This last week I met with a teacher that works at a middle school in the Greater Victoria School District. They gave me a list of their favourite apps and programs to use in the classroom.

Assistive Technology program GAFE is popular at this middle school. GAFE includes text to speech, which allows students that are having difficulties typing and reading to still progress confidently in their work.  GAFE stands for ‘Google App For Education’ and it is protected by SD61.  The program ‘speech to text’ is purchased for the district. They find this program very helpful for students that are struggling, especially for research projects.  The students will find the information they need, and read it out into a document in their own works.  When students need assistance reading a document, GAFE can do this for them as well outloud, and the students are supplied with headphones so this doesn’t disrupt the class.

Google Classroom has been a helpful reminder for the students.  The classroom teacher is able to attach the students emails to it so they can see the updates on the calendar.  This program allows students to be reminded of upcoming events and assignments due dates.

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Most teachers at the school have classroom blogs which they post homework assignments on etc.

Some of the teachers subscribe to calm.com to start their morning with their class.  It helps the students work on mindfulness and is a great way to have the students start their morning on a positive note.

Freshgrade is a program that many teachers use throughout the school.  It allows the teacher to upload assignments in which the student can reflect upon and say whether or not they agree with the grade given.  It also allows for the parents to see the work their children have done from their own computer.  This program is good for communication between student, parent, and teacher.