Opinion
Teaching Opinion

Do You Know a Tool That Works?

By Starr Sackstein — April 28, 2016 2 min read
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Are you an educator who has a tool you swear by? Get in on the action and share it with the world.

Any great teacher knows that choosing the right tool for the right circumstance can be crucial in the learning experience of our 21st century learners. With so many tools to choose from, it can be overwhelming to some to try to find the best ones out there.

As we continue to align student needs for college and career readiness with the tools to help them find success, a list of teacher selected tools are being compiled.

What do your kids love using and why? How have you seen progress because of tool choices?

You can participate in this experience, like I did... (see my video above about Voxer)

Here’s how you can get involved:


  • Make a short (less than 60-second) video about a tool that works for you. Tweet the video using the #ProgressInK12hashtag, or email the video here.
  • Tweet about a tool that works using the #ProgressInK12 hashtag. We encourage you to tweet photos of the tool as well.
  • Write about a tool that works. Send your brief write-up and any images that illustrate your story here

Do you love tools like Google Drive or Edmodo? Share your advice for using them. What are your favorite devices and apps? Please share.

Folks have been sharing their videos and pictures for a few weeks now and can be seen here

Some of my favorites (other than Voxer) are:


  • Blogger - for student blogging as it is compatible with the Google Educational Suite. They are easy to set up and help develop student voice through writing as well as encourage digitial citizenship. Students love having an authentic audience when they write.
  • Twitter is great for text-aligned classroom discussion or backchanneling - it’s a great tool to get more reticient students involved in the conversation, asking questions
  • WordPress is a great platform for student media as it allows students to learn coding skills and also gives them a chance to produce writing, photos and ideas with a larger audience. Check out WJPSnews to see what it is like in action.
  • Capture is a great movie making tool that is easy to use and syncs with Youtube for uploads. It helps students express their ideas visually.
  • The StoryCorp App is an awesome interview tool that helps students develop questions and plan an interview which helps them with communication and documenting living history.

The deadline is coming soon, so make sure to get your voice heard and share out.

What are your favorite tools? Please share

The opinions expressed in Work in Progress are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.