Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

The purpose of this blog and the accompanying podcast and videos is to support "a vibrant, encouraging, stimulating community of teachers, supporting each other toward excellence." General education, resource, and ESL/ELL teachers will find plenty of subjects of interest. Choose from broad topics including instruction, classroom management, or technology for ideas in honing your craft through topics of interest to any teacher. Dig deeper to find leadership ideas and hot topics. Check further down the page to browse and find information on specific subjects and grade levels.

tag(s): classroom management (119), learning styles (18), multilingual (78), parent conferences (21), parents (56), professional development (390)

Illuminations offers this library of interactives specifically for teaching the Numbers and Operations strand in 6th through 8th grade. The variety of activities provides opportunities for learning content through many different methods including problem solving, exploration of rational numbers and proportions, and includes Dynamic Paper (create math manipulatives, such as pentagonal pyramid, a set of pattern blocks, a number line, and so on; all these in the size and shape you need). All interactives include complete instructions, an exploration, and correlation to standards.

tag(s): area (53), estimation (33), factors (29), multiplication (122), number sense (68), numbers (121), operations (72), order of operations (29), perimeter (20), problem solving (233), ratios (47), statistics (121), time (91), venn diagrams (15), volume (33)

Illuminations offers this comprehensive library of interactives specifically for teaching the PreK through 2nd Grade Numbers and Operations strand. Scroll through to choose from interactives like Coin Box, Concentration, Five and Ten Frames, an electronic Abacus (requires Java), and several others. You'll also find Dynamic Paper (create math manipulatives, such as pentagonal pyramid, a set of pattern blocks, a number line, and so on; all these in the size and shape you need). All interactives include complete instructions, an exploration, and correlation to standards.

tag(s): number lines (33), number sense (68), numbers (121), operations (72), preK (284)

Citation Generator creates citations for books, movies, and websites in several different formats. Choose the type of source, then select the citation type from four options, and enter the title or URL. Submit to receive results, then copy and paste into any document. The Citation Generator also includes a button to add to your browser. Drag the button to the bookmarks bar to receive one-click citations from any URL you visit.

tag(s): citations (33), copyright (43), plagiarism (34)

Capture your entire screen, or just a part of it with this easy to use screen recorder that includes audio. Download and install the launcher required for your operating system then follow prompts to set up your recording. Save in several popular video formats or directly upload your recording to YouTube, Dropbox, or Google Drive.

tag(s): communication (130), tutorials (52), video (267)

This portion of the Illuminations site contains over thirty geometry interactives and games for students in grades 9-12. These resources provide activities through problem-solving and open-ended questions. All interactives include complete instructions, an exploration, and correlation to standards.

tag(s): area (53), flips (6), geometric shapes (134), logic (160), pi (28), probability (99), problem solving (233), pythagorean theorem (19), ratios (47), turns (3), volume (33)

This portion of Illuminations contains severalinteractives and activities for teaching geometry based on standards for 3rd through 5th grade. These resources provide activities through problem-solving and open-ended questions. All interactives include complete instructions, an exploration, and correlation to standards.

tag(s): angles (52), area (53), flips (6), geometric shapes (134), logic (160), problem solving (233), turns (3), venn diagrams (15)

Illuminations offers a selection of interactives and activities for teaching geometry to PreK-2nd grade students. Scroll through to choose from interactives like Geometric Solids, Patch Tool, Concentration, and others. You'll also find Dynamic Paper (create math manipulatives, such as pentagonal pyramid, a set of pattern blocks, a number line, and so on; all these in the size and shape you need). All interactives include complete instructions, an exploration, and correlation to standards.

tag(s): angles (52), geometric shapes (134), measurement (123)

This section of the Illuminations site contains thirty-plus geometry interactives and activities for students in grades 6-8. Scroll through to choose from interactives like Tessellation Creator, Cube Nets, and others. You'll also find Dynamic Paper (create math manipulatives, such as pentagonal pyramid, a set of pattern blocks, a number line, and so on; all these in the size and shape you need). All interactives include complete instructions, an exploration, and correlation to standards.

tag(s): angles (52), equations (119), functions (52), geometric shapes (134), logic (160), number lines (33), patterns (61), problem solving (233)

Discover the many ready-to-go, free interactives and activities in this collection of teaching resources from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics found on this site. Choose from Pan Balance (an interactive tool to practice arithmetic and algebraic skills, and investigate the important concept of equivalence), Deep Sea Duel (strategy game to practice number sums), and several others. You'll also find Dynamic Paper (create math manipulatives, such as pentagonal pyramid, a set of pattern blocks, a number line, and so on; all these in the size and shape you need). All interactives include complete instructions, an exploration, and correlation to standards.

tag(s): charts and graphs (172), number lines (33), number sense (68), patterns (61), sorting (4)

Illuminations offers twenty-plus interactives and activities specifically for teaching the Grades 3-5 Numbers and Operations strand. This collection of interactives includes Factorize, Deep Sea Duel, Concentration, Fraction activities, and several others. You'll also find Dynamic Paper (create math manipulatives, such as pentagonal pyramid, a set of pattern blocks, a number line, and so on; all these in the size and shape you need). The large variety of activities provides opportunities for learning content through many different methods including fact families, balancing equations, graphing, and more. You'll also find Dynamic Paper (create math manipulatives, such as pentagonal pyramid, a set of pattern blocks, a number line, and so on; all these in the size and shape you need). All interactives include complete instructions, an exploration, and correlation to standards.

tag(s): number lines (33), number sense (68), numbers (121), operations (72)

Create beautiful multimedia digital books with Book Creator. Scroll down the landing page to the bottom menu, and click the "Help With Getting Started" title. Note: This points out how you need to change to the "teacher sign in" (the default is for students). This is a wonderful tool with many features. Reading the short Getting Started Overview first and watching the beginning videos would be best. Then, you can go to the Resources tab from the top menu, where each grade level has a video, and you'll find example books created by students. Under Resources, you can also search by subject to find suggested ideas and books designed for a specific subject. Next, click Resources from the top menu to find the "Teach your first lesson toolkit" with lesson plans, remixable student templates for different age ranges, and a teacher guide. You can also choose Remixable Books to get you and your class started. When finished, publish and share your book using the site's web-based reader for access on any device. Once you have mastered the basics, click on Features to see the magic of using the pen and discover all the features of the graphic organizers, comics, and more. By clicking the "more" you will can embed documents on your page(s). These documents can be narrated and interactive! The free plan offers one library with up to 40 books storage. Book Creator presents a variety of levels for technology use depending on teacher requirements for the project or even student ability; it allows for adding narration, videos, text, using your webcam, and adding links to help explain the artwork. When creating your book, click on the big + in the upper right corner to add text, audio, images, your camera, and the pen; you will also see The lowercase "i" (for inspector), which offers colors, comics, paper type, and more. There are other apps, but you must have a premium account. You can use Book Creator on iPads, Macs, Android devices, PCs, and on these browsers: Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Chrome. Teachers need to provide an email to create an account. However, students do not need emails to make their books. Once ready, follow the site's prompts to add video, text, images, audio, and more to your book.
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tag(s): collaboration (94), DAT device agnostic tool (146), digital storytelling (155), ebooks (45), literacy (123), preK (284), reading comprehension (150), writing (326)

Magic Gopher is an entertaining math riddle game. Follow the instructions to select a two-digit number, add the digits then subtract that answer from the original number. Magic Gopher "guesses" the symbol located next to that final number.

tag(s): addition (129), riddles (15)

Casa Notes is your time-saving friend when sending notes home for typical school reasons such as field trips, conferences, and student performance. This site includes 12 templates for you to customize some of the content, the color scheme, and add an image. Choose preview to view any template and see what information can be changed; click the circle button, and the red continue button at the bottom of the list to begin customizing your letter. Follow each step to change colors and add information. When complete, print from your browser.

tag(s): communication (130), field trips (8), homework (29), parents (56), Teacher Utilities (203)

FutureSmart is an interactive personal finance course designed for students in grades 6-8. The three and a half hour course correlates to National Standards and covers a variety of topics including budgeting, goal-setting, and planning for the future. Enroll using your school email address to register students and access your dashboard that includes student reports and supplemental materials. Be sure to download the information sheet that includes additional details about all available features.

tag(s): financial literacy (95), game based learning (206), money (114)

ToonyTool has a simple canvas to quickly create a single-frame comic, a cartoon strip, or an animation. With ToonyTool, you can add a dash of humor to get the message across. Start your canvas and choose a single comic, a comic strip, or a video from the tab in the upper left corner. Choose one of their background pictures, or upload one of your own. Create a title or type part of your message in the Meme text bar. Choose a character or two, add a prop, and select speech bubbles to type a message. Everything is easy to move around by just dragging and dropping. At the bottom of the page, find tools to share and edit your comic. Share via print, download, email, or online. There is no registration required.

tag(s): comics and cartoons (55), communication (130), creative writing (125), digital storytelling (155), summarizing (22)

JoeZoo is an assessment tool for creating rubrics, providing feedback, and guiding students to use 21st Century Skills. JoeZoo works with many LMS platforms (G Suite, among others). The feedback tool provides many resources including highlighting text, pre-loaded feedback, and pie charts demonstrating feedback from different categories. Create and edit customized rubrics using the rubric creator. Be sure to watch the tutorial videos for full information on using JoeZoo in your classroom.

tag(s): Google (48), rubrics (36)