Hello, welcome back to Charlie’s lessons. In this post we’ll take a look back at 2022 and the best free apps for teachers this year.
So about this same time last year, I made a similar post on the best five free apps for teachers in 2021, you can check that out right here.
Wordwall
We’re going to start with number one, which is Word Wall. Word Wall has been one of my favorite apps I’ve discovered this year. The best thing about Word Wall is it’s so simple to use and it works with almost any age or level. I teach kids, teens, adults, and a wide range of levels, and Word Wall is the one app that I can use with all of them. You’ll be amazed by how many different kinds of games you can play with your students in class, and you can edit all the content that comes in these activities so it suits your class. You can also use the community, which has a bank of resources that are already made by other teachers that are just ready to go for your next class. If you make an activity or find an activity that works really well with your students, you can even convert that into a worksheet, which works really well if you want to review the activity in the next class or even give students some homework. There’s also lots of different ways to share Word Wall activities with your students, either by email, by a link, or even through Google Classroom.
If you’d like to learn more about this platform, then go check out my full tutorial just right here.
Bamboozle
The second app that I want to i nclude in the best teaching apps for 2022 is Bamboozle. Bamboozle, like Word Wall, is really simple to use, and my students really enjoy it. One of the best things about Bamboozle is it’s always releasing new updates, so lots of new games and new features. There’s even a Facebook group where you can join and give feedback to the founder and creator of Bamboozle who will then incorporate those suggestions into the game. So all the new updates are designed to make the game better for your classroom. There is a bank of community-made resources which are perfect again if you need to find a game quickly just to pick up and use in your next class, and you can also create and edit your own games so you can take the content from your course and test your students with a game on Bamboozle.
I’ve been enjoying Bamboozle so much that I’ve written a lot of posts on this platform this year. Check out my tutorial here.
Zoom
The app that I want to include, which is app number three, may be an obvious one, but it’s Zoom. Zoom has made a lot of improvements this year, such as the new whiteboard, breakout room features, and a lot more. It still remains the best video conferencing tool for teachers who are teaching online.
Zoom this year has had so many updates and improvements. Check out their new whiteboard and how it works right here.
Canva
The fourth app that I want to include in this list for this year is Canva, and it’s only this year that I’ve really discovered the potential of Canva in the classroom. I think in today’s day and age, it’s really important that you’re teaching your students to use tools like Canva because I think it would be really useful for them in the future. Using Canva’s templates, you can create any kind of material that you might need for your classroom. You can even invite your students to collaborate on the same activity and get really creative. Canva even released a new whiteboard this year, which is great for teachers who are working online.
I did a tutorial on this new feature just right here.
I suggest using Canva now because this means you’ll be able to take advantage of all the new features and updates that will be rolling out over the course of next year. And these features will not only be for people working in marketing or social media but also for educators like you and me.
If, when you’re teaching online or teaching in person and you like your students collaborating, then why don’t you go check out this post right here that I made on using Canva and a bunch of other software to get your students collaborating in the classroom.
Quizlet
The fifth and final tool that I want to focus on in this class is a tool that I’ve come back to this year that I recently went away from, and this is Quizlet. This app has been really useful for my one-to-one classes where we’ve been introducing a lot of new vocabulary, and I’ve had to start each class by reviewing the vocabulary from the class before. I like the way you can just quickly create a study set, input some new vocabulary you’ve studied, and in my case, if I’m teaching some Spanish language students, I can translate the words from English into Spanish. I can then save this study set and look at it for the next class. Once we’ve gone through the flashcards, I can then test my students’ knowledge by using a test or review feature on Quizlet itself. Quizlet recently has taken some steps to put a lot of their features for premium members only, but for free users like you and me, I still think there’s a lot you can get out of it with your class.
So those were my best five free apps for teachers this year in 2022. I hope that you find a couple that are new to you and you can get using them tomorrow in your classroom.