This is the handiest tool I have used in my classroom in a while. Teacher’s pet is a tool which runs through your word document helping you create worksheets in a flash. These can be saved and edited again and again saving you time. It certainly lives up to its logo – Busy Teachers’ Best Friend!
Some ideas of worksheets include a bingo maker (which I use very frequently), word search puzzles, matching answers to questions, crosswords, spelling tools, gap-fill and multiple choice tools.
Teacher’s pet can be downloaded to your computer from http://www.teachers-pet.org/ for free. Once the programme is downloaded it attaches itself in “word” as a macro. In word 2007 it can be accessed in “Add-Ins”. Once downloaded four of the tools can be accessed for free and the premium services can be accessed three times before a registration is sought. This is around €13 but well worth it. Full access of teacher’s pet can be bought individually or in bulk e.g. 20 codes for staff computers. There is also a set of instructions which explain how to use each macro.
Sample Activity: Bingo Card Maker
To create the bingo cards you simply create a list of words vertically. Then you highlight the list and go to the “Teacher’s Pet” Tool. You can then enter the number of bingo cards you want, the look of the cards ie. number of rows and columns and any instructions you wish to attach to the cards. Simply press finish and the cards are generated for you. You can change the style of font by pressing crtl a (select all) and from there you can change the size of font and the colour of the font. The cards can be printed or saved for another day.
See the attached word document for a completed bingo cardBingo from Football Crazy.doc.