Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

GIMP is a free software download to use when working with images and photos. Features include paint tools, photo retouching, animation, and much more. GIMP provides an extensive tutorial library broken into categories for beginning through expert users.

tag(s): editing (93), images (263), photography (130)

Record a PC desktop with or without sound using free software from SRecorder. This software works only with Windows Operating Systems. After downloading and installing the software, use the desktop shortcut to begin the recording. Choose to view the entire desktop or select a specific area using the crop box provided. Click the red button to record, then use the icons on the screen to save to your computer or share to social networking sites.

tag(s): video (266)

Find the updated link "401 prompts from the New York Times" (NYT) Learning Network's Student Opinion feature. Discover a multitude of topics of interest to teens and students will have an opinion about at least a few of them! However, their opinion is not all they are supposed to give. To submit, teens will need to have evidence-based, concise editorials much like the ones the NYT publishes daily. Once submitted the NYT and the Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University will use a rubric to select winners, and then publish those on The Learning Network. We suggest obtaining parental permission before submitting anything. If interested, you can also find a link for 650 prompts for narative and personal writing.

tag(s): news (228), persuasive writing (58), writing (324), writing prompts (61)

Block out all distractions and just start writing with ZenPen. Remove the instructions found on the page (just highlight and click delete). Begin writing without any visual elements in the way. No registration is required! Highlight text and select options to add italics, bold text, or URLs. Use links on the left side of the page to change text and background colors to black and white, toggle to full screen, add a word count, or save work.

tag(s): editing (93), process writing (37), proofreading (21), writing (324)

Milestones offers a collection of videos demonstrating grade-level expectations for Kindergarten through middle school. Choose a grade to start. Select a video from the different categories offered, including reading, math, and writing. These short videos run about a minute in length and provide an excellent look at the successful accomplishment of grade-level goals. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): parent conferences (21), parents (57), professional development (385), video (266)

Finally, worksheets will be cool! Create interactive worksheets, or use one that is already developed and make it your own with wizer.me. After signing up with email get started with Add Task. Follow the prompts for creation; these include selecting text style and color, and choosing a background, adding student tasks (Text, Video, Link, Image), and more. Select question style: Open Question, Multiple Choice, Matching, and more. Then there are the more unusual type responses like Filling in a Table, Image Tagging, Embedding, and others, with promises of more to come. Share with students by posting the URL given, using a pin code on their worksheet board, or use your Google Classroom account. At the time of this review, wizer.me support was through email and real-time online chat. Wizer.me works on any device with a browser and Internet connection but works best on Chrome and Safari.

tag(s): gamification (83), multimedia (53), worksheets (69)

Find an interactive rubric for evaluating the quality of Internet sources students use in academic writing and projects. Fill out a short registration form to have immediate free access to the rubric as a PDF. The criteria for the rubric includes Authoritative, Educational Value, Intent, Originality, and Quality. Below the rubric see an example of three popular sites evaluated with SEER and the scores given for each criterion. Download the rubric to your computer. Once filled in save it to your computer and print.

tag(s): evaluating sources (29), media literacy (109), rubrics (37)

Engage your students as they practice and learn appropriate grammar with this X (formerly Twitter) hashtag project. Follow the four posted steps to model, send, and correct "messy" sentences with your students. Be sure to do a X (formerly Twitter) search for #grammar911 for any inappropriate comments before sharing with your students. Although this lesson was created to accompany Daily 5 activities, it can easily be used with any grammar curriculum or lesson.

tag(s): grammar (137), grammar review (31), twitter (13)

Download Boomerang to organize your Gmail! Schedule when to send messages, remind yourself to follow up if you do not get a reply email, and mark emails that you need to read at a later time. The basic plan is free and includes most features.
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tag(s): organizational skills (88)

Find free plays, drama games, and help for teaching a drama class at Drama Notebook. Click on the Free Stuff in the menu at the top and find hundreds of short plays and over forty classic games for kids and teens. Search through the play categories such as Fairy, Folk, Tall Tales, Scripts Based on Children's Books, Holidays, Free Plays for Ages 12 and Up, and several more. Each play states how many parts and the approximate time for the duration of the play. Plays open in a new link in PDF. View any and all of these with no registration.
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tag(s): acting (19), plays (32), readers theater (12)

FutureLearn for Schools offers a large variety of free online courses presented by leading universities for students aged 13 and older in a variety of topics. Choose a category to begin browsing topics offered. Content includes history, creative arts and media, literature, and much more. Watch a short video to learn specifics about the course offerings and objectives. This site was created in the UK, so some of the pronunciations and spellings may differ from those in American English.

tag(s): advertising (26), business (52), computers (109), creative writing (124), cultures (180), dental health (14), environment (252), financial literacy (93), gifted (66), literature (221), photography (130), politics (118), professional development (385), psychology (65)

Track learning in real-time with Quizalize. Student answers are color-coded on the teacher dashboard for ease in identifying who needs more help. Create scrambled word, multiple choice questions, and ChapGPT quizzes, and each question can have a custom timer. View reports for each student's progress and learning gaps. Create a quiz or select one from Quizalize's growing library. Quizzes can be "gamified" by showing the teacher dashboard as a leaderboard to see progress against other contestents. Quizalize works on any device with a browser and Internet connection. Sign up with an email and password. Create a quiz, assign it to classes, get a code, give it to students, and let the fun begin! The free account provides 3 classes and 5 activities.

tag(s): differentiation (84), game based learning (205), gamification (83), polls and surveys (49), quizzes (90)

Seesaw is a digital portfolio that is totally free for all devices and on the web. Students can showcase their work, videos, text, drawings, and images, and get feedback from teachers and parents. Create a class blog in your Seesaw for students to write blog posts. Teachers create an account with email and then start creating as many classes as needed. There is no limit on the number of students a class can have. Once students have parental permission, give students a "join" code for their class, and they sign up from there, choosing to access their account through a Seesaw generated QR code or their email. Teachers can enable or disable student likes, comments, and editing. Blog posts and comments must have teacher approval before becoming public. Students will be able to reflect on their work with a voice recording or text, and can share artifacts from their portfolio by clicking the red button at the bottom of the screen and then either print or get the item QR code. Once you have an account, click Help & Teacher Resources to find Getting Started Tips, Tutorial Videos, FAQs, and Activity Ideas grouped by grade level. If your district blocks YouTube, the tutorials may not be viewable. Please be aware that Seesaw falls under the FERPA laws for "directory information" and "educational records." Any school getting funds from the Department of Education (public schools) is required to disclose to parents and get written consent to use Seesaw with their child.

tag(s): blogs (65), communication (129), DAT device agnostic tool (147), digital storytelling (154), Learning Management Systems (20), portfolios (23), Teacher Utilities (197)

Develop rubrics to assess what you expect students to learn with Quick Rubric. Registration is free and allows for saving the rubric. Click Create a Rubric and add a title, brief description, and the maximum and minimum scores. Describe your indicators, add descriptors, and even include standards. At any time during the formation of the rubric add columns and rows. Save and share via URL or printing. The ability to copy and modify a rubric from your account is a great time-saver.
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tag(s): assessment (147), rubrics (37)

Focus on the key elements of writing a story with Story Map. Fill out and print graphic organizers for characters, setting, conflict, and resolution. Each organizer has prompts for what to write. Returning to an organizer to edit is possible. Print your Story Map, since it is not saved.

tag(s): digital storytelling (154), graphic organizers (48), writing (324)

Become part of a global celebration of creativity, courage, and collaboration on International Dot Day. Formed in response to The Dot written by Peter H. Reynolds, this day is set aside to rekindle and inspire the power of creativity in all of us. Register (sign up) for the free International Dot Day Virtual Event on Monday, Sept. 16 at 10am ET. Scroll down the page and click Resources to find Connect with Other Classrooms, a free downloadable Classroom Guide, and the Dot Song. Explore the site to find many posters, badges, pictures of Dot Day in action, and more. Don't forget to follow International Dot Day on Instatgram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) to stay in touch with all of the latest updates from around the world. Sign up to become a member of the Dot Day Community and celebrate with others around the world each September! Some of the videos are on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.

tag(s): creativity (86), cross cultural understanding (173), literature (221)

Share positive moments and increase your happiness! Share by describing your happy moment, upload a picture (not required), and place it in categories you create, such as working out, family, and more. Click Share to share with others, including on Twitter or Facebook. Why use categories? If you are lacking motivation for working out, viewing your positive messages from before can definitely help! Connect with others and comment on their happy moments! Read helpful tips to center you on happiness, find mini-courses, and use daily reminders to increase your happiness. Read the many articles on your journey to a happier YOU! This site/app is easy to use with today's busy lives, and interactivity is grounded in actual science.

tag(s): emotions (49), mental health (48), psychology (65), social and emotional learning (102)

Use Word Mover to assemble found poems from word tiles. Use word banks, existing famous works, or create your own word tiles. Experiment with word placement, size, font, color options, and twelve backgrounds. Register with a username and save to your device or computer, send as email, or print. Click on the Instructions in the top menu, or find an introductory video (and plenty of lesson ideas below that) here. Word Mover will work on any device that uses a web browser and Flash. There is also an app for both iPads and Android devices.

tag(s): creative writing (124), creativity (86), DAT device agnostic tool (147), grammar (137), poetry (193), sentences (22), writing (324)

Do you need a checklist for students to use before submitting multimedia projects? This site provides a printable list (pdf) that covers several areas such as mechanics, documentation, and quality of content. Check off each item on the list, multiply the weight, and come up with the total points.

tag(s): assessment (147), multimedia (53), rubrics (37)

GoConqr (formerly ExamTime) is a crowdsourcing site for uploading and sharing class notes, flashcards, quizzes, and more. Free membership offers you access to 3 subjects and 20 public resources. Sign up using your email account to begin using GoConqr's features. Be sure to watch the video tutorials for creating resources for your personal page. Use the search feature to find and access resources already designed and shared on the site. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.

tag(s): classroom management (120), flash cards (44), homework (29), mind map (27), quizzes (90), social networking (61), test prep (69)