6 top apps for teachers in 2018

Fact of life: teachers are busy, both in the classroom and outside of it. Apps can be a godsend to help keep organized and improve the classroom experience for students. But there are so many apps out there—which ones are tops for teachers and can help streamline their lives inside and outside of the classroom? Let’s look at some of the best apps for educators for 2018, designed to help these busy professionals keep their days (and their classrooms) organized.

Teacherkit

Teacherkit is special-made for teachers, and used by more than 1 million people around the world. It can log student attendance, keep notes on individual students, record grades, and generate reports for students and parents, among other tasks. This is an app that can be used by teachers at all levels: K-12, college, and beyond. Available on: iOS, Android Cost: Free, though you can upgrade to a premium version of the app

ClassDojo

ClassDojo helps teachers enhance the classroom experience by taking a multimedia approach to setting up student groups, maintaining real-time classroom data, generating creative classroom project ideas and activities, playing music or videos in the classroom, and sharing data with parents or colleagues so they can see what's going on day-to-day. Available on: iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, any computer Cost: Free

Remind

Tired of giving the same reminders and announcements over and over, or sending out emails that you know are never read? Billing itself as “the end of unread emails and handouts,” Remind eases teacher communication by sending out reminders and messages to targeted groups. You can be sure the people who need to get messages are receiving them and schedule reminders that go out as automated messages. Remind is great for use with students and parents, as well as colleagues and administration. Available on: iOS and Android Cost: Free Edmodo If you’re looking for a way to build your classroom community (engaging parents and families, keeping students involved in their progress), then Edmodo could be the communication app for you. Available on: iOS and Android Cost: Free

Too Noisy

Is “indoor voice, please” part of your daily repertoire? Too Noisy is a bit counterintuitive—it uses chaos to combat noise. As the classroom gets louder, the app has custom tracking that displays changing graphics and alarms that tell students things are getting too loud. Students learn what “normal” sounds like, and the teacher can set whatever trigger levels he or she wants. Available on: iOS and Android Cost: $3.99

Animoto

If your classroom presentations could use a little jazzing up (and really, whose couldn’t?) Animoto gives teachers fun templates for slide shows, as well as access to a large database of music and videos that can be exported for presentations, emails, or other digital documents. Available on: iOS and Android Cost: Free If your goals for the year include a more organized classroom or more fun ways to engage your students and the school community, any of these options will help you hit those with digital style.