Amanda Mendenhall teaches geography in Oklahoma. She uses TeacherMade and Google Classroom every day. TeacherMade integrates with the major LMS platforms like Google Classroom, Canvas, and Schoology so you can create online digital worksheets.

How do you create online assignments and integrate them in Google Classroom?

My name is Amanda Mendenhall, and I teach 7th-grade Geography. I have been using TeacherMade for two years now and love it. My school uses Google Classroom as our learning platform. Google Classroom is continually evolving, so TeacherMade has made some of those changes easier. I am able to assign work directly from TeacherMade to Google Classroom. 

How has TeacherMade PRO  helped with online worksheets in Google Classroom?

Our school purchased the PRO version of TeacherMade (which I HIGHLY recommend) to make this possible. Through the PRO version, I can directly upload my assignments to Google Classroom, and my students can work directly on their assignments. Before, we had to complete the assignment in a program, and then the students had to try to upload the assignment to Google Classroom. It was a nightmare at the beginning of the year. TeacherMade allows the grades to be transferred to Google Classroom as well. 

I was so excited when my principal told me that she would purchase TeacherMade Pro for our school if I would train the other teachers on how to use TeacherMade. (Umm yes, absolutely!) 

How do online worksheets save time?

TeacherMade Pro has allowed me to spend about 2 hours a week creating and assigning the assignments for the entire next week to Google Classroom. 

• I can select how the students get the assignment back instantly graded or returned at a later date. 
• I can assign the same assignment to multiple classes and schedule the assignment to post at a specific time. 
• I don’t have to create an assignment for each class. I can use the same assignment for all of my classes, and TeacherMade separates the assignment for me into each class (thank God!). 
• With TeacherMade doing this, I can easily look at the assignment, make any corrections to grades I need to, and then record them into my grade book. (Sometimes, this simple convenience makes my day much easier.) 

Because I get to create the answer sheets and the assignments, I know where my students will struggle or where they will excel. This is another feature that saves me time because I know where to focus my teaching so that my students are successful on the assignments. 

How has TeacherMade improved accountability in your classroom?

Have you ever had that system that seems to take more time to use than it is worth? Well, TeacherMade is not that program. TeacherMade works with most of the LMS systems that schools seem to use. 

The students are listed in my TeacherMade class just like in the gradebook, allowing me to go right down the row and see their grades. This also allows me to know where the students are at in completing the assignment. Before, the excuse was I did it, but my computer didn’t save it. So you have a checkpoint of which students have begun and which ones haven’t. It allows me to give parents real-time history of the assignments and why they may have received the grade. I can also prove to parents how long a student spends working on an assignment. 

TeacherMade has, in a sense, given the teachers back control of the assignments that students are working on and not allowing them to have excuses for their assignments because of the device they are using. Once my students figure out that I have these capabilities, they seem to have more integrity with me about their assignments and why they are missing. Parents also realize that teachers are not out to get their students but here to help them.