Hi, friends! This week we are going to dive into the benefits of creating your own digital resource. I’ve talked about digital math resources on the blog here for quite a while. We’ve chatted about using them to expand hands-on learning (Read about that here) in the classroom and multiple ways they help teach valuable lessons to your students.
But, do you struggle with finding just the right resource for your student’s needs? Keep reading as we explore the benefits of creating your own resources and there’s a free workbook to help you start your journey towards creating your first one!
What is a digital resource?
Most teachers nowadays know what a digital resource is and how to use one. But, let’s take a moment to go over some of the most popular types of digital math resources out there in case there’s one type that you have missed.
If you have purchased or searched for a digital resource, you know there are many types out there. Google Slides is the probably the most popular, and the resources that are created are fun and interactive for students. Of course, they work great for virtual learning and for beginners to digital resources. They also work wonderfully with Chromebooks which many students use.
Boom Cards are great because they are self-checking and interactive! These can be used on any device that is connected to the internet. There is also a fast sign in for your students so they don’t have to actually log in. You can also assign individual Boom Card Decks to your students.
Finally, there are good ‘ol printables that you can create. Even with technology taking the forefront in society and classrooms right now, there is still a place for a printable. This category can include worksheets, writing prompts, science lessons, and reading books. My specialty is math, but you can create anything! Your imagination is your limit.
So, how do you make one of these yourself? Well, PowerPoint is the easiest way to begin when you create. It helps you easily move around your objects and lets you customize everything! Keep reading to find out how you can learn how to do this yourself.
Why Create Your Own?
So, now let’s chat about why it’s important to know how to create your own resource. It’s not just about the money that you will save by being able to go into your own template and quickly change your lesson into another. You will have the freedom to customize and individualize your lessons! There’s also other benefits for you and your students. Keep reading!
Student benefits
When you can customize a resource, you can tailor the learning to individual student’s needs. If your students aren’t quite getting a concept, you can go back into the resource and tweak it. You can also bring the community into your resources by creating one that connects directly to your students’ lives through real world themes and objects. Digital lessons can be self correcting which provides students with real-time assessments to help them continue learning what they are missing.
Students can have custom lessons just for them while still meeting their needs. Students learn in different ways. Sometimes, students learn concepts better through a digital lesson. Interactive lessons can keep the attention of some students where conventional teaching can not. Digital learning is also self-paced which is great for students who may need a little extra time on a lesson.
Teacher Benefits
The best part about creating your own resources is that you can customize every part of the resource to your liking. You can use your students’ favorite colors and interest objects. That alone will help students engage in the learning with more enthusiasm. You will save time by having templates that you can plug into when you need a new activity.
And, it’s really fun to create them! This will especially appeal to teachers who have so much creativity to share but not a lot of time to do it in their personal lives. There are tons of cool clip art and visuals! You can create your own characters and backgrounds.
Not just for Virtual Learning
Many school districts are already using Google Classroom for distance learning. If you’re a teacher who already uses it, you’re ahead of the game to getting started creating your own resource. As many of you know, Google Slides and Google Drive are FREE, and Google is a great platform for creating resources. Having Google resources also makes it easier if you have to go back to virtual teaching. Google Slides resources can be used at home or at school. I wrote a post recently about incorporating digital math resources into your math centers. Read that post here. Digital lessons are here to stay and can be easily used to extend learning in the classroom. Remember, they also help those students who learn a little differently.
How to Create Your Own Digital Resources
I’ve had many teachers reach out to me asking how I create my own digital math resources. If you didn’t know, I have great shop here on my site where you can find digital math resources for kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd graders. Click here to visit my shop.
The thing is, creating a digital resource can actually be quick and easy, once you get the technique down. There are so many shortcuts and tips that can make creating resources efficient and time saving.
When teachers contact me to ask me how I create my own, they usually ask how do I make the graphs and moveable pieces of my resources. Well, it’s not that hard, and I have found ways to make it so easy now after many struggles I had at the beginning.
It got me thinking that there might many teachers out there that would benefit from me teaching them my tips and strategies to help them create their own resources. So, I dived into my notes and have created a workbook that will help you plan your very own digital resource!
Click here to download it for free!
DOWNLOAD THE FREE WORKBOOK NOW!
Comment below after you have worked through the steps in the workbook and let me know what you want to create first! I can’t wait to hear all about it!
Talk to you next week!
Jess @ Savvy Apple
These are awesome tips! Teaching a modified curriculum to my kiddos, creating my own resources has been a must! 🙌
Thanks Brittany! Good for you for taking action with creating your own resources! It’s a total game changer, hey? It’s nice to be able to create exactly what you want on demand. 🙂