Digital Teacher Hacks and Tips

#fromteachersforteachers

This is the YEAR for technology. In this post, you’ll learn TONS of NEW digital teacher hacks from some AMAZING teachers! When asked about the best tips and tricks, I was amazed and awed by the overwhelming amount of responses I got from educators. It takes a village to really have a great pool of ideas so while reading you’ll notice some links to other teachers’ social media or blog posts. Some tips were too good not to share the whole thing for you! So what are we waiting for?! Sit back and get ready for some brand new and super tech savvy digital teacher hacks!

1.Having a two monitor setup while teaching virtually. I have heard that this is a LIFE SAVER! By having a two monitor setup, you can do SO many different things. It is really beneficial for multitasking. For example, you can have all students displayed while teaching on another screen.

2. Hack: Here are some serious time saver keyboard hacks to have!

3. Here’s a great Zoom hack from @kissylinao! Using the pin button on Zoom to quickly check a kid’s work!! Spotlight if you want them to be able to share to the entire class ❤️

4. For all you Seesaw users out there, here is a great tip to add audio directions to each slide. Create a blank page, change background color to match the slide you want to add it to, and then click on the microphone. When you’re finished recording, you can drag the corners to resize the image and then copy and paste it onto the slide you want! *Disclaimer: in order to use this feature, you must have the paid subscription. However, you can try it out for 90 days free (and record as much as you want) or you can become an ambassador and get it for FREE! You can learn more about Seesaw HERE!

5. Get the most out of your virtual classroom by heading over to @srta_spanish IG page. In this highlighted story, you’ll learn TONS of tips for Google Slides that teachers and students can use on Edpuzzle, Flipgrid, and Quizizz… oh my! It is FULL of goodies that was too good not to share!

6. This entire blog post from @notanotherhistoryteacher is filled with so many great tech tips! There are great Google Extensions to learn about, as well as some AMAZING platforms to utilize! You can read that post HERE!

7. Google Hack: Make your file names easily searchable by thinking of every possible thing you might name a file. That way, when you search for it next year, you can easily find it no matter what you search for. Sometimes my file names are 10+ words long because I teach in English and Spanish so I include Spanish and English words in the file names. You can follow Josh at the Picture Book Brain for more great ideas!

8. Let me start this one by saying this: following Virtual Confetti is a MUST DO! This lady right here has the BEST digital teacher hacks. HERE you can learn how to add voice directions in Google Slides which is a GAME CHANGER for primary students. She has also hacked her way into motivating students with her The Wheel of Fun!! You can learn more HERE. If you love this idea, you can download the Decision Roulette HERE for FREE!

9. Another great hack is making SAFE Youtube links for kids! You take your link, paste it onto Safeyoutube.net, and it formulates a safe video to send to kids without having to worry about what may pop up! Follow @third_grade_word_bird for more great ideas!

10. HERE you can learn how to create AND differentiate digital choice boards with Google Sheets!! Talk about amazing! Thank you Google for your awesome tools for digital learning.

11. Whether you’re in person or doing distance learning right now, I think this a GREAT idea for all students! Share weekly assignments through google drive, just in case a student has to quarantine or is absent for any reason. It’s a great way to make sure no one misses a thing! Thank you @iam_elpidia for this wonderful idea!

12. A great Seesaw hack from @teacherauthormom is to download the Seesaw app onto your phone! It’s an easy way to send a picture of an assignment to a specific student. Today it was a life saver because I’m teaching virtually and my power went out! I created a video of the lesson on my phone and pushed it out.

13. For Hybrid teachers, joining the Google meet from a computer and an iPad has been said to be super helpful. The computer displays to in person students while the iPad allows you to walk around and talk to digital students. @simplyacuteideas has great ideas for hybrid teaching!

14. A GAME CHANGER from @theliteracylibrary is splitting your screen in half so that you can simultaneously work on two different applications! Here is how to do that on an Apple device and here is how to on Windows.

15. Not necessarily a hack but more of a tip that I’ve heard from A LOT of educators. BE FLEXIBLE! We are working in unprecedented settings with technology that of course fails… usually when we need it most. Give yourself and students the grace and flexibility!

I hope you enjoyed these digital teacher hacks as much as I did! There are SO many amazing educators out there with SO many amazing ideas! Stay tuned for my classroom hacks post coming next week! If you have any amazing must know hacks to share, drop them below!

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