Group Maker Apps

In my classroom, we do a lot of group work. My students don't have desks. They sit at large rectangular tables with chair pockets. This forms a natural group of 4 or 5 students. The usual way I create partners is by saying "your shoulder partner" (next to you)  or "your face partner" (across from you). Now sometimes,  students get tired of having the same partner/group or  TOO comfortable (super talkative or off task). To shake things up, I've used these two Group Maker apps. The first one is a free online website tool called "Instant Classroom" from Super Teacher Tools. All you have to do is sign up with your email.

The second app, I use on my iPhone called "Team Shake". I like using this one because I'm able to access it quickly. It's not free, but it's worth the 99 cents! It's easy to use, and I can email myself the groups or take a screen shot.

So check out these apps the next time you form your groups. Let me know which one you like best!