As an educator, there are many responsibilities to tackle besides sharing knowledge with students. For example, there are lessons to plan, administrative tasks, parent communications, and so much more. So why not make your life easier where you can? By integrating tools for classroom management into your routine, you can stay organized, save time, increase communication, and feel more empowered.
There are many different types of tools for classroom management to help educators streamline some of their tasks. These tools that are listed below will help you consolidate activities, feedback, and grades into one place.
ClassPoint
ClassPoint is an interactive teaching add-in for PowerPoint. With presentation tools, interactive questions, and gamification, you can interact with students along with managing their behavior and tracking their participation and learning progress throughout your lessons. The ability to do this all in PowerPoint allows you to seamlessly present while securing data (student responses and awarded stars) on every student in your class.
Features
- Unlimited saved classes for easy switching between different classes on the Pro version (Free version has a limit of 3 saved classes)
- Gamification levels and badges for students to earn as they get awarded stars
- Easily award stars based on both in-class activities or student responses
- Engage with students via interactive questions like multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blank, and more
- Presentation tools such as pick-a-name, searching the web, and annotation tools are accessible on a toolbar
- Export reports on points and responses
Seesaw
Next, we have Seesaw. Seesaw is a digital portfolio of students’ work throughout time. Seesaw has thousands of premade activities in its library for you to use. However, files can be uploaded with Google apps as well. Teachers can manage their students’ work and give detailed feedback on every assignment. Up to ten family members have access to see their student’s work in their portfolios. This way, everyone can stay up to date on their child’s progress.
Features
- Connect Seesaw to curriculum standards to track student progression
- Add co-teachers or other educators to a students profile
- Insert voice instruction when posting an assignment
- View whole class or individual student work feeds
- Students can submit videos, photos, drawings, or text with voice for assignments
Google Classroom
Third, is Google Classroom. This platform is an all-in-one classroom management solution. Here, you can create and send out assignments or quizzes digitally, along with posting announcements and reminders for students on your feed. Once an assignment is submitted, feedback can be left through comments and then graded immediately.
Features
- Fully integrated with other Google applications like Google Docs, Google Forms, and Google Sheets
- Assign homework right away or schedule it for later
- Manage multiple classes on the same account
- Individualize learning for students based on what they need
- Parents can receive email summaries of their student’s upcoming or missing work
Class Dojo
Last but not least, is Class Dojo. Class Dojo is a platform that encourages positive student behavior. Through a virtual reward system, teachers give feedback to students on their work. This work is showcased to parents and administration from the students’ private digital portfolios. Teachers can share assignments, photos & videos, and announcements with their students and parents.
Features
- Toolkit with classroom tools like activity directions, timer, random group generator, and many more
- Built-in messenger application to stay connected with parents and students in one place
- Class Story to update parents through photos and videos of the whole class
- Comment on student reports keeping everyone informed
- Free for teachers forever!
Which tools for classroom management should you choose?
If you need help deciding on which of these tools for classroom management you should use, follow these guidelines:
- If you are looking to highly engage your students during PowerPoint lessons while tracking their progress, choose ClassPoint.
- For a complete classroom management system at any grade level, go with Google Docs.
- To best stay connected with parents and manage student behavior, go with Class Dojo.
- If you want to manage your classroom with an emphasis on easy student feedback, go with Seesaw.
Let us know in the comments below how you like to manage and engage your classroom! Do you use any of the applications listed above? Or something different?
