Managing a classroom with students of different levels, learning paces and needs is one of the biggest challenges in education. This is the daily reality of Cristina Ramos, a teacher in a rural school in Salamanca, where she teaches students from four different grades in the same classroom, corresponding to Primary Education.
In this context, organization, assessment and planning are not just important: they are essential.
In this case study, Cristina explains how she has transformed her way of working thanks to Additio App, optimizing her time and making competency-based assessment easier in the classroom.
The challenge of working in a rural school
Cristina is clear that working in a rural school is complex and diverse, but also very enriching:
«Working in a rural school requires a lot of organization and classroom management, because having four levels makes teaching very complex. I teach most subjects, which makes my role as a tutor and teacher easier. My students are from different grades, with different abilities and learning paces. This means we have to adapt to each student’s academic situation depending on their level and learning process.»
Difficulties in student assessment and tracking
As Cristina explains, in her early years of teaching she used a paper notebook to record grades, which meant many hours of work and little clarity when applying skills-based assessment:
«In my first years of teaching, I used a traditional planner where I manually recorded each student’s grades, and then transferred everything to Excel to link it to assessment criteria. The most difficult part was understanding how you want to assess, how to link it to criteria and competencies, and how to do it using different techniques and assessment tools, and then reflect all of that in Excel or a notebook.»
When asked about the time spent on these tasks, Cristina reflects:
«I don’t even want to think about how long it took, because it was never-ending work. As teachers, we know that planning can be affected by even a small change, and that makes your planning or classroom management feel like a house of cards that can collapse at any moment.»
The LOMLOE framework also posed challenges in her daily work:
«The biggest difficulty was not seeing the connection between different assessment tools and techniques with the evaluation criteria and their skills links. It is very complex to do this with paper and pen.»
Discovering Additio App
Cristina discovered Additio App during her teaching internship, and the impact was immediate. What she used to do manually now had a much more efficient digital alternative, aligned with real classroom needs. Today, it has become an essential tool in her daily teaching practice.
«I discovered Additio App during my internship because a colleague was using it. When I saw it, a whole new world opened up to me, because I realized that all the hard work I used to do with paper and pen could be done using technology. Today, I use Additio App daily and constantly. I take my iPad everywhere. I honestly wouldn’t know how to live without this tool. I use it for daily planning and to record grades for each learning situation as I carry out each activity.»
If there’s one thing Additio App has helped Cristina with, it’s saving time and streamlining routine tasks:
«Regarding the tasks I’ve managed to streamline, planning is essential. It’s very useful to be able to adjust it when things don’t go as planned. I have also created structures for each grade and subject, linking learning situations with criteria and competencies, so I can assess each aspect daily in the classroom.
How much time do I save each week now? A lot. In fact, I often complete part of my work directly in the classroom, because I can enter grades instantly and make any necessary adjustments.»
Support in skills-based assessment
Skills-based assessment is one of the biggest current challenges in education, and Additio App has allowed Cristina to apply it in a structured and clear way:
«Additio App is essential for skills-based assessment. It allows you to link each assessment aspect to each evaluation criterion, and connect it with the official tools provided by the education authorities for continuous student assessment.
As I mentioned before, I have created structures for each subject I teach. In them, I link each assessment aspect with the competencies and criteria I work on. I also use different techniques and assessment tools. Once the structures are set up, I just need to input the grades and check that everything is properly assessed.»
Key features in her daily practice
Additio App offers multiple tools, but Cristina clearly identifies the ones that are essential in her teaching practice:
«In general, what I use the most are planning, assessment tools and groups. I love Additiopedia, where you can find different rubrics and create your own. I have also learned how to include important dates or meeting schedules.
If I had to recommend one feature to other teachers, I would recommend evaluating through group structures, with an optimal setup properly linked to criteria and skills. Right now, it literally saves our lives when it comes to skills-based assessment.»
Impact on her daily teaching
Using Additio App has improved not only organization, but also the quality of time spent in the classroom:
«Today, I wouldn’t know how to live without the app. It allows me to organize and manage my classroom effectively, carrying out a very complete assessment using different tools. In terms of time, it has reduced my workload because Additio App is such a complete and easy-to-use tool that everything becomes simpler.»
The time saved has also had a positive impact on her teaching:
«Good organization allows me to run my classes in a productive and satisfying way. It enables me to spend every minute teaching and helping my students learn.»
Additio App, the key tool in the classroom
Cristina is clear: Additio App is a unique and essential tool:
«I would recommend Additio App without hesitation. It opens your mind and creates opportunities because it allows you to organize and manage your classroom in an optimal and seamless way. You simply can’t live without Additio App. It’s a unique application, without a doubt.»
Like Cristina, more and more teachers are looking for tools that help them simplify their work, save time and focus on what really matters: student learning.
Additio App becomes a key ally to face current classroom challenges, especially in complex contexts such as multi-grade teaching.
