems. Furthermore, it’ll automatically record grades from auto-corrected assessments.
- The folder system keeps everything organized, plus it’s easy to arrange and rearrange folders with its drag and drop capability. A key feature allows for a folder to remain “unpublished” which means that students won’t be able to see or access it on their end until you “publish” it. The folders can be published manually or they may be scheduled for a later date and time.
- Schoology integrates seamlessly with a variety of media platforms such as Google Docs and Slides and Microsoft OneDrive. YouTube videos are a snap to embed and they eliminate the distracting sidebar of related videos that are normally present on the YouTube site. There’s also a Zoom Pro tab where meetings can be scheduled and where meeting links live making it easier for students to find and join their Zoom classes.
- Lastly, working as a world language teacher often requires that you use accent marks and alternate punctuation. Within its editing feature, Schoology provides the special characters needed to communicate correctly in any language.
What I love:
- I love, love, love the enormous library of customizable assessment tools that Schoology offers. For instance, there are discussion boards, true/false, multiple-choice, matching and labeling templates that I use most frequently.
However, there are so many more design options to choose from depending on your needs. Embedding graphics and charts are additional options as well as allowing students to record their voices in lieu of written responses. And if that’s not enough, well, you can mix and match question types anywhere within each assessment and you can shuffle the order of your questions so individual students have their own variation of the same assessment.
The bottom line is that you can create assessments that are as simple or as complex as you’d like, and while it can sometimes be time-consuming to create the assessments, it’s pretty easy. Furthermore, once you’ve created an assessment, you can tweak and reuse it in future courses, which is a huge time saver.
- As a Spanish teacher, it’s imperative that students practice speaking so I love that they can record their voices easily and directly into the Schoology platform where their recordings are organized and readily accessible.
Discussion boards are my absolute favorite assessment tool for speaking practice and what I love about them is that I can adjust the settings so students must post a response before they hear the responses of their classmates. This promotes original ideas and eliminates the opportunity for students to copy other responses.
- I love that I can set parameters for my assessments. Some students require extra time and in many cases, I’ll allow students multiple attempts to master the material. Schoology allows me to make these adjustments either for the group or for individual students.
- What a great feeling it is to know that my course is saved on Schoology and ready to be reused with future classes. Because I don’t have a textbook, Schoology allows me to save everything in such a way that it acts as my personal digital textbook.
- Having a paperless course is simply awesome! No more overstuffed filing cabinets, or having to photocopy class sets of worksheets. Nor are there huge stacks of papers cluttering my desk waiting to be graded. All of my documents are easily accessible from anywhere at any time. It’s a beautiful thing!
What I dislike:
- Because Schoology has a ton of functionality the learning curve can be steep and time-consuming. On the flip side, you only have to learn it once.
Note:
I highly recommend Schoology, but unless your school district already subscribes to it, you won’t be able to open a free basic instructor account for a while. According to Schoology’s website, the ability for teachers to create new accounts is temporarily suspended so they can focus on supporting the many school districts who are relying on their platform for distant and hybrid learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.
2. Zoom
Three years ago I took an online class with an instructor who resided in South Africa. During the course, she held a few live sessions via Zoom. That was my introduction to this video-conferencing platform. Since then, Zoom’s popularity has soared so much that it has become a household word and the go-to video-conferencing tool for over 200 million users, according to PC Magazine.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Zoom has connected families, businesses and schools in a personable way that email cannot. For educators in particular it’s provided an alternative venue where teachers and students are able to interact with one another in a simulated classroom environment.
Honestly, I don’t know where we’d be in education today if Zoom or for that matter, any other video-conferencing tool didn’t exist. Imagine how much more difficult this school year could’ve been if this type of platform were nonexistent. It’s been a lifesaver for sure.
What I like:
- Zoom is super easy to use whether you’re participating in or hosting a meeting. Just click on the meeting link or follow the clearly identified prompts that walk you through the scheduling process.
- The names and faces of students are visible as they enter the meeting, which makes taking attendance a snap. Plus, there are several viewing modes available. I prefer the gallery mode because it enables me to monitor all of my students on the computer screen at once without having to scroll through them a few at a time.
- Having the ability to create custom backgrounds is super helpful, especially when there are family members or pets who may unknowingly enter the camera space and serve as embarrassing distractions.
- The chat function is great because it enables communication with the entire class or privately with individual students.
- Zoom maintains a detailed attendance log so if attendance questions arise at a later date, it’s simple to verify student participation.
- Zoom integrates seamlessly with Schoology so students can easily find and access class meetings.
What I love:
- As mentioned above, Zoom has the ability to record your meetings, which can then be made available for replay by students.
- You can Zoom from anywhere on any device.
- YouTube and Netflix are my favorite video streaming platforms and I use them frequently in my classes, so I love that I can not only share videos with my students using the screen share mechanism, but I’m also able to optimize the audio and video for enhanced user experience.
- Zoom contains a feature that enables you to create polls. I use this tool often to engage students and to check for learning. The best part is that everyone can review the results in real-time.
- Breakout Rooms! If I had to choose the one thing that I love most about Zoom, it would be breakout rooms. Breakout rooms are private virtual classrooms where students are able to work in pairs or small groups.
As the host, I have the ability to visit each room and monitor progress while facilitating learning. I’m also able to freely move students from one room to another in order to enhance their learning experience.
There are lots of features attached to the breakout rooms. For instance, Zoom can randomly assign students to a room, or as the teacher, you can assign them manually. There’s a count-down timer so students know exactly how much time they have to complete a particular task, and when time runs out, Zoom can reshuffle your groups if you wish to continue with the activity. Otherwise, everyone returns to the main screen as a whole group.
What I dislike:
- The whiteboard feature is rather disappointing. I find that it’s clunky and I’m unable to move around without inadvertently dragging an image or text box across the screen. At this point, I’m considering purchasing a tablet that will allow me to write easily while screen sharing.
3. DYKnow
Every teacher should use this application whether you’re teaching remotely or not because it allows us the amazing ability to monitor students while they’re logged into their school-issued computers.
I use this app when students take online assessments, when I ask them to complete assignments independently online and when I’m out sick. It’s a great way to keep kids on task, as you can send customized messages directly to the computer screens of individual students when they’re engaging in off-task behavior. DYKnow also allows you to block unacceptable websites that students may be trying to access.
In my Spanish classes, for instance, I’ve blocked translation sites, Youtube videos and gaming sites. I’ve witnessed kids cheating on assessments and I’ve also sent messages to kids who are working on assignments for other classes when they’re supposed to be working on assignments for my class.
What I like:
- I’m able to monitor students at any time from any location.
- There’s the ability to create polls and assessments within the platform for students.
What I love:
- I can monitor students while they’re taking online assessments to ensure that they’re not navigating to translation sites or other sites that may compromise the integrity of their responses, especially when we’re in a remote teaching and learning environment.
- Using this application is a game-changer, as I’m able to gain a better sense of the ability levels of my students. In particular, I can identify those who may be struggling by monitoring students as they complete assignments and assessments.
- It’s easy to send direct messages and to block sites that students shouldn’t be accessing.
What I dislike:
- When monitoring students, the data isn’t presented in real-time. Depending on the viewing mode, it refreshes every fifteen or sixty seconds. Teachers are able to refresh the screen manually at any time, but there’s still a slight delay while the app completes the refreshing process.
- There will always be tech-savvy kids who will figure out how to bypass or dismantle the application.
4. Kami
Prior to this school year, most of my teaching resources and assessments were paper-based, so when we were suddenly forced to make a quick shift to a remote teaching environment, I dreaded the idea of having to convert everything to a digital format. Then I was introduced to Kami.
Kami is an application that digitizes any PDF, thereby allowing the document to be marked up with digital tools. All I do is upload the document into Kami and share it with students. My students then use the tools to annotate, highlight and type text answers onto their own copy. When they complete the assignment, they submit it for grading. It’s that simple!
What I like:
- It’s quick and easy to use.
- It integrates seamlessly with Schoology.
- Anything that can be converted into a PDF can ultimately become a Kami assignment.
What I love:
- I don’t have to waste time recreating worksheets that I created years ago and whose originals are MIA.
- Managing assignments is smooth. Kami lets me know who turned in work, if it was late and which assignments need grading. Plus, I can provide feedback directly onto the document, marking it up in a variety of ways.
- Because Kami is integrated with Schoology, grades are automatically logged into my Schoology grade book. Students can access their grades and feedback as I work through the pile, rather than waiting for me to complete the entire class set. Everything is organized and streamlined.
- As we’ve grown more conscious about contamination during the pandemic, Kami helps create a more hygienic learning environment by eliminating the need to touch germy papers.
What I dislike:
- The text box feature can be a little clunky to use. Some students struggle with this feature.
- For multiple choice assignments, I wish there could be an autocorrect feature.
5. EdPuzzle
EdPuzzle, oh, how I love thee! I tried this application a few years ago and thought it was nice, but it didn’t grab me. Then the pandemic hit and I needed to find ways to integrate video into my lessons, but also to create accountability for my students, because let’s face it, a video without some sort of assessment is like giving kids a free pass to do nothing. So, I revisited EdPuzzle. Low and behold, a love affair sparked and now I can’t boast enough about this amazing program, especially for the world language classroom.
EdPuzzle allows you to download a video into its platform, and then embed within that video an assessment that you create using the EdPuzzle tools. For instance, the student watches the first segment of the video before it’s interrupted. At that time the student must answer questions that you’ve created before the video will resume. This pattern repeats itself until the student has answered all of the questions and has watched the entire video.
On the front end, it takes time to create an EdPuzzle, but once completed, you can reuse it as often as you wish. More importantly, students are practicing their listening comprehension skills in a fun and engaging way and at their own pace, as students are able to replay segments as many times as needed in order to complete the task.
Unless you create an EdPuzzle with open-ended questions, they’re auto-graded, which saves a ton of time. If you prefer, you can look more closely at each submission to better understand student responses.
EdPuzzle also includes other great features. For instance, you can control the speed at which students view videos and whether or not to include subtitles. You can even permit students to skip questions which enables them to move more rapidly through the video.
Lastly, EdPuzzle houses a library of videos and assessments previously created by other teachers that cover a plethora of themes. So if you’re in a hurry, you can no doubt find an assignment quickly. However, I recommend previewing anything that you haven’t created just to ensure that it’ll be suitable for your students.
What I like:
- Videos from various platforms are easily downloaded into the EdPuzzle platform.
- Assessment options include multiple-choice and true-false questions as well as open-ended questions.
- Viewers can replay segments as often as they wish before answering questions.
- Subtitles and viewing speeds are optional.
- EdPuzzle provides an automated grade book and auto grades most assessments.
- Student work is visible and easily accessible
What I love:
- Students are fully engaged and are able to work at their own pace. Plus, EdPuzzles are fun! My Spanish 4 Honors kids beg for them.
- The EdPuzzle library is robust and convenient. Sometimes I don’t have time to create, so I borrow from the collection that already exists.
What I dislike:
- Unless you pay for a premium subscription, the program only permits you to save five or so EdPuzzles. Therefore, when I exhaust my storage, I delete old EdPuzzles from my library to make room for new ones.
- Creating an EdPuzzle can be time-consuming depending on the length and depth or your chosen video.
6. Powerpoint
I honestly don’t know what I’d do without Powerpoint slides. Simply put, I love them. I’ll admit that during the first semester of this school year I toyed with Google Slides because my school district uses everything Google, but it wasn’t long before I reverted back to Microsoft. The reason, you might wonder, is simple: functionality. Powerpoint provides so many more options and I’m all about the options.
What I like:
- Embedding and sharing presentations with students is simple.
What I love:
- Powerpoint presentations allow me to work smarter, not harder. Once I create a template I’m able to reuse it endlessly.
- Microsoft provides a full suite of tools that lets my creativity truly run wild.
What I dislike:
- Because there’s so much functionality, the learning curve can be steep.
7. Google Docs/Slides
I’m not a fan of Google and its products, but I’ve had to pivot and adapt during the last several years because my school district adores them. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that most Google applications are free, and that the abundance of Google products integrate seamlessly with one another.
However, I must note that free isn’t always better and perhaps my school district is beginning to realize this, as they’ve moved away from Google Classroom to adopt the more powerful and pricey learning management system, Schoology.
As I mentioned above, I love Powerpoint because it offers many bells and whistles, but it too comes with a price tag. Google Docs and Slides, on the other hand, are free. While Google has added more functionality to their applications over the years, the bottom line is that they produce basic programs that get the job at hand done.
What I like:
- Collaboration as a class or in student groups is super easy. I’ll provide a template and students produce and present the work.
- Google Slides and Docs are simple to learn.
What I love:
- Google Docs and Slides integrate seamlessly with other Google products as well as other applications such as Schoology.
- Google offers basic applications which is a great solution for those who aren’t so tech-savvy.
- Google Docs and Slides are cost-effective solutions when compared to other word processing and presentation tools.
What I dislike:
- When writing in Spanish, it’s cumbersome to access special characters.
- The filing system, while it’s presented in an organized fashion, feels chaotic at times, especially when students, administrators and colleagues share files.
Somehow documents get lost and I almost always have to conduct a manual search for them.
8. YouTube
If YouTube disappeared, I’m not sure how I’d survive in our modern-day classroom, especially when we’re teaching in remote environments. Since I have no textbook, I’ve relied heavily on YouTube to supplement and reinforce my curriculum. As a result, I’ve found some of the most amazing videos that are set in rich cultural contexts with native speakers that speak directly to the themes we’re studying.
Furthermore, I sometimes discover beautiful language tutorials that allow me to flip my classroom making remote instruction more meaningful and time-efficient.
What I like:
- YouTube is really easy to use.
- Subscribing to channels allows me to receive fresh content from video creators.
What I love:
- YouTube houses an infinite number of videos that cover nearly any topic in existence.
- Fresh new videos are added daily.
- Creating folders and saving videos for later use is convenient.
- Having the ability to search through recently viewed videos is helpful when I forget to save them.
What I dislike:
- Pop-up ads are downright irritating, especially when inappropriate images suddenly appear on the video.
- Equally annoying are videos that pause for an ad. Unless the content is extraordinary, I don’t bother using them.
- It’s really easy to lose yourself and your sense of time when searching for the perfect video.
9. Teachers Pay Teachers
Teachers Pay Teachers is a marketplace for teachers by teachers. The website houses educational resources for purchase in a variety of formats for every k-12 subject and beyond. It’s a fantastic option for those in need of content but who lack the time to create it and for those who seek alternative ideas or approaches for their lesson topics.
I recommend that you visit the TPT website, especially if you’re a first-year teacher. When you conduct a search for your subject area, you may be pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of content that’s available.
Purchasing materials from TPT can save you time, it can freshen up your current content and at the same time, you’re supporting your colleagues. I’ve purchased many items from TPT and each one has met or exceeded my expectations.
What I like:
- I like the idea that I’m supporting educators since TPT is a marketplace by and for teachers.
- The site is simple to navigate and loaded with resources.
What I love:
- Free products. As a prerequisite to opening your own store on the TPT site, sellers must offer a free resource. Many of these freebies are fantastic.
- Prices are reasonable.
- Once you enter your payment information, you’re able to download your resources immediately.
- Purchases are archived in your account, so you’re able to download them more than once.
What I dislike:
- It can become time-consuming, as I have a tendency to lose myself in the search.
- Sometimes the sellers don’t offer enough preview images, which can make my decision whether or not to purchase the item more difficult.
10. Studyspanish.com
I shared earlier that my school district no longer relies on world language textbooks since we’ve adopted a proficiency-based curriculum. What this really means is that our curriculum is no longer grammar driven. However, this doesn’t mean that we ignore grammar, but without a textbook, it makes the task of teaching and practicing it more challenging.
Enter StudySpanish.com, my best friend when it comes to Spanish grammar. This website is the most comprehensive and straightforward website that I’ve discovered thus far. It’s really designed for anyone who wants to learn Spanish and therefore, it offers lots of free content in addition to its premium packages.
StudySpanish.com also includes leveled courses, vocabulary lists, and podcasts, but for my students, the grammar units are most beneficial because not only do they contain detailed, yet easy to follow explanations, but there are opportunities for students to reinforce what they’ve learned by utilizing the site’s verb drills. The drills offer some customization, instant feedback and the ability to create fresh, random drills for additional practice.
What I like:
- The site is clean, free of distractions and it’s really easy to navigate.
- The premium option is affordable and allows for lifetime access to all content. Furthermore, you’ll have the ability to record grades, monitor student progress and access podcast lessons.
- Grammar drills are customizable.
What I love:
- The grammar units are detailed yet comprehensible for high school students.
- The site provides endless grammar drills that offer immediate feedback.
What I dislike:
- I haven’t found anything to dislike about this site!
11. Netflix
I’ve been using video media with my students since the inception of my teaching career in 1995, which is also when I developed my professional mantra: If I can’t take students around the world, then I’m going to bring the world into my classroom.
Back then streaming video hadn’t yet been born, so I had to rent or purchase Spanish-language movies in VHS format. Plus, I recorded a substantial amount of Spanish-language television from the only two Spanish-language networks available to me on cable during that era.
Access to quality Spanish-language programming has always posed a challenge, but over the past few decades, with the birth of the Internet, streaming video and in particular, Netflix, there’s now an endless supply of content to choose from.
There are other video streaming services that offer Spanish-language movies and shows, but I always find myself returning to Netflix because their library is not only huge but diverse with respect to Spain and Latin America.
Some of my favorite programs for student viewing have been: El Internado, Living on a Dollar, Gran Hotel, El Tiempo Entre Costuras, Nailed it – Spain, Monarca, Coco, Book of Life, Two Catalonias, Cuba and the Cameraman and Celia.
What I like:
- Their programming represents diverse areas of the Spanish-speaking world, unlike cable networks that tend to be regional.
- Subtitles. I use both Spanish and English subtitles with students.
- New content is regularly released. In fact, Selena, the series, recently debuted and even before previewing it, I already have a hunch that my students will find it engaging.
What I love:
- Netflix Originals in Spanish offers so many fantastic programming options.
- Students are immersed in Spanish/Latin American language and culture for the duration of the class period.
- My students adore the programs I choose for them and they beg me to watch them. In fact, I’ve had students binge-watch entire series at home because they couldn’t wait a week to watch the next episode in class.
What I dislike:
- If it’s not a Netflix Original, then expect it to disappear from the Netflix library at some point. This has happened to me thrice thus far with both movies and serials and when it happens, it’s both frustrating and disappointing.
12. Vista Higher Learning Supersite
This site only pertains to those teachers who use Vista Higher Learning Resources. I included it on my list because while my school district doesn’t use textbooks for our Level 1 through Level 4 world languages classes, we do have one for our AP Spanish Language and Culture classes, Temas, and it’s published by Vista Higher Learning.
To accompany the text series Vista Higher Learning offers a portal referred to as the Supersite where teachers can access the interactive ebook version of the text, a grade book, and a plethora of comprehensive tools and activities that allow students to build speaking, reading, writing and listening skills.
I can’t say enough great things about Vista Higher Learning. Over the years I’ve used five different Vista Higher Learning text series for various language levels and they were all amazing. Folks, I’m not being paid to say this, but if you’re going to use a textbook and you want an accompanying website with additional resources to teach a world language, I would highly recommend Vista Higher Learning. In my opinion, they design and create the best world language resources out there, and I’ve tried lots of them. Their focus is language, and they’ve mastered what works and what doesn’t.
What I like:
- Like is not a strong enough word for this company and its resources!
What I love:
- Everything. The textbook and Supersite are comprehensive and the exam preparation workbook is better than any AP prep book you can buy in a bookstore.
- The audio components include transcripts so students may read as they listen.
- Many of the assignments are auto-scored, which saves me a heap of time.
- Essays can be written and graded within the portal, which makes this a totally paperless experience. No more stacks of essays cluttering my desk.
- Customer service is top-notch. Each time I’ve contacted my representative, I’ve experienced a quick and friendly response time and rapid solutions.
What I dislike:
- The price tag. VHL products have a tendency to be pricey. You can save money by purchasing bundles or by purchasing a la carte, but the savings aren’t huge.
13. AP Classroom
AP Classroom is a portal that the College Board provides for teachers of Advanced Placement students, so unless you teach an AP course, you won’t be able to access it. During the last several years, the College Board organization has spent an enormous amount of time and money developing a site where teachers and learners can better prepare for its AP exams.
While the portal has improved over time, the interface is still extremely clunky and counterintuitive when creating and assigning assessments, and for checking student progress. I tend to waste enormous amounts of time navigating the site because there are just too many compartments where information can be accessed. It becomes confusing and difficult to remember where a particular application lives.
However, I mention this site because it does offer some great resources that are extremely helpful, especially when working in a remote environment. For example, since our lockdown last March, College Board has rolled out daily videos that cover specific skills and various aspects of the AP themes. I would assign the videos to students and later reinforce the material during our Zoom sessions. Unit checks are also helpful because students are able to get a sense of how they might perform on the actual exam using simulated exercises for each theme.
Maintaining a rigorous environment in a remote setting has been challenging, but certainly not impossible with the AP Classroom.
What I like:
- Unit Checks assess how well the students have absorbed thematic material by simulating the AP exam testing elements.
- Auto-grading options as well as a gradebook.
- The ability to monitor student progress.
What I love:
- Daily videos that cover all themes and testing components found on the AP exam.
What I dislike:
- The portal is just clunky and difficult to navigate, but I’m hopeful that this will improve with time.
Final Thoughts
Thus far, this school year has been undoubtedly the most challenging of all my years teaching, and to think, we still have another semester of uncertainty ahead of us. However, if it weren’t for technology and for the collaborative spirit that we as teachers possess, we perhaps could’ve arrived at this point in time having experienced significantly less success with our students.
Having so much technology at our fingertips has had a tremendous impact on the way in which teaching and learning occur. Many of us have transformed and even improved our teaching by being thrown into this chaotic environment, where we’ve been forced to shift and learn new platforms at a moment’s notice.
It’s my sincere hope that you’re able to take away something from my technology overview that will facilitate and perhaps transform your teaching going forward. I’m supporting the idea of working smarter, not harder. If we can work together to provide solutions to the unique problems that arise, especially in our current pandemic climate, then perhaps we can avoid unnecessary burnout and ultimately, we can save amazing teachers from leaving this divine profession.
Happy New Year!
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