Problem Attic - NYS Regents Questions Test and Worksheet Generator

Problem-Attic is a great site that gives your access to questions from Math, Science, Social Studies, and English Regents Exams.  It includes tests from the past 30 years!

It's so simple (and FREE!!).  You simply pick the subject you want, select questions, arrange them in the order you want, pick the format you want them to print in and then print!
You can use it to create tests, worksheets, flashcards and overheads.

It's a great resource even for those who don't teach in NYS as it gives you access to a different bank of questions.
You can save the tests/worksheets to access them at a later time.  It also creates a pdf so that you can save it on your computer.

Do you use test generators in your class?  Which ones do you like the best?

Creating a classroom supply or wishlist online

One of the things I created this summer was an online supply and wishlist for the upcoming school year.  I know there are a ton of websites out there that do this, but I came across TeacherLists.  I have to admit that one of the reasons I decided to try it is that they were giving away classroom supplies to any teacher who created a list.
This is one of the reasons why I mention it now.  Anyone who creates a list online now will get two boxes of tissues and a roll of paper towels for their classroom if they put Bounty and Puffs on their list.  In addition to that, another current promotion is that you will received a container Wet Ones or Mr Clean magic eraser when you include these items on your list. They are always changing the giveaways depending on their sponsors, so you really check it out.

This is the first year that I created a wishlist for my classroom.  I thought that this site would be a good way to ask parents for items without seeming too push.

Do you have supply or wish lists for your classroom?  What do you do to ask parents for items?

Win a free subscription to PlanbookEdu

Update: I just found out that this contest has now ended. :-(  I would still suggest checking out PlanbookEdu however if you are looking for a free online planbook.

I mentioned in a previous post of mine how I used PlanbookEdu last year as my planbook.  Now I want to give you a push to try it yourself.  The Caffeinated Teacher (another blog that I read) is runing a contest to giveaway 3 premium subscriptions to PlanbookEdu.  I hope you'll check it out!

Something for all science teachers

This is not a piece of technology to use with the students, but it is something that will help both you and them.  I am currently taking the Flinn Scientific Safety Course and I really recommend it to all science teachers.  Please note: I am not affiliated with Flinn in anyway (I'm not a affiliated with any of the resources I talk about). 
Even as someone who majored in the sciences and have multiple degrees in science teaching I have never had a class specifically on lab safety.  Everything I know I picked up through my own experiences in the lab.  This course helped fill in the gaps and refresh my memory on things.  Plus it's free!  You can even take this class for credit as a certificate will print out at the end.  Just ask your district if they'll count it as in-service credit.
You can even watch sections on a specific topic if you just want a refresher is a specific area.

What do you do in your classroom regarding lab safety?

Triptico - a little app that does a lot

I'm not sure how many of you have heard of Triptico, but you should all check it out.  It's a little desktop app developed by a teacher in England and it has some really good points to it. 
Once of the things that I use it for the most is the Random Student Generator.  All you have to do is upload your student list and it's there for the whole year.  Basically this feature is like pulling Popsicle sticks, without having to actually have the sticks.  You can set it so that it goes through the whole class without any repeats or that it randomly chooses students and may repeat.  In addition, it can instantly choose a student or show a couple of names first as a fake out (the kids like that because they don't know if it's going to stop on their name or continue to another).
Another one will make groups for you and yet another will keep score if you are playing a game with 2-4 teams. 
You can really do a lot with this app.  Word magnets is great because you can put a bunch of words up on the board and the students need to sort them into groups.  There are a few features for various different timers.  There is also a matching game and word or picture spinner.  I could go on and on and describe every feature, but that would be boring for you the read.  I think the best way is to experience it yourself.  Download it now and check out what it has to offer!

Do you have any other apps or programs that you really like? I'd love to hear about them!

Instantly grade multiple choice tests and quizzes

I recently tried out the website GradeCam and I have to say that I love it!!  It's so simple and works very easily.  First you print out the bubble sheet.  Each student is assigned a number and you have print out the sheets with the number pre-filled in if you want.  Second you give it to the students to fill out.  Third you use the camera on your computer to scan the sheet and it automatically grade it!

I really like the fact that I can give instant feedback to the students and that it gives you feed back on not just which questions students got wrong, but also how many students choose the other answers.  The other nice thing is that you have a digital record of the students' answers, which is nice if you are one who hands back tests for students to keep.

Some people have been concerned about the camera issue, but you do have a few options.  If you computer has a built in camera you can use that.  Document cameras also work.  I even have a simple digital microscope that is basically a camera that works as well.

I do have the mention that there are several pricing plans for this website.  There is a free version that allows you to give 10 question tests and then several other plans with features such as multiple versions of a test and tests up to 100 questions.


Here is a video that gives an overview of GradeCam.

As with everything it's something that you need to try yourself, but I like the idea of this even for quick in class formative assessment.  Have you used this or something like it?  What are your thoughts?

Online Planbooks

This past year I converted to an online planbook midway through the year.  There were two reasons that contributed towards this decision.  First, I always found my planbook being buried underneath a pile of stuff on my desk (I admit, I’m a little messy).  What was the point of me taking time to write in my planbook if I could never find it to look at it?  The second reason was that I felt that it was a waste of me time to keep rewriting my plans year after year.  Of course I change things up, but for the most part my plans don’t change too much year to year.

The first website I came across was PlanBookEDU and this is the one that I used last year.  I really like the way that it is set up.  I teach two different classes each with an extra period on a rotating basis.  I set up my planbook to have 4 periods.  One for each of my classes and one for each of the rotating extra periods.  It’s simple to copy things to show up every day, every other day or every 4th day.  For example, I have it set up that the title LAB shows up every other day on the period I have set up for my Chemistry lab.  Now I can look ahead a few months and not have to count days to see if it’s a lab day or not.  There are a lot of other features that are also offered, that I didn’t take advantage of.  These include things like attaching files and adding in standards.  One feature that I really like and want to point out is the bumping feature.  What happens to me sometimes, and I’m sure it happens to you too, is that something comes up (fire drill, students not understanding the lesson or other interruption) and you can’t finish your lesson.  Now everything needs to be pushed back one day and PlanBookEDU has a bumping function to easily do that.

The one feature that made me pick PlanBookEDU was the fact that you could copy your entire planbook over to next year and then go in and edit individual lessons that you would want to change.  Well, last month when I went to copy last year’s plans over to next year I found out that this was one of their premium features (of which you need to pay $25 a year).  Needless to say I was more than disappointed.  I have seen discount codes for this site before, so I’m hoping one will pop up soon as I would pay $5 or $10 for this feature (because it’s so much of a time saver), but for this one feature I think $25 is just too much.  I could simply just change the dates on my current planbook, but then I would loose any record of this past year’s book.

I went looking for another website that was similar to house my planbook and I came across Planbook Maker.  Once again, there are features that are free and some that you have to pay for.  While I don’t like the interface as much as PlanbookEdu, one thing I do like is the fact that you can copy planbooks as part of their free plan.  What I don’t like is that you can’t automatically block out vacation days and you can only copy things on a daily basis, you can’t copy things to repeat every 2 or 4 days.


In the end, I have to say that I like PlanbookEDU the best, but I just hate that you have to pay for the feature that I want the most (the feature to copy the planbook year to year).

Do you utilize an online or electronic planbook?  What do you think of it?  Which one do you use?