Do you have an Alexa or Echo Dot at home or in the classroom? They are useful tools that can do so much!
I’m excited to share 15 ways to use an Echo Dot in your classroom or for learning at home!
First of all, if you aren’t sure what an Echo Dot is, let me explain what it is. It’s a smart speaker that uses Alexa to do different tasks. It’s like Siri on your phone. You can say “Alexa, play Christmas music,” and it will! These little devices can be quite practical in the classroom!
15 Ways to Use an Echo Dot in the Classroom
- Timers – I love how easy it is to set a timer with the Echo Dot. Timers are a great classroom management tool. I shared all about my love for timers over on this blog post.
- Music – This is one of my favorite features. I love how easy it is to just ask Alexa to play music. In the classroom, you can play piano music or ambient noises, like rainfall or ocean waves. It’s so great for helping kids focus on their work.
- Weather – Not sure what the weather is for recess? Or curious if it will rain or snow? Ask Alexa! It’s easier and faster than looking it up on your phone.
- Facts – We are so lucky to have the internet at our fingertips to find information! If you are in a hurry and need to find out a fact, you can ask Alexa.
- Audiobooks – This is amazing for lower grades! Kids can listen to stories in a center. You can even plug in headphones on the Echo Dot.
- Spelling Words – You can ask Alexa to spell any word, but there are also some fun games to practice spelling words:
- Spelling Alphabet – Alexa will spell words with the phonetic alphabet (A as in Alpha, B as in Bravo, etc.)
- Spelling Bee Winner – improve spelling by learning official spelling bee words
- Indoor Recess Games – There are some fun games you can play! Here are a few:
- Jeopardy
- Guess Who I Am
- Sports Trivia
- Either Or
- Animal Game
- Musical Game (like musical chairs and freeze dance)
- Would You Rather for Kids
- Animal Workout
- Random Numbers – Need to pick a random number? Use this device to do it for you! Just say, “Alexa, pick a number between 1-50,” and she will choose the number!
- Bingo Game – Play BINGO with the class for a fun activity.
- Translating Languages – This is a wonderful feature, especially for ELL students.
- Simon Says – Practice following directions with this fun game!
- Reminders – You can program Alexa to say something in the future. For example, if you want to be reminded to line up in 5 minutes, you can set a reminder.
- Brain Breaks – You can ask Alexa to tell you a joke, share a random fact, and even do breathing exercises.
- Routines – Use Alexa to create a routine for the class. This is really helpful when you have a substitute teacher and the whole class gets a reminder on the Echo when it’s time to transition to the next thing.
- Phone Finder – It will help you use your phone if you’ve lost it! You can program it to play a sound on your phone so you can find it more easily. How cool!
A few things to note…
- The Echo will respond to just your voice! So you won’t have kids saying “Hey Alexa” all the time. It will just respond to you! (Unless you set it up with multiple users!)
- You can schedule ‘Do Not Disturb’ times when you want the Echo to be silent (i.e., during read aloud)
- While there are many useful applications with this Echo Dot in the classroom, student privacy should be a top concern. Also, we should be careful with how much time children spend with these devices. And of course, no technology can take the place of relationships.
I’d love to know… are you allowed to have an Echo Dot in the classroom? If so, do you use one?
Would love to use this for my homeschool setting!
They look like an amazing classroom tool!
I want to try out these great ideas you posted.
I think this could be a wonderful tool for use in a classroom. I would us it as a timer, to play music, to check the weather, and so much more.
The kids love this technology and I know someone who I could pass this on to, so their kids could enjoy it.
Always thought one could fun!
I didn’t realize how helpful one could be in a classroom. I could see myself using it to play music and also trying out some of the games.
I would use this for timers for sure and music in my class. I didn’t know you could set it to just respond to one voice! So cool when the teenager tells Alexa to play one of their songs at a bery loud volume!
This is will be great for my Autistic and Visually impaired son.
I never knew how helpful one could be! I could see how convenient it could be!
I love that with every give away you teach us about the item and how it can be an aide in teaching. Thank you. The echo dot sounds fabulous.
I have one at home but have always wanted to use it in my classroom.
These would be so useful in my household,
Or even at church – Sunday School/nursery!
Your list of ideas is so helpful! I knew many of these things, but hadn’t thought about applying them to the classroom setting! Thank you!
I love our echo’s , glad you can opt out of the network, but I use mine in the kitchen so often, I would love to have one in the school room too!
I have so many ways I could use this in my speech and language therapy sessions! Wow! If I don’t win, here’s another “I would like that for my birthday!” idea. Thank you for sharing your great ideas! Inspiring!
Love your ideas with the Echo Dot speakers. I have a 10 and 6 year old and we could use it in so many ways for at home learning. Thank you!
Angela you post such creative ideas for educational activities for our young learners. I can always count on useful information on a wide variety of topics to support language learning when providing speech therapy to children on my caseload. I would love to win the Echo Dot to enhance my therapy sessions. Thanks so much!
I would love to try these ideas out in class!
We use our Alexa for music, timers and to share the weather each day. I can’t wait to try the indoor recess games and simon says!
The posts are always interesting and/or informational. Thanks for sharing.
My husband got a promotional Dot last year and I’ve really enjoyed using it in my classroom!!! Your post reminded me of a few things I’d like to try.
I’d love to win one so I could give it—or my personal one—to my teacher bestie! 😉
I’ve heard such great things about these speakers and would love to use one at the house with my girls!
This would be great!
I would have never thought of using an Echo Dot in my classroom! Thanks for the awesome ideas!!
I would love to win an Echo Dot for my classroom!
It could help me with music time, clean, circle time and much more!!
-thank you!
I would love to win an Echo Dot for my classroom!
I would love to win an Echo Dot for my kindergarten classroom to play music.
These are great ideas!!
I have never considered having one of these in my room. These are some great ideas to use with one.
Great ideas to try out something new in the classroom!
Great ideas!
I would love to use an echo dot in our classroom for music and more! All of our CD players are old and rarely work. This would be a great addition to our classroom!
What a great idea to use technology in a positive way. I would love to try this!
Love this idea!!!
I love the idea of using the echo dot as a timer!
Lovely!
What a great idea to use for indoor recess!
What a great idea! I hadn’t thought of these conveniences that an echo dot could provide in the classroom. I spend so much time searching for appropriate kid music to play in the background, this would be fantastic to have in the classroom. I’m also always setting timers for small group activities. Asking Alexa to do it for me would be so much easier and save me the extra step.
Oh I would love this! Thanks for the chance!
This would be SO fun to use in the classroom! The kids would love it!
I would love to win because it takes so much time to find the music I am looking for, it would be amazing if Alexa could do it for me!
I love the suggestions you gave! I teach Early Childhood Special Education – 3, 4, and 5 year olds with special needs. Several of them are also ELL. So many of the ideas that you gave would be great in our class! We always listen to music, and we use timers a lot. This would be a much easier/quicker way of doing it!
Thanks for sharing all the fun ways an Echo can be used.
I have students that could really benefit from having this technology in my classroom! It would be awesome to have a different way to get information
that would be awesome
I am so happy to see others winning these wonderful favorites, good luck everyone and congratulations to all winners.
What a great idea! We have an extra speaker at home we got for free. It will be coming with me to school tomorrow!! Thank you!
My students would LOVE to be able to ask Alexa their questions! I have a very curious group this year! This would be great! 🙂
I would love to win an echo dot so we can use it in our homeschool 🙂 would definitely be implementing all the ideas on this post! Such great ones 🙂 thank you !
Use it to play stories
Wasn’t aware of all the wonderful things the dot can help with in the classroom. Would love to win one!
I would love to hv it, and experience new teaching Learning techinque in class. Can I use it as a mike/ loudspeaker
Use it for poetry, it will finds rhymes.
Wow,, I didn’t realize that the Dot could be so helpful. Since our school budget could never afford one, I’m hoping to be a winner!!
I would love to win a smart speaker for my classroom because it has become my best friend at home. I use it for timers and to ask questions that I need answered quickly. These would be just a couple of examples of how I would put this to good use.
Thanks for all the great ideas! Sounds like a great addition to the classroom.
I’m excited to use this technology. I know many of my students have an Echo in their homes, but I don’t think they’ve been shown how to use it yet.
I never thought about using one in my classroom or with students but would be very beneficial for my kids.
oh I would love to win this. those are some very great ideas to use The Echo dot for.
There are so many exciting ways to use this in my classroom.
I would like to win in an effort to continue to enhance my student’s learning with an addition to a great technology resource.
I had no idea! I would love to win!!! Thank you!
I have fleetingly considered a smart speaker for my classroom – largely to replace my old CD player for music and movement activities – but I could not think of the number of other ways in which it could be used in order to justify its presence in the classroom. I was also unaware that it could be programmed to respond to just the teacher so that is reassuring as I would not want my students to engage with technology too much. They get enough of that at home.
I would like to win to experiment and use something
The first year, I did use a smart speaker and it was very handy! I had to return the speaker to my son, and now I am using a Bluetooth boom box, and play music from my phone, but when I have a sub, they cannot play the music that the kids are used to, that was the biggest adjustment with not having a smart speaker and being able to set the timers and reminders were a game changer!!
I would like to win so I could control our classroom music easier. We currently use Youtube and the commercials are becoming annoying. My boss is getting us Amazon music so this would be great to have!
Yes!! Commercials are always annoying. Haha!
I never thought about using one in the classroom. It would be great for my K4 class!
Would make good use of this in my classroom.
I would like to win to play music and to set reminders.
This is such a great idea! It would bring me into modern times and I might be able to do away with my CD Player!!
These are great ideas! I would love to have an Echo Dot in my classroom!
Great ideas for using an echo dot at school! I own a bluetooth speaker via my school, but it could use an upgrade!
All my kiddos love to dance. I would use the Echo Dot to blast that music and get the sillies out during the day.
Your site has been so helpful with fresh ideas.
This Echo Dot would be amazing to assist with stories at rest time and music for music and movement.
Great ideas for using the echo dot in the classroom! Thanks for everything and all your wonderful suggestions.
Thank you!!!
I would love to gift this echo to my Goddaughter who is struggling in school right now! Love these ideas! I homeschool my twin preschoolers and this gave me ideas I can really use to enhance our learning day and more!
Such neat ideas on how to use in the classroom- I love the indoor recess ideas.
This would be a great idea to use with students in my piano studio!
Thank you for blessing us with your blog (you share practical and helpful ideas and resources) and for blessing us with these giveaways this Christmas. May God continue to bless you and your family.
My district is hesitant about letting us use smart speakers in the classroom. How can I convince them that it is safe and very useful?
Cindy
This would be a fun resource to use in my homeschool classroom! What a great giveaway. Thank you for the suggestions!
I think this would be great in my classroom My students have speech and language delays and I think it would be great to have them ask questions.
I am currently using my iPad to get music for the classroom. This would help out so much.
Great ideas!
I’ve always wanted one, but have no budget for it and they took my classroom funds away this year.
I never thought that you can use the Echo dot in the classroom and in so many ways!
What wonderful ideas! I love my dot at home, but wouldn’t have thought about it for the classroom! Thank you for this!
Such great ideas and I think it is great that it can be programmed for just one user… kids catch on so quickly to technology.
Love these ideas!
This would be an awesome gift to receive and thankful for the chance to win.
Great idea to incorporate some things we use this for at home into my classroom!!
I love my echo dot at home. The music feature alone it worth having it in the classroom.
Love the ideas for at-home learning as well!
I do not have an Echo Dot in my classroom but I think it would be a great way to engage with my littles and transition us smoothly!
Wow! Never thought this would be so helpful in the classroom. I would love this product!
This giveaway is amazing! Very useful items!
I didn’t realize this could be used for so many different things. I can’t wait to implement this for the kids.
Love the idea for a story listening centre. We are always short on tablets and sometimes the kids don’t always listen to the story because they are watching the video or trying to go on other apps.
Using this for an alarm, timer, or music would be a great way to use it with my kids.
I love your ideas and ways to incorporate ideas into all areas of teaching. I’m an OT and love using your stuff with my kids.
I love these awesome ideas & would love to implement them in my speech therapy sessions!
My own older children think I am old fashioned because I still use a cassette and CD player in my classroom. If I had an Echo Dot I would be so hip, even to the young students in my classroom. I love the ideas you have posted. There are so many creative ways to use this device.
Haha, well if they still work then it’s good! We still have a CD player/cassette tape player in my son’s room. He likes some audiobooks on CDs. But yes, I do think having an Echo would be helpful for you!
I would love to have an easier way to do a timer, music and play games from anywhere in my room.
I would love one of these to have to use with my students. Thank you for all the ideas!
These are great ideas! I would love to try some.
These are great ideas! Thanks for sharing! I would love to win to use it for indoor recess games, brain breaks, and the routines.
This would be so helpful to have.
I didn’t know there were so many different ways to use an echo dot in the classroom. These are game changers!
Using an echo do in the classroom is such a great idea! I never thought about using on either and all your tips are great ideas!
What a great gift to give, I am a small home daycare and this would really help me with every day planning. My toddlers love music and my preschoolers love freeze dance. all the other features are great to have.
Thank You
These are some great ideas, most of which I didn’t know about, so thank you! I’d love to win it specifically to use for introducing brain and breathing breaks.
This sounds great. Thank you for all the good ideas!
I use an echo at home but never thought about using it at school! What a great idea.
This post is a keeper and fabulous way to use the latest technology.
Thank you!
As a stay at home mom during a pandemic we used the echo dot to keep our routine in check, remind of household duties, play games, listen to music, timers and many other ways! Absolutely love the echo and would love to gift one to my daughters first public school teacher this year!
I love all the ideas for using one of these in the classroom!
I never thought about using a smart speaker in the classroom. What a great idea!! Now I really want one!
I love seeing the different blog posts each day! You are such a creative teacher full of inspiration! I would like to win this echo dot to help in my classroom with management techniques and having access to weather and music by voice command. Hopefully you will consider us over here in Menifee!
Aw thanks so much! You made my day!
Wow! I did not realize all the wonderful things that an Amazon Echo can do. Winning the Echo would be great for my kindergartners. Thank you
Thanks for great the ideas!
That is such a great list of ways to use the echo dot in the classroom
Saving this post for these fabulous ideas!
These are amazing ideas!
This would be a fun addition to therapy!! I do speech therapy and need things that are motivating to get my kids to communicate. I think they would love to ask Alexa to play a song or they could ask a question, etc.
Yes!! Great ideas!
Hi!
I love your ideas! We have an echo dot at home and we use it daily for timers, music, weather, jokes,… and most important my little one loves to listen to audiobooks! I can totally see how useful it could be in a classroom!
Thanks for all the great Giveaways and the ideas that come with them.
I am just building my Preschool after a really difficult time post-Covid 19. I truly believe this EchoDot will be a wonderful addition for my children because it can do amazing things! !
I would love to use a Echo in my classroom with my English Learners!
For times, reminders, music,
Timers and Audio books! What a great idea. I think you typically go to the traditional playing of music but I love these other ideas!!! Thanks for all the suggestions, I love it!!!
Thank you – these are some excellent ideas. I would live one for my classroom for all of the above reasons!
These would make a great addition to the day program that I manage! So many great and useful things we could do with these! Thanks for the ideas!
Thank you – some excellent ideas! i would love one of these for my classroom for all of the reasons stated above!
The thought of an echo dot never crossed my mind. I hope to be able to get one and try these fabulous ideas. Thanks for the tips.
I do not own a smart speaker. It would be fun to try some new things with the speaker.
Wow! I love this blog post. I never realized you could do SO many different things with Alexa! This is awesome!
I have never thought about using these in the classroom, I think it would be a great addition to mine. I loved all of your ways to use it.
I would love to win a smart speaker for my classroom! There are so many things I would love to try with my K class!
I would love to have one specifically to use in my classroom. The indoor recess games sound so fun!
I would love to have one for my classroom. Thanks
What a game changer in the classroom this would be. Thanks for all the giveaways and introducing us to new ideas
Great ideas!
I’ve used my echo dot in the classroom but did not know of all these features! Thanks for sharing! I have one but would love to gift one to a coworker.
The Dot would be a great addition to our classroom. Thank you for the chance to win one!
I’ve never thought about using this device in the classroom. This sounds like a great idea!
Would like to win echo to improve my use of technology during activities with my grandchildren. This device would allow me to individualize instruction and increase opportunities to have one on one instruction while another child is using an echo activity. Love your suggested activities.
Looks like a great classroom tool! I’m excited to try one if i win one! I knew it was useful in a home setting but never thought to try it in the classroom!
Echo Dot sounds like a great technology to use in small groups for reading stories and text to students as the follow along with a physical copy. This would free me up to give more one-to-one instructional support.
Great ideas! I hope I win.
This would be a welcome addition to any classroom!
It would be a great addition to my classroom and help when I have multiple activities going.
We’re allowed but I don’t own one!
Having the Echo Dot would would be be a great addition to classroom. The ideas in your post open up so many possibilities.
I would love to have this in my classroom. I think my students with exceptional needs would greatly benefit and think it is really cool. Thank you for sharing!
This is a wonderful prize both for use in the classroom and at home! The many ways it can be used is phenomenal.
I love all of the ideas that you included! The timer and games are great for my OT kids.
This would be amazing for the classroom! Thanks for the tip and a chance to win🙂
I love the idea of using an echo dot in the classroom! I teach special ed/interventions. It would be great for timers, soft music, smarty pants dancing and many other things!
I love this, I have never thought to use a smart speaker in the classroom!
I would love to win an Echo Dot to use for teaching. I didn’t realize how many educational ways you could use a Echo Dot. Thank you for the information.
I would like to win because I think the trivia games would be great to do in the library.
I would like to win this for my preschool so it will be easier for transition time!
This would be great to have!!
Wow!!! I didn’t realize you could do all these cool things!! Thank you for sharing!!
I would like to win this so I can use it like a timer. It seems like it would be great for many other uses too.
This would be an amazing tool to use in my classroom. Technology is so impressive!
I’d love to win an Echo Dot for my classroom since it can be used in so many different ways!
Thank you for sharing all the ways that you can use an Echo Dot! I had NO clue!! I would love to win and use it for a listening center! My kinders would love it!!Thank you for the chance!
I never realize the hidden potential in an echo dot! What a wonderful list of time saving ways to use one in the classroom. Students will love it, and so will substitute teachers. The best post I have read today!
I would love to win this for home or my classroom!
I would love one to use in classrooms when i am visiting as well as my home visiting program. Even in the office when i have children here doing visits. I model how to work through behaviors and how to implement new songs and large group, etc. this would be a very useful tool
I’d love to win because all of the suggestions on how to use it sound really exciting to try. I’m always behind in my schedule or fumbling for a song for transition. It would be nice to just tell alexa to quickly play a certain song.
So many fun ways to use this! I had no idea.
Love all your ideas.
I honestly never thought we needed something like an Echo Dot, but I homeschool my daughter, and these are such great ideas-I think you’ve changed my mind-thank you!
I don’t have technology like this; I have a DVD player…lol. This would be great when we go outside ( we love to have classroom outside) and I can see incorporating it into large group carpet time in the afternoon. There are endless ways this could be of value to my kiddos.
Thank you.
I didn’t realize there were som many ways to use an echo dot in the classroom – timer, bingo, games, weather for recess. It would be very useful
I don’t have an Echo Dot and after reading about all the ways to use it in my classroom I have found out it is very helpful for my classroom!
What a great giveaway! I would love to win this for my 7 yo who would enjoy having a device that can do all you listed above. So cool!!
I haven’t seen an echo dot used in the classroom in our school. Would be fun to try!
I have a smart speaker at home and LOVE it. I think it would be great to have one in my classroom.
I would love to have this in my classroom! Thank you.
This is such a neat idea! Even if I don’t win the giveaway, thank you for the ideas how to use smart speakers in a classroom.
I have no technology in my classroom and would LOVE this to help with tasks during my day
I have wanted to have an Echo Dot in the classroom. I have one at home and find it very useful. At school, it would be great for background music, timers (instead of searching for the last place I put my phone), etc.
I never would have thought of these uses! My kids love music this year so having an easy way to play some while they work would be amazing!
I don’t own any type of speakers like this. This would be great during my homeschooling. We do a lot of music and activities for learning along with our music and phys Ed class. Thank you for having these giveaways and for all your material. You are a blessing.
This would be helpful so that the music we play can be heard well. I am not sure on the other features of the echo dot.
Echo Dots are great for kids who are working on speech. They can make requests and get a response immediately and there are so many games to play.
I play music in my room all the time, it helps set the mood for the day and gives me a chance to expose the kids to different genres that they may otherwise not listen to. But my day is so hectic and a smart speaker would be so helpful in the classroom to help us stick to our schedule and keep track of upcoming school events.
Great tips! Can’t wait to try some more of these.
I love these ideas!
This would be great for circle time in the mornings with Kaci! I’ve never heard of an Echo Dot before. Thanks for the info!
I would live to have an echo dot for my classroom
I would love the echo dot to use for music and timers and reminders in the classroom. My children would LOVE it (and me too)
I have never used one of these. All these classroom ideas sound wonderful and super engaging. I would love to have one of these!! I would use it probably all the ways you mentioned in your blog. Thank you!
My daughter has one and I have never thought of the possibilities in the classroom and this sounds awesome. I feel my special needs students will benefit greatly from the plethora of opportunities this device could bring to our classroom.
It would be great to introduce another tool in my classroom.
I have an ECHO dot at home and I love it! Would love one for my classroom!
I’ve never thought of this. I love this idea!! I had Alexa in the classroom and the kids couldn’t handle it so I love that this would recognize only MY voice.
What wonderful give aways! You are so generous!! Thanks!
So neat!
I have never used one of these before (at home or in my classroom). I would love to have one to play calming music for my students, to set timers, and to find out the answers to all of the random questions kids ask me.
I couldn’t figure out how to leave a comment on the Echo Dots. I would love to win! I teach Special Education at the Elementary level and we utilize YouTube, or Pandora for our calming music while we are working. Of course it runs through my laptop, so I am unable to work on my computer at the same time. I had no idea you could do so much with an Echo!!
Honestly, the timer is the biggest incentive to use a Dot in the classroom.
I really enjoy reading your blogs, which help me a lot in my teaching. Many thanks
These are some great ideas. I’m a SPED teacher and I never thought about using a Dot in our room. Thanks!
By accident I opted out of the give aways! How do I fix it!!
Thank you for all you do to help and support teachers! The Echo Dot would be AMAZING!!
Those are amazing ideas for an echo dot! In my special needs classroom we usually use our cell phones for timers because they are always handy. It would be great to say “hey google set a timer” instead!
This would be a great gift for one of the special ed teachers where I work. (I am a nurse in a special ed high school).
I love this idea for audio books!
These are all great ideas! I use an Echo in my home, but haven’t thought about using 1 in the classroom.
This would be awesome to engage my students…Especially when I dont have the answer!
This is a fabulous idea! I would love to have this in my classroom. Thank you so much for sharing it and continuing to help educators. Happy Holidays! LUV
I had never thought of using an Alexa or Echo Dot in the classroom. What great ideas! I would love to give one to my first grade co-teacher. I can just imagine the things we can do with it together or when she is out and there is a sub or we are both out for training/planning.
All of your suggestions on using the eco dot in the classroom sound great! Timers, brain breaks, reminders!! Even find my phone! I would really love to win.
I would love an echo for my classroom because I work in a self-contained k-2 room and the indoor recess, phonetic spelling and quick facts would be an excellent addition to our room!
I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to win!!! I’ve never used an Echo and would be so excited to use one in my classroom!!!!
I would like to win because I see how you can use it in so many ways. Thanks for the great ideas.
I would love an echo dot to help with managing classroom behaviors!
I would love the echo dot in my classroom for our PAX Good Behavior games! I would be able to set a hands free timer for our games and it will appropriately go off and students will know the game is over.
Never thought how handy an echo dot would be!
My little kids would love this! It would help when I don’t have a free hand!