The language-lover in me couldn't resist the opportunity to put my favourite app in the spotlight. Whether students want to move forward in their knowledge of a language, or they would benefit from some review of past concepts, or they just need a little bit of practice this is the perfect app! Firstly, French is far from the only language they offer so if your school offers Spanish or German, for example, students can still create a Duolingo account! This app unfortunately won't be useful for non-language classrooms, but it is still worth the download for any science fanatic who has dreamed of learning another language! Starting with the basics and gradually increasing difficulty, Duolingo really does a great job at helping in the language acquisition process. Additionally, there is the option of creating a teacher account online where you can then track students' progress and the amount of time they spend on the app per week. My associate teacher used this as incentive for special rewards in class! It can also be great for students who tend to finish their work early and automatically take out their phones. Have them use their phones for something educational and related to your course!
It may seem to be the most popular activity in the classrooms of today, but for good reason! Students love playing and you will often find them asking to play "just one more time" when you are ready to move on. Kahoot is great for having public content that you can access by searching for an item that you would like, then you can browse the Kahoot to make sure it fits your needs, and play it just like that! Sometimes it is hard to find exactly what you are looking for, but that is why it is also possible to create your own Kahoots and therefore personalize the information based on what you have covered in your classroom. The teacher has to take caution to ensure that names students sign on with are appropriate as there have been many instances of some deviant behaviour in that regard. But, It is an app that can be adapted to any subject area and the multiple-choice question style allows even students who are a bit weaker to have fun playing a guessing game. This app is perfect to use as assessment for learning before a unit begins, but also for assessment as learning for review during a unit, and finally for assessment of learning as review before a final test! Everything all in one place! You will always know exactly what lessons have stuck with your students and which might need a little bit more work. I used both Kahoot for many grammar concepts as a more fun way to review an often dry area of teaching French, but also to introduce new vocabulary or to make those fun classes before the holidays as educational opportunities. Why not learn about customs and traditions around the world around Christmas in French?!
An app that is new to me, that I learned about after attending a Professional Development day as a part of my first placement, Google Expeditions is the way to go on a field trip without leaving the school! It is so much fun to lead your students through both places that you have been to and to new destinations that relate to your curriculum. I can see this app being a great tool in History and Geography classes, but I even used it multiple times in French to show students real French culture around the world. Why not take your students on a tour of the city where the author of their novel study for their English class was born? The downfall is that this app does require some extra materials and preparation in order to benefit from its full features. The classroom will need a router (a strong WiFi connection makes the expeditions run much smoother), as well as a class set of VR viewers. There are actually made of cardboard and yet very durable! It is possible to order them through many school boards as well as online sites that you can be directed to when downloading the app. It is, however, possible to use the app without the VR readers and therefore the students simply follow along on the screen of their phones in what is called AR. Students do have to have a phone, but it is common that students will share one device among a pair so as to include everyone. This app is sure to spark the travel bug in students and teachers alike!
Seeing this app in a list of the best apps for the classroom might surprise you, but I am a huge advocate for mental health and so I whole-heartedly believe that your students' mental health (as well as your own) should definitely be included in a list of your top five online resources! Why not have a mental-health-break every Monday morning? Routines are great for students of all ages, and once your students realize that you are there to support them in so much more than your subject area, they will begin to respect you in so many more ways. The app offers a 15000 free guided meditations available in 5, 10, and 20 minute sessions. Maybe you start by playing one for the class to listen to for 5 minutes, you give them the opportunity to participate. Some students will be reluctant to participate, and you definitely don't want your class to make fun of the experience, so it is important to only present an idea like this one to a class that you know well. As they become more comfortable with the idea they might even take the initiative to use the app in their own time. Another plus? You can change the language! Whether you are a French teacher and want to incorporate it into your French class, or you have students in your class whose first language is not English and you want to give them the opportunity to use headphones and their own device, where there is a will there is a way! Download the app today and you can do some of your own research with all of the additional features available!
To me, this one is a giveaway, but I realized that some schools don't use Google as regularly as the school board I am most familiar with. So whether or not your school uses Google apps for education, Google Drive is the best place for students to learn how to use the cloud, store all of their work in one, organized place and be able to access their work from multiple places. Gone are the days where you had to carry a USB key in your backpack in order to work on a project at home and at school! Google Drive also makes group work a thousand times easier. Google Documents can be edited by multiple users at the same time thus allowing group members to collaborate with each other in real time. Students can use this app to work on slide shows, create posters, write essays, take notes, and then access those same documents from any device with an internet connection later on. There is a limit to the free storage offered by Google, 15 GB, but for what our high school students will be doing, this should be more than enough space for all of their work. I could go on forever with the other google apps, like Google Classroom, which allows students to hand in their work online and allows you to mark and return their work to them online as well, but suffice it to say that if you start with Google Drive you will soon find all of the other features that Google offers that can make your teaching experiences that much easier!
