Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Formilla is a live chat widget add-on for your website. Compatible with all formats, Formilla is customizable for different languages and appearance. Free accounts include access to one website, one chat agent, and up to 30 chats/emails.
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tag(s): chat (41), communication (129), multilingual (75)

Loom is a Chrome browser extension for creating quick and easy video screen recordings up to five minutes long. Download and install the extension following directions on the site. Loom allows you to record the entire desktop, just an application, or use the computer camera for recording. When finished, Loom automatically saves the recording and provides the URL for sharing through Gmail or social accounts. As of March 12, 2020 Loom is offering their PRO program free to verified teachers. This is a permanent change; moving forward Loom will continue to provide Loom Pro to verified teachers and students for free.

tag(s): video (266)

Classroomscreen is a background utility for use with interactive whiteboards or projector screens. Choose from circles at the bottom of the screen to add 13 widgets including a calming background, random name picker, text, timer, and clock. Drag items to place them on the screen as desired. You can use Classroomsceen without signing up, but will get more features, for free, if you create and account. There is also a premium version, but this review is only for the free versions.
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tag(s): classroom management (120), emotions (49), functions (52), iwb (31), multilingual (75), social and emotional learning (100), Teacher Utilities (192), time (90)

Is a paperless classroom your goal? Duck Soup is for you! Instead of making copies of papers to hand out and then grade, upload any PDF or Word document to your Duck Soup account to quickly turn it into an e-sheet gradable activity. Receive feedback in real time as students complete work. Duck Soup also offers the ability for students to "write" on documents as they would with pencil and paper. Options include setting times to submit responses, set number of retries for incorrect responses, and set values of questions. This site fully integrates with Google Drive making it a "must have" for any Google Classroom.

tag(s): classroom management (120), Google (47), Teacher Utilities (192)

Drag, upload, or paste text files to convert your text to speech instantly. Choose from many voice and language options for replay. Other options allow control over the speed of your speech replay. Use the upload icon to save to your computer.
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tag(s): chinese (45), french (75), german (49), multilingual (75), spanish (109), text to speech (20)

Build an emoji with Bitmoji. Bitmoji is an Android and Apple app, also available as a Chrome extension. Use email to create an account then follow prompts to create an emoji with your likeness; save it as a PNG to your computer, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive. The fun starts after creating your emoji! Choose from countless options to share your Bitmoji in emails, messages, as an avatar (even inserting it into your favorite games), or anywhere you communicate online.

tag(s): creativity (86), DAT device agnostic tool (147), emotions (49), faces (5), images (261)

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 (120), learning styles (18), multilingual (75), parent conferences (21), parents (57), professional development (385)

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 (69), numbers (120), operations (72), preK (269)

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 (129), tutorials (52), video (266)

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 (135), logic (161), problem solving (232), 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 (135), measurement (122)

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 (171), number lines (33), number sense (69), patterns (62), 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 (69), numbers (120), 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 (93), DAT device agnostic tool (147), digital storytelling (153), ebooks (43), literacy (121), preK (269), reading comprehension (148), writing (325)

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 (16)

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 (129), field trips (8), homework (29), parents (57), Teacher Utilities (192)