We spoke with Ms. Melissa, a 7th and 8th-grade ELA teacher, about how she uses TeacherMade with other apps and teacher programs.

Why are apps like TeacherMade, Google Slides, YouTube, and Nearpod important to student retention?

Teaching life post-pandemic has been a challenge, hasn't it? Students struggle to show what they know in their independent work, during centers, and while completing homework. They need support, lots of it. They're also on so many different learning levels. Some have awesome retention and can maintain focus like we never left, while others need reteaching, additional supplemental resources, and practice. These are the reasons why linking apps like Google Slide, Nearpod, YouTube, and the like can help us meet the needs of our learners while maintaining our organization, technology requirements, and our sanity. 

How do you streamline your work using Teachermade?

Depending on the need, TeacherMade can really streamline your work and make meeting objectives, differentiating, data collection, and progress monitoring a breeze. I like to work smarter, not harder, and I wish I had TeacherMade earlier in my career as it does just that. Take Google Slides, for instance. This year I was tasked with setting and meeting a Student Growth Objective. How do I get these kids on track and get them to show growth when it is hard enough keeping them on task and signing into assignments? I used TeacherMade. 

How do you use TeacherMade with other apps?

I love TeacherMade because I can assign them a Google Slide with a TeacherMade assignment, post it on Google Classroom with notes, and focus lessons/reteach resources. I could link YouTube videos straight to my TeacherMade or link them in the Slide. I could even make the Google Slide interactive by adding an interactive add-on like PearDeck or Nearpod. These were life savers to learn and utilize during Home Instruction at the height of COVID when the lockdowns forced us all to learn a better way to ensure students interacted with us and their work during the home-school day. I could layer my assignments in an "I do, We do, You do" structure and have the last level be self-graded and give instant feedback on TeacherMade, which is much easier than going through slides and wasting time. I can use my series' myPerspectives worksheets/PDFs and make them editable and customizable. Goodbye PDF fillers. Apps like Kami can be a time suck and a horror to review/grade/ and give feedback on. It's a no-brainer. Get on TeacherMade. It's much more efficient.

How do you use TeacherMade as a professional development tool?

Sometimes the best Professional Development is from the teacher down the hall. That's how I first learned about TeacherMade, and that's why I am paying it forward and sharing this great information with you. I was taking work home, putting the needs of my own three children on hold, and struggling to maintain my integrity and do the right thing. Now I can do it all. Teachers are helpers. Let TeacherMade help you. All you have to do is add the link on your created worksheets easily with the Hyperlink tool and then share the assignment in Google Classroom or in an email with a link. You can even post the link on your Google Classroom for your students to access. The opportunities are endless! 

How do you use TeacherMade to organize grading and student assignments?

After assigning the work, you can log into TeacherMade and see your students working in real-time. You can see who is logged in, you can reopen assignments, you can lock the assignment, and you can edit responses. There really isn't anything you can't do. Made a mistake on your worksheet's answer key? Fix it, and it will readjust all the students' scores at once. Need a modification for a student with an IEP? Pull a small group or individual student conference to your back table. Allow the use of a resource, and then you can reopen the assignment, let them fix their work, and resubmit it for a higher grade. It's really that easy.

The Takeaway: TeacherMade's digital worksheets and assignments easily integrate with your other apps, including Canvas and Google Classroom. Using digital activities in your classroom will help your students with retention, and TeacherMade's auto-grading features will save you time.