Resources & Tools

5 Time Saving Tech Tips for Teachers

2 Min Read  •  Technology

True confession: some of my friends call me “Hashtag.”

Funny, but it fits!

It’s a known fact that I’m a visual arts teacher and a techie, and here are five of my top teacher tech tips!

When you hear the crickets, it is time to clean up!

  • Set and use the alarm on your mobile device to indicate the beginning of clean up time for each class. I set these alarms on my school iPad for every class, every day I teach. Now I can really spend time with my students while they are creating and I don’t have to watch the clock!If the class needs more time to clean up, I can adjust their alarm right after class. It also works the other way around. Fast cleaner-uppers can earn more time to create!
    • If you use a tablet at school (iPad or Android), Reflector is a wireless mirroring and streaming app that works great with an iPad or Android tablet. You can mirror your content to a your computer and project to a screen without wires! Reflector needs to be installed on your computer. I have found that it works best and is less expensive than other solutions.

      • Set up an area in your classroom for students to take photos of their work. These images can be used for assessments and/or portfolios. Some art teachers use Artsonia to create a school gallery of  images of student work year-to-year. I am thinking about using it this year.
        • Use Planbook.com or another web-based planner for your lessons. I use it and it is so convenient to be able to see your plans on any device at any time! For $12 a year, it is definitely worth it for me to be so organized. 

          • Yes, I’m part-time :)

          • Use tinyurl.com or another URL shortener to create custom URLs for many classroom and professional uses. Create a custom URL for:

            • students to use: tinyurl.com/SSESorigami   I created this one for my students so they could find this origami playlist on YouTube on their own.
            • substitute teachers to find content/lessons/images for lessons.
            • colleagues to use after PD tinyurl.com/digitalspin2017 I created this one so participants could have access to my presentation.

          It is SO much easier to type in a URL with real words that actually make sense!