Using Prep-Time Wisely!

Teachers have always had more work than day.  In my Ed-Tech class I've been finding ways to be at the very top of my game as an instructor. 

As teachers, we may (more likely not) get an hour a day to "prep" lessons.   It's not enough for all that we need to accomplish.  This week's  Ed-Tech lesson involved preparing tests.  I had been taught that you pour back over the lesson, open up a word document, format the document, type the document...then to have more than one version of the test (to help prevent cheating) you go back through the WHOLE process again.  Argh.  It doesn't have to be that way though!

There is a website called "Easy Test Maker."  It is a phenomenol site that cuts out all the "little things" that make a test presentable.  It has formatted your document.  It even makes word banks for fill in the blank!  It asks you how many lines to put in for short answers and it makes answer sheets as you go! 

It was really simple to use and quick too!  I wanted a mixed-media type of test (Fill in the blank and short answer).  I just typed in the title of the assignment being covered in the test.  I chose, fill in the blank; typed my questions.  When I got to the point where I wanted short answers, I just clicked...guess what it was; C'mon it's really tricky here.... "SHORT ANSWER."    When I typed my last question I hit preview, and boom there was a test with answers all ready to go.  Total Time?  Truly about 30 minutes, but that was just the learning curve.  I went back and did another just to see if it went any quicker--Boo yah!  Seriously--ten minutes, tops!

There are a TON of tools out there to make our jobs easier.  The extraneous paper work to document that we are teaching students, while following the guidelines set by the district, state, and federal government; should NOT be the bulk of our job.  It's a small part to help with the checks and balances to ensure every student is receiving the best possible education.  By utilizing technological advances, we are better equipped to meet the needs of our students, district, and selves.

Check out the site, "Easy Test Maker" at http://easytestmaker.com/