Week 4 - Material Generators

    Wow! There are so many materials generators to make our lives easier – and I didn’t even have a clue about some of them! Picking only three to blog about has been tough! So, here we go!

    First, I was very much intrigued by Individualized Education Program Generators.  However, after reading more about the IEP Generators, I found that this may be what is already in use through SETs. There are many drop-down options, topics – etc. While I am thankful for these generated reminders and options, I know that when writing my IEPs, I will be wishing the whole process could be completed by prompts and drop-down menus. Still, I am very much thankful for the IEP generator in place and hope that it helps next year as I begin to take on IEPs on my own. Until then, I may start taking notes for next year from my coworkers.

    Second, I would like to address that even though right now I do not manage any specific cases, there is still a LOT of paperwork, forms, etc associated with my job – whether it be notes home, personalized behavior charts, or missing assignment notices. PDF Form Makers have been a life saver. By making a generic form in PDF style, I am able to either type in or choose from drop down menus the information that I want displayed. I can also personalize the form with student information. This is helpful – versus typing letters/forms many times that use the same format.

    Test Generators are used by many of the teachers that I currently work in inclusion with. If I needed to create my own test for whatever reason, I would use test generators as well. I really enjoy that you can put the questions in, and generate different versions of the same test. Also, the program that our teachers use gives automatic answer keys. For those who regularly send students to the resource room for testing – let me fill you in that this is GREATLY appreciated. Yes, we can sit and figure out the answers, but having a key to compare student answers to when tests are turned in give us a way of more efficiently checking for if we need to give the test back for a “second look” or whether we can have the student return back to class then. In a perfect world, being able to simply print 2 copies of an answer key would always be an option – test generators make this possible! Test generators used by our current geometry teacher also allows the teacher to set aside certain questions that do not appear on modified tests – no more crossing out, or sending a list of questions to omit! I plan on taking my math PRAXIS in a year or so and becoming certified as soon as possible in this, so that I have the option of special or general education instruction. If I make the leap to solely teaching math, test generators will be used!