Save time and trees!I'm not exactly sure when it started, but I have become a "green" teacher. I have always supported reducing, reusing, and recycling, but as a teacher, it pains me to see how much paper is wasted on a daily basis. Even before I started teaching in a computer lab I would limit printing and copying as much as possible. If I can reduce the size of a document so that I can fit two on a page, I've saved money. Quite simply, I pride myself in my use of electronic documents whenever feasible, and I preach this to my colleagues as well.
At this point, the only time I'll really use a large quantity of paper is for a test. With this in mind, my latest goal has been to find a way to limit or eliminate the use of paper for this task, and move my quizzes and test to an online format. While there are many sites out there that provide resources in this area, one of my favorites is the Quiz Center at DiscoveryEducation.com.
A free service, teachers can create a custom classroom account to create and store quizzes and class rosters. Besides the benefit of reducing paper use, other benefits include flexibility, efficiency, and ease of use. Since the Quiz Center is web-based, students can take quizzes from home, which can be helpful if a student misses class time for any reason. The process is efficient, once the quiz is set up and saved, as results are stored online and can even be emailed to the teacher. The benefit of instant feedback is incredibly important, as students don't have to wait to see results, and thus, they can make instant corrections.
I am looking forward to using online quizzes as much as possible in the near future, and I hope more teachers will too. We can save a lot of trees that way!
Visit http://school.discoveryeducation.com/quizcenter/quizcenter.html for more information.
It would be great to have you all respond to how things are working so you can find the "best" of what is out there to use. Let me know what you end up using and if it is good! Go Green!
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