Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Bloomz is a tool that has several free features that teachers need to communicate with their classroom community: share photos, schedule conferences, send reminders, and more. These features are all in one place. So don't use one program to share photos, one to send reminders, one to share calendar updates, and another to schedule volunteers and conferences. Just use Bloomz and do all of the work from the same site. Once you have signed up with your email, watch the introduction video and view the demo class to see how easy Bloomz is to use. This tool works with all mobile devices and computers. Be sure to check out Bloomz' Privacy Polixy to read about their FERPA and COPPA compliance.

tag(s): calendars (37), communication (129), DAT device agnostic tool (147), images (264), parent conferences (21), parents (57), Teacher Utilities (200)

Quizizz is a free assessment tool that includes much more than quizzes. Quickly create assessments, lessons, and interactive videos using your materials or those from the site's library. Choose from the delivery of activities in live mode or the student-paced feature. Additional features, including a dyslexia font, options for reduced answer options, and translation tools support special needs and diverse learners. After signing in to your Quizizz account, choose from the options on the dashboard to explore options available in the library, add a class, or use AI to create activities. Choose the "Create" link to build assessments, lessons, reading passages, and flashcards. Assign activities directly to Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, or other Learning Management Systems. In addition, students can access Quizizz using the link or join code provided after assigning the activity.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (182), DAT device agnostic tool (147), differentiation (84), flash cards (44), game based learning (205), gamification (83), polls and surveys (49), quiz (67), quizzes (91), spanish (109)

Find an answer to your question or great question starters for any conversation here with this free tool! Featured under the Resource tab, you can access articles, books, case studies, lesson plans, Kahoot, videos, downloads, and events. The site caters to students in preschool through grade 12. When signing up for free, you gain access to more content on the site.

tag(s): animals (294), climate change (100), immigration (68), musical instruments (52), racism (79), timelines (56)

This tool is a great lesson plan resource for correlating art with other curricular areas! First, scroll down to Featured Resources, Resources by Subject Matter, or Resources by Grade Level. Curricular Areas include Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, STEAM, Social Justice, Critical Thinking, and several others. Click the resulting lessons to view a PDF that includes links to artwork images at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Common Core standards, and a detailed lesson plan.

tag(s): art history (102), artists (84)

Digital Citizenship offers a large number of resources for teaching digital citizenship for students of all ages, teachers, and parents. Scroll down the page to find categories for Online safety, Healthy online habits, Teaching and learning, and more to begin. Each section includes articles and resources for learning responsible digital citizenship. The site was created in Australia. American English speakers may notice some slight differences in spellings and pronunciations. The videos reside on sites other than Digital Citizenship. Some are on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): cyberbullying (40), digital citizenship (85), internet safety (114)

Make a collage of your images into a variety of shapes. Download the free program for Mac OS, Windows, Linux, iPhone, and iPad. Drag images into the window and choose the collage shape (heart, characters, animals, and more) or create and customize your own shape. Collages do not show the company watermark, and you can export them to Photoshop. Click Help from the top menu bar and follow the demo video for tips and tricks.

tag(s): collages (17), images (264), themes (16)

Never leave your easy chair as you journey beyond the road to faraway places using Google Maps Treks! Choose Gombe National Park, Pyramids of Giza, Angkor Wat, Colorado River, or the polar bears at Churchill. Tour Taj Mahal, Venice, Galapagos Islands, Eiffel Tower, Mt. Fuji, Everest, Great Barrier Reef, the Amazon Basin, and more. Click on the option and then click the open in Maps or Views button. On maps with multiple placemarks, click the placemark to view information about the location, and then click the title to go to the map. Choose from a variety of images taken at various locations found along the bottom. Some images are photospheres and can be manipulated using the sphere icon along the bottom right. Use the arrows in the sphere to rotate the image, giving a panoramic view of the location as you click. Use the familiar Google map tools to zoom in and out. Some Treks offer short videos that are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): cultures (181), environment (252), images (264), maps (220), photography (131), virtual field trips (130)

Explore different parts of geology through OneGeology's cartoon-like characters. Each character provides information about topics such as fossils, rocks and minerals, energy, earthquakes and more. Click on the character and go to their page. Pages include a short overview of information, links to more information, photos, and maps with additional detail.

tag(s): dinosaurs (43), earthquakes (46), energy (133), fossils (41), geology (62), maps (220), rocks (35), volcanoes (55), water (104)

YouTube EDU features some of the most popular educational videos across YouTube. Explore both elementary and secondary topics. This channel integrates content across 100 colleges and universities and offers access to campus tours, research, and lectures. Scroll through to find videos sorted into many categories such as science, mathematics, arts, languages, and much more. Subscribe to receive updates about new videos added. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): video (266)

Choosing color schemes for web pages, projects, and displays becomes easier with Color Schemer! Click on any color in the color bar at the bottom of the page to view a display of compatible colors along with hex and font color numbers for HTML use. Choose "lighten scheme" or "darken scheme" to adjust and personalize colors as desired.

tag(s): colors (63)

Quickly convert, share, and manage documents with Cometdocs. Upload any file from your computer then choose from options to convert, transfer, share, or host the file. Options or file conversions include to and from PDF, Word, Excel, image, and text formats. Create a free account to receive up to 2 GB in storage, upload files up to 150 MB, perform up to 5 conversions per week. Other options include downloading web and iOS apps for use. Login isn't necessary to do simple file conversions but is required for storage and hosting of files.
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tag(s): worksheets (70)

Find out instantly if the problem you are having opening a web site is YOUR problem or a website that is down. Is It Down Right Now (iidrn.com for short) instantly "pings" a site so you can tell whether the site is down for everyone or just for you (perhaps due to a glitch with your Internet provider). The Internet is never a sure thing, but this tool tells you whether it's just YOU having trouble. Although it sounds geeky, it's easy. Copy/paste or type the URL you are trying to reach into the box at top right, and click "Check." The results tell you how long it takes for the site to respond and how long it has been down (if it is). What a handy tool for ANYONE using the web! What this tool will not tell you is if you are mistyping the URL, so always double check.
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Looking for a quality resource about the Earth, organisms, the natural environment, and their interaction with society? This Encyclopedia is a free, quality collection of articles written by professionals, educators, and experts. The project is a collaboration, and articles are reviewed by other experts. Though written by professionals, the articles are not technical, proving useful to students and educators. It is also helpful to other professionals as well as the general public. View the authors and editors attributed to the articles. Be sure to notice the featured articles found in the center of the page. Find chapters or topics along the left side that cover every aspect of the natural and physical world as well as the many issues of human interaction with the Earth. Besides articles, find more at Encyclopedia of Earth including ebooks, lectures, and speeches.

tag(s): agriculture (51), animals (294), biodiversity (36), disasters (37), earth (184), ecology (103), ecosystems (83), energy (133), environment (252), forests (30), plants (146), pollution (53), water (104), weather (160)

Connect your students with birds, nature, and the environment with the online Audubon Adventures. Find detailed articles, quizzes, and games about hummingbirds, raptors, and sea birds. A naturalist dictionary gives you a leg up on all the environmental lingo. Find activities, assessments, and resources for teachers with accompanying standards. An optional periodical is available for a fee.

tag(s): birds (46), conservation (102), environment (252)

Common Core Conversations is your place to find Common Core resources. The Standards, Resources from state education departments, free resources in all subject areas, using tech tools for learning the standards, and a section for parent information provides a great basis for your Common Core needs. Resources include: ENL/ELL, library, careers, family and consumer sciences. Join the online community to join in the conversations.

tag(s): commoncore (73)

BotLogic is an online activity that teaches programming and code. Enter by clicking play. First go through the short tutorial. Choose the player link to begin playing without a code. Select your age to begin at the proper level. Each level offers a tutorial with directions for play. BotLogic shows the window of code as you create your line of icon instructions. As an extra challenge, try to use as few instructions as possible to earn rewards.

tag(s): animation (64), coding (85), computational thinking (40), computers (109), logic (161), problem solving (233), STEM (298)

Use Sway to create interactive presentations across all devices. Drag and drop content from your device, social networks, and the web directly onto your Sway canvas. Log in using your Microsoft account to begin or create a new account using your email and a password. Add content to your storyline using links to add text, images, and media. Change the look of your Sway using the Design tool to change the color palette, layout, and fonts. When finished, click the Share button for options to share to Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, URL, or copy the embed code. Sway will work on any device with a modern Internet browser and an Internet connection. They also have an iOS app. The introduction video and tutorials are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. Note: "New video and audio uploads will be discontinued June 10, 2024. We recommend that you embed video and audio files." There is a link to instructions after that statement.

tag(s): communication (129), digital storytelling (156), Microsoft (80), multimedia (53), slides (43), visualizations (11)

Create an interactive timeline; scroll down the page to browse through the Gallery to find lesson plans, templates, and Sutori's library of ready-made timelines. The Sutori timelines in the library are the creation of Sutori's team of historians and teachers and are Common Core Standards aligned. When creating a free timeline, it can include images, text, and collaboration. Sign up with your email and get a link to start with a walk-through tutorial to help set up classes, students, and timelines. Students will need the class code. There is a part of the site that has timelines and lessons bundled for a fee. This review is for the free part of this tool. Sutori will work on any device with a modern web browser and an Internet connection.
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tag(s): american revolution (82), civil war (139), immigration (68), photosynthesis (21), timelines (56), womens suffrage (52), world war 1 (78)