Discussion
As you have been exploring the site (some for a few days, some for much longer), I’d love to hear what features you have discovered that you think will really make a difference in your classroom. As always, thank you for your feedback!
Beta Testers: What has been your favorite feature so far?
As you have been exploring the site (some for a few days, some for much longer), I’d love to hear what features you have discovered that you think will really…
Reply from sarahmitchell
For me it is the pacing tracker, and I say that as an art teacher who was convinced it would not apply to a project-based class. I started breaking my units into phases instead of daily lessons and it immediately showed me where I was chronically under-planning revision time. I had been aware of that problem for years but never had it staring back at me on a timeline. That visual accountability is hard to replicate with a spreadsheet.
Reply from jenwalsh
The student notes generator. I started using it in the last two weeks of school just to see what it could do, and I spent this summer building every single lesson for my five science units with it as the starting point. I edit every output, the vocabulary examples especially need to be swapped in for ones my students actually know, but starting from something instead of a blank page completely changes how a prep session feels. I would not go back.
Reply from marcuswebb
The feedback generator, without question. I teach three sections of 10th grade English and May used to be a grading wall I dreaded. This year I finished grading my final essays in May in record time. My process: read the essay, fill in a rubric score, paste in three or four of the specific generated notes about that student's draft, this tool cut grading each essay by more than half.
Reply from priyapatel
Marcus, the editing rule you mentioned is exactly what finally made me comfortable trying it. I kept putting it off because I was worried the output would not sound like me and I would have to rewrite the whole thing anyway. Deciding ahead of time that editing is just part of the process changed that completely. Third grade writing feedback is a different beast than essays but the same principle holds.
Reply from lisatorres
Seconding everything Marcus said about the feedback generator. I was skeptical because I thought it would feel generic. It does not, which is awesome actually. I’m really amazed at how well it works.
Reply from davidkim
Also voting for the student notes generator. I teach sixth grade math and lesson prep used to eat my Sunday evenings. Now I give it the objective and the key vocabulary, get a solid first draft, and spend my time editing examples to match things my students already know from earlier in the year. Starting from something instead of nothing changes how the whole prep session feels. Jen, sounds like we landed in the same place on this one.
Reply from rachelchen
Bell ringers, but specifically the combination of the bell ringer system with the performance tracker. I was picking daily warm-up problems randomly or from whatever I remembered needed review. Now I look at the tracker at the start of each week, see which skill has the most cracks, and build that week's bell ringers around it. By October the students were coming in and starting without any prompting. The routine did the work and I just maintained it.
Reply from jamesokafor
Sub Hub. It sounds small but I missed six days last year due to illness and each one was a planning disaster that spilled into the next week. My sub plans lived in a doc I had not updated since October. This year I built a real template before the first day of school, three different plan lengths with materials attached, and the two days I was out in the spring were actually fine. The sub told me it was the most prepared set of instructions she had seen all year, which was a very low bar honest…
Reply from tonymendez
Just found this thread. Tony here, 7th grade social studies in San Antonio. I have only been on WiseBoard since March so I am still discovering things, but the bell ringer system is what sold me on staying. Middle schoolers need that anchor at the start of class and I was winging it every day before. Now I have a queue of content and a routine that holds even on bad days. Also found out about this community forum like two days ago so hello everyone.
Reply from kellybrennan
Kelly, chemistry and physics in Minneapolis. The parent communication inbox has been the biggest change for me. I teach four sections with 28 students each, that is a lot of families. I was responding to parent emails from my personal Gmail at 10pm and somehow treating that as normal. Having everything in one place with templates I actually prepared in advance cut the time I spend on parent messages by more than half. The documentation side matters too: when I have something in writing from ins…
Reply from erin
I really like the feedback generator. I had used it on a paper that I had spent about a half hour, reading, correcting, and grading to the rubric. Used the feedback generator and grading and it gave the same scores and pretty much the same feedback as I had, within a few minutes. Was up in the air of if I should use it and decided I will be using it especially with all the demands, paperwork, and time to do these are placed on teachers. I also just found the noise tracker that I can't wait to u…