Kiddom’s Planner: A new (free) teacher tool to simplify planning for differentiation

I shared with you before how much I love Kiddom as an easy tool for managing standards-based grading, and there’s a couple of new updates that you definitely need to know about if you’re spending too much time creating resources for differentiated instruction.

If you’re new to Kiddom, here’s the simplest explanation: it’s a collaborative learning platform that allows teachers to plan, assess, and analyze learning all in one place.

Kiddom’s greatest asset (in my opinion) is the free library of standards-based resources. Some are developed by experienced educators, and others are curated from trusted third-party sources like CK-12 and Khan Academy (meaning the videos, online games, etc. that you’re already using are likely to be integrated into Kiddom, so it’s easier to assign them to students.)

Kiddom’s goal has always been to help teachers move toward personalized learning, grounded in standards-based grading. Of course, that can be quite a lot of work, especially with large class sizes. So Kiddom is designed to help you spend less time finding and assigning standards-aligned work, and focus instead on actually executing those authentic, engaging learning experiences.

I’ve heard from many, many teachers who have found Kiddom to be a really useful tool for helping them assign differentiated activities and track student progress progress. And recently, Kiddom has redesigned their system and rolled out a new, major feature–the Planner.

Kiddom’s new Planner is a curriculum development tool that helps teachers design a curriculum and modify pathways for groups and individual students.

Here’s why I think this is so important: curriculum development is fundamentally emotional work. So much thought goes into each step as you carefully plan lessons that will resonate with kids and help them make connections. And because each child learns differently and has unique interests, planning for individual needs can be an overwhelming task challenge.

How Kiddom’s Planner makes individualization easier for teachers

Kiddom’s Planner removes the rigidity of other planning platforms so it’s a more intuitive process to create those individualized pathways for each child. 

In Kiddom’s new design, the drag-and-drop function remains and the Planner is already integrated into the Timeline, making it easy to add lessons and activities to a class or for individual students. This gives you the flexibility to plan ahead and assign tasks to students, knowing that they’ll be assigned the work only when they’re ready for it.

Here’s a quick video clip of Planner in action:

How you can use the Playlists feature to simplify differentiation

Like most teachers, you’ve probably spent countless hours looking for an activity that’s just right for your students–or even just for one student in particular. I’ve been there, and that’s why I love the Playlists feature in Kiddom’s Planner.

A Playlist is a collection of thoughtfully curated instructional materials. Every resource included goes through a thorough, 3-step peer-reviewed evaluation before being added to Kiddom. Each Playlist is checked for flow, rigor, and of course, standards alignment. Learn more about the process here.

Like all the resources that you’ll find on Kiddom, the Playlists can dragged and dropped into your curriculum, helping you create a unique curriculum for any student in minutes.

You can create Playlists in Kiddom’s Planner for individual students, groups of kids, or your entire class. No more hunting all over the web for activities and sharing links randomly with students. Just create and assign Playlists.

How using Assignments created on the Planner makes assessment simpler

Not only is it easier for you to assign differentiated work and easier for kids to keep track of assignments, but it’s also far easier to see what kids have actually completed and how well they’re mastering the content.

Assignments created on the Planner automatically sync with Kiddom’s ready-made reports. These actionable reports are gorgeous, clean, and easy to read. They help you analyze both the entire class’ performance and individual students’ performance.

One high school teacher from New York City has found the Planner to be incredibly helpful with meeting the needs of struggling learners. It’s a great post to check out if you want to see a first hand account of how Kiddom is simplifying differentiation in a challenging teaching context.

Ready to try out Kiddom for yourself? Click here to get started.

Disclosure: Kiddom has compensated me through Syndicate Ads for helping to spread the word about their awesome resources. All opinions are my own. I only blog about products that I truly believe in and highly recommend that other educators use in their classrooms.