How often do you lie in bed at
night and mentally make a list of the tasks ahead of you the following morning?
Have you ever woken in the middle of the night concerned that you may have
forgotten to send that email or make those important copies? We are all quite
busy, and often feel pulled in different directions, but we always manage to
get our tasks completed, and even do it with a smile and confidence.
I have found over the years that
the only way that I can be as productive and successful I to create lists,
lists and more lists. Before I had the ability to make lists on my phone, I
would send myself emails, make paper lists. Those paper lists were only helpful
if I had them in my possession when I needed to access them.
It was for the above reasons that
I find technology especially helpful for being organized, productive and
completing the tasks I must every day at work, and in my personal life, as well.
I could not imagine going back to doing everything on paper and recalling where
that paper was, and toting the different papers with me in my quest for staying
organized and being productive. I use a few different apps/websites regularly
to increase my productivity.
Twitter: I find so many great new
ideas on Twitter from colleagues and others in the field of Education. As a
science teacher, I follow NASA and I have new information at my fingertips
everyday on discoveries and new information that NASA shares – it is fabulous!
Google: This may seem very
obvious, but I have to say that I use Google every single, solitary day! I use
it when my students have questions in class, if I am not sure of the answer. I use
it to find other ways to be more productive (finding new apps to help me do my
best at my job), to search for information on new labs, etc., etc. I could go
on and on, but you get the point. Chances are that if you reading this, you are
very aware of google!
Google Calendar: This is an
integral part of my day. I look at my calendar every morning and see what I am
to accomplish, with regard to meetings, other tasks, etc. What I especially
like about Google Calendar is that others who have my email address are able to
send me reminders of upcoming events. My hairdresser actually enters my
appointments into my calendar for me – that is a wonderful additional service!
My family and I also use our Google calendars to stay synchronized with family
gatherings, etc. One of the things I
really appreciate about Google calendar is that it sends me customized reminders
of upcoming events right to my cell phone.
Google Docs and Drive: These
invaluable tools are ones that I have been using for a short time, and ones
that I use often now. I am able to store information from others with a click
or two into my drive, where it is easily accessible. I can save documents very
quickly to my drive, and they are quickly and easily accessible. Google docs
are a great way to share other docs with colleagues, family and friends.
Instead of creating several emails to different people, one can simply share a
doc with those you wish, and all then have access. This is so easy!!
Dropbox: I find that Dropbox is a
great way to share information, photos, etc. with others very easily. I have
recently made a few different folders of photos of my children and have been
able to share those with others, by giving them access to certain folders. This
is a very easy way to share information quickly, without any headaches. Dropbox
is in the cloud, so it is accessible from any device.
Edmodo: This may a bit cliché,
but I rely heavily on Edmodo in my classroom to keep my students connected to
assignments and content we are studying. I upload assignments and include a
description of the work we are doing on a daily basis. I especially appreciate the
fact that there is a library, so that my worksheets are there and students are
able to explore the library and find what they might be missing (in terms of an
assignment).
ZipGrade: I recently started
using ZipGrade, and I am hooked!! My PLC and I created a quiz over a recent
unit of study. I suggested we try this app to grade our quizzes. It does cost
$6.99/year, but I feel that it is well worth the price! So how does this work? You
create an account online. Then, you choose how many questions you wish to make
your quiz or test (you can choose 20, 50, 75, and 100). Next, you create your
key by simply clicking on a letter from A to E, which corresponds to the
correct answer, whether it be matching or multiple choice. I created the key
using my cell phone – yes, it’s that easy. After this, I simply logged onto my
computer and printed a student answer sheet, made enough copies for my students
and administered the quiz. When students are done with the quiz, you scan each
quiz with your device and the results are immediate (you are given the score
and which questions students missed, if any). In addition, this app creates
item analysis so you can see which questions students missed most often. I was
done giving, grading and entering grades for my quizzes in ONE day!!! I would
not use this for every exam, but it works great for short quizzes, in my
opinion.
I know there are other tech
resources that I use to increase my productivity, but the ones listed above are
some that I find to be most useful. It will be interesting to see how I add to
this list by the end of this school year. As I strive to become more tech savvy
and knowledgeable, I am confident that I will come across many more tools that
will help me to be at my most productive at work, and even at home.
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