Resource Guide: 9 Google Chrome Extensions

Have you ever been in the middle of filling out a form when you time out? Or your computer crashes? Re-entering all that information can be time-consuming. Lazarus Form Recovery is an add-on that saves as you type so you don’t have to lose all your information due to an untimely power outage or other type of disaster. Simply click a menu item, and all your information can be reinstated.

As a teacher, you probably have a million projects going on at once. Wunderlist is a tool that creates organized to-do lists for all those projects. Each project and all the information and communication can be placed in its own special folder. Wunderlist will also send you reminders and set due dates to keep you on top of everything. These lists can also be shared with others for collaborative projects.

Grading is possibly the most time-consuming and tedious aspect of being a teacher. Flubaroo is a Google Docs add-on that helps teachers save time grading. Teachers can easily create an assignment and answer key, send it out to the class, grade it, and then analyze the grades. These assignments can even be self-grading which saves tons of time. Also, since all work is done through Google Docs, Flubaroo saves paper and makes it so you don’t have to keep track of mountains of paperwork.

Have you ever wanted to take notes about a website, but had to keep paneling back and forth between the website and your notes? With Sidenotes, you can keep all tabs and apps open while you jot down your thoughts and inspiration via a pop-open sidebar. These notes are immediately synced with Dropbox and each note is attached to the source URL. UPDATE NOTE from November 7, 2016: This tool is no longer available. Instead, check out Quick Note for easy note-taking.

Internet safety is a big issue in modern-day classrooms. With so many websites available on any given topic, how can you be sure the site you’re using is trustworthy? Web of Trust is a safe browsing tool that ensures and protects against malware and dangerous links. Various reputation icons located next to the website name tell you the site’s rating and reputation. Best of all, Web of Trust won’t slow down your browser.

Have you ever been reading through an online article and come across a word you don’t recognize? With Google Dictionary, a double-click of the mouse is all it takes to view the definition. When you double-click, a small bubble pops up with the complete definition of the word or phrase. Google Dictionary will also keep a history of words you’ve looked up so that you can practice them later. Foreign words can also be translated using this service.

In the age of the internet, interesting resources abound. Keep all these resources bookmarked and organized with Evernote. This web clipping tool allows you to clip various web pages as you browse so you can go back to that information at any time, or share with others. And you don’t even have to copy and paste! Evernote even has a highlighting tool so you can draw attention to a particular part of the clip that you found to be inspirational.

One small typo can destroy all your credibility for some readers. Make sure all your grammar and spelling is perfect with Ginger. This Chrome Extension will spell check all your text in social media posts, Gmail, and other sites. Aside from proofreading, Ginger also offers word prediction and a rephrasing tool for the best possible sentence structure.

Productivity and a relaxed environment go hand in hand. Noisli combines your favorite background noises that you can listen to throughout the day to drown out annoying noises and create a tranquil setting for yourself. This background soundtrack can help improve your focus and concentration. Noisli even has a timer for productivity sessions and will sync all your favorite noise combinations. You can listen as you grade papers or even use for quiet time in the classroom.