As the new school year begins we’re all trying new things while also trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy. TeacherMade is a new tool that lets you tick both of those boxes. With TeacherMade you can quickly and easily convert some of your favorite “old standby” activities into online activities to share with your students.
TeacherMade is a free service designed by Laura Bresko, a former K-12 school teacher and entrepreneur. According to Laura, “My goal with TeacherMade was to create a way for us to make online worksheets that are easier than Google Slides. We are still in the process of perfecting it, but I think we’re off to a pretty good start!”
You can use TeacherMade to turn your PDFs, Word docs, Google Docs, and pictures into online activities. And if you choose to make your activity a graded one, TeacherMade will automatically score responses for you. I know that, for me, that’s a huge timesaver.
How to Use Online Worksheets with TeacherMade
To get started using TeacherMade you can sign-up with your G Suite account or register with any other email address and password of your choice. Signing up with G-suite is a good idea if you use Google Classroom, because TeacherMade is focusing on creating a deep integration with Google Classroom. Once you’ve done that you’re ready to start creating your first activity.
The best way to discover all that TeacherMade can do is to upload a PDF that has a variety of question types on it. For example, the screenshot below is of a PDF that has a multiple choice question, a fill-in-the-blank question, and an identification question. (Quick tip if you don’t have a PDF: you can quickly create one by using the “download as PDF” option in Google Docs or the “save as PDF” option in Word).
After uploading your PDF worksheet to TeacherMade you’re ready to begin adding question elements to it. Your uploaded PDF will appear in TeacherMade’s activity editor. It is in the editor that you can add ten different question and activity types. To the PDF that is pictured above I added a field for students to fill in the blank, a place for them to select one of the choices in my multiple choice question, and check boxes to the states in the map of the continental United States.
To add elements like text boxes and check boxes to your PDFs simply open the “Insert” menu in the TeacherMade activity editor then choose the type element you want to add. You can then position your chosen activity element on your PDF by clicking and dragging it into place. If you want to change the size of the element you can do that in the same manner that you would resize a picture in a Word doc or Google Doc.
TeacherMade will automatically score your students’ responses if you choose that option. To do that you’ll just need to enter correct answers when you’re adding your question elements to your uploaded PDF.
Question & Activity Types You Can Add in TeacherMade:
- Multiple Choice
- Matching
- Fill-in-the-blank (short answer)
- Hotspot (students click all that apply)
- Drop-down menu selection
- Checkboxes
- True/false
- Open answer
- Fractions and mixed numbers
- Algebraic expressions
It’s important to note that within the multiple choice and checkboxes menus there is the option to include up to eight answer choices.
Distributing TeacherMade Online Activities to Students
You can preview the student view of the online activities that you make in your TeacherMade account before you give them to your students. I think that’s a key feature because too often the only way to see how a student actually sees an assignment is to create your own “demo student” account.
After previewing your activity you’re ready to assign it to your students. You can do that by distributing it through Google Classroom or by giving students a direct link to your assignment (that’s the option I’d use if I wasn’t using Google Classroom). Students can log into TeacherMade with a Google (G Suite for Edu) account. You can also assign usernames to students for them to use with your activity. Students don’t need to have email addresses to complete a TeacherMade activity if you choose to assign usernames to them.
When you assign an activity to students through TeacherMade you can choose to let them instantly see their scores, instantly see their scores and the correct answers, or you can keep scores hidden until you’ve reviewed them. Speaking of reviewing scores, at any time you can see how much progress your students have made on an assignment. And in terms of progress, you can require students to complete an assignment in one session or you can let them save their progress then return to their assignments at a later time.
Bottom Line
TeacherMade is a promising new service that will make it easy to quickly transition your favorite in-class activities and assessments into online activities and assessments. The fact that your students don’t need email accounts makes TeacherMade suitable for all grade levels.
