Prompt #12: Classroom Productivity

There are countless technological tools out there to help solve problems in the classroom and to prevent them from arising in the first place. When thoughtfully used, tools like Google Apps for Education (GAFE) can be a very efficient way to pass your teaching materials on to students. These apps can also be a great way for teachers to organize their lesson plans, communicate directly with their students when class is not in session, and to evaluate students on their comprehension.

In a way, I’m extremely lucky as an art teacher. The skills I’m teaching are demonstrated in performative tasks. I won’t have much need to conduct multiple-choice and essay-style assessments to make sure my students are absorbing what’s being taught. The evidence for their learning (or for their struggle) will be evident in their art projects. I don’t think I could justify the effort it would take to implement and use formative assessment tools like Peardeck or Kahoot in an art room. It would take too much time away from classwork.

As far as edtech, I plan to use:

• Google Docs: I won’t be dealing with a massive amount of written assignments like an English or history teacher would. However, there will be times when students will have to write a project proposal or an artist statement. I’ll have my students write and submit their reports using this app. This will make it easier to give feedback to my students and eliminate wasteful printing.
• Google Forms: For giving quizzes

It goes without saying that the longer I teach, the more efficient I’ll get. I’m starting to think now about collecting materials and organizing them into class units. If I can develop a stockpile of classroom-ready lesson plans, this will make it so I don’t have to “reinvent the wheel” at the start of every year. Some other practices I plan to implement to ensure classroom organization and productivity are:

• Have a classroom routine explicitly outlined. 
• Create posters for cleanup routines
• Write project directions on the chalkboard/whiteboard and give them to all students
• Use an online grade book and attendance sheet