Online Teaching Resources for Teachers that Save Time – Trisha’s Top 10
As teachers, we are always looking for ways to cut down workload and save time right?
When I first started teaching over 20 years ago, planning lessons was a LOT harder than it is today. In fear of making myself sound incredibly old, there was no internet to help teachers.
The thought of being able to download a ‘readymade’ lesson plan was just a pipe dream. All ideas and inspirations came from our own imaginations, teaching books and other teachers.
I have two teenagers, two very needy cats and a wonderful (but equally as needy) husband to look after, as well as teaching full time in the classroom, so I am always looking for time-saving websites that can either help with my lesson planning or give me inspiration.
With that in mind, I have decided to share my Top 10 list of places to go. These are websites that I use all the time and couldn’t be without. Some are free, some are not, but all are (in my opinion) brilliant.
P.S. Prices are correct at time of publishing.
Online Teaching Resources for Teachers that Save Time – Trisha’s Top Ten
1. Grammarsaurus
I have followed these guys since the beginning of their journey and love how they have carefully and thoughtfully grown their company to include, easy-to-use resources that can be used alongside your lessons.
The company is run by acting teachers and writing moderators, so all their content – which seems to grow daily by the way – is up to date and curriculum based.
Their grammar resources are particularly good and if you haven’t already brought their ‘Ultimate Guide’ books, I recommend you do so because I am not sure how I taught non-fiction writing without them.
How much is it?
Solo Account: £34.96 (for a year’s subscription)
School Account: From £229 – £529 + VAT (according to size of school)
2. The Literacy Shed
Most teachers have heard of this little gem of a website, so if you haven’t, you are seriously in for a treat. It is full of short, (mostly) animated videos that can be used as a writing stimulus for KS1/2.
The vast collection of videos has been collected from around the world and organised into different categories to suit your writing unit e.g. adventure, spooky, inventors etc. Many of them have won awards and are incredibly thought provoking.
I would recommend that you watch them first, as some are more suitable for age 9+. My particular favourites are ‘Alma’ and ‘Francis’ where I have had children produce some of their best pieces of writing. They also include vocabulary packs now to subscribers, which are really good too.
How much is it?
FREE!
3. Plan Bee
I can’t tell you how many times these guys have saved my Sundays. What they offer is very simple – they give you a series of lesson plans with PowerPoints and resources to accompany them.
They cover all subjects. Their website is easy to use and the PowerPoints are clear and well-structured. I mostly use the History and Geography units and find that the differentiated teaching resources are very good.
How much is it?
Individual lessons: £2.99
Complete Lesson Packs: £14.99
Year Group Membership: £95.00
Subject Membership: £299
Whole School Membership: From £320
4. Parts of Speech
This is a simple one that I always have pinned to my bookmarks. Basically, you type in a sentence and it classifies what each word is. A great tool to check if you are in doubt whether a word is a noun, verb, adverb etc.
How much is it?
FREE!
5. My Mini Maths
Although the website is a little bit messy and takes a while to get your head around, once you have, you’ll find that it is actually quite a handy little maths resource. This has been great for teaching maths in my class.
Lots of online tutorials that you can use for homework and a great resource for year 6 teachers when practising arithmetic papers.
How much is it?
FREE!
6. Quizlet
My children LOVE this! Quizlet Live is a fun interactive game that can be completed solo or in teams. It gives the children a series of questions to answer and complete before anyone else.
What I love about this, is that the children must communicate and cooperate with each other to win. It is great for reinforcing vocabulary in all subject areas and each ‘study set’ has been made by teachers! The children will each need an iPad for this – oh and just a little warning… it can get quite noisy!
How much is it?
FREE!
7. Corbett Maths
I use this site for their KS2 ‘5 a Day’ maths. They have 5 maths questions for every day of the year and are differentiated into bronze, silver, gold, platinum. A great maths starter, which enables the children to practice previously taught skills. They also have learning videos, which are great for home learning.
How much is it?
FREE!
8. Classroom Secrets
What I particularly like about this site is that their resources are not always what you would expect. They are very good at differentiation and even though they have an incredible amount of resources, the website is easy to navigate. I often use their reading comprehensions for group work or interventions and their deeper understanding maths questions are very good for mastery.
How much is it?
Solo Account: £54.50 (for a year’s subscription)
School Account: Contact website for prices
9. TES
I mean, I couldn’t do a top 10 list without mentioning this website! They are the original ‘go to’ place for resources and continue to be life savers for every teacher I know. There isn’t a subject they don’t cover and I have found some fantastic resources that I have used over and over. Be careful though, it can be very hit and miss.
I would say for every great resource is about three shockingly bad ones…
How much is it?
FREE!
(Although there are some resources you need to pay to access – I tend to stay away from those ones!)
10. Silly School Education
www.sillyschooleducation.co.uk
Did you think I wasn’t going to mention us? The very reason that we started an online teaching resource was because I needed a fun way to teach children certain areas of the curriculum.
We have hundreds of animated teaching videos covering a whole variety of subjects. There are over 250+ catchy, fun songs and animations and what’s more, we have a growing number of resources to go with them. You can find out more about us here.
(Shameless plug over)
How much is it?
FREE ACCOUNT: Access to 70 videos
Solo Account: Annual: £23.88 (for a year’s subscription) Monthly: £3.99 a month
School Account: From £228 a year (depending on school size)
So, there you have it. My top 10 online teaching resources for teachers that save time that I insist you check out immediately. Having said that, I am always on the lookout for more – so if you know any please let me know!
Trisha
