Today's addition to SMART Notebook Gallery tips (original entry found here) is a generic tool that can be used in any classroom, K-12.  

The "random group generator" is one of those quick, time saver tools that simply makes classroom transitions more efficient.  I know that may teachers  have different techniques for making groups for student projects (including the popsicle stick draw, alignment by birthdays, etc.) this tool can make the task a bit easier.

You simply type in the students' names into each box, select the number of groups that you'd like to make and voila!

Your groups are randomly created!  Click on the arrow in the bottom right-hand corner to enter the groups as text onto a Notebook page to save for later.

Bonus tip: After entering your students' names, drag and drop the completed group generator into your My Content folder in the Gallery to save for later use.

Such a simple little tool that can save valuable minutes, and hence potential distractions, when trying to facilitate the movement of students as individuals into members of a group.

Vanessa :)