Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session is from May 2020. You can register and immediately view the archive of the session.

Creating and using timelines is a great instructional strategy that can scaffold student comprehension in all subjects. From the introduction of a concept to assessment, timelines can help empower learners and inform your instruction. Explore, compare, and contrast three different online timeline creators. Participants will learn about the features of these three free tools and then explore ways to use them in the classroom. As a result of this session, teachers will: 1. Understand various ways that timelines can be used in the classroom; 2. Explore 3 timeline tools to use in the classroom; and 3. Plan for the use of one of the three tools in your educational setting This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

tag(s): professional development (385), timelines (56)

TeachersFirst Reading Treks create a virtual field trip of resources about a piece of literature or text using the My Maps feature of Google Maps. This Reading Trek provides inspiration and suggestions for using the trade book Whirligig. Brent Bishop, seventeen-years-old, constructs whirligigs in the four corners of the United States as penance and redemption after he accidentally kills another person in a car crash while trying to commit suicide. Use our robust Instructional Guide with students in grades 7-10. Content correlates to National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, ISTE Student Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards. Find the entire selection of Reading Treks here.

tag(s): character education (79), drugs and alcohol (28), virtual field trips (128)

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session is from April 2020. You can register and immediately view the archive of the session.

Simple, powerful, and free -- take organizing, note-taking, and collaborating to new heights with Google Keep. Learn how to maximize student productivity with great features for capturing ideas, collaborating on projects, curating resources, receiving reminders, and taking notes. See how easy it is to incorporate text, images, audio, and drawings on virtual color-coded sticky notes and checklists. "Keep" your classroom workflow smooth and on task with Google Keep. As a result of this session, teachers will: 1. Learn the basics of using Google Keep for organization; 2. Explore strategies to enhance notetaking and resource curation; and 3. Plan for the use of Google Keep in your classroom for student productivity. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

tag(s): Formative Assessment (74), Google (47), organizational skills (88), professional development (385)

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session is from April 2020. You can register and immediately view the archive of the session.

Join us for this light-hearted session where you take the role of a student working on a real-world connection project. Learn to use Google search tools like a Ninja as you prepare and submit your project. The tips and tricks presented in this session will help empower your students as they use research strategies to locate information and resources for projects and other creative work. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels. As a result of this session, teachers will: 1. Understand how effective search strategies assist with student research; 2. Plan for the introduction of search strategies in the classroom; and 3. Create a project exemplar to share with students. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

tag(s): digital citizenship (85), Google (47), media literacy (109), professional development (385), Research (87), search strategies (22)

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session is from April 2020. You can register and immediately view the archive of the session.

Integrating visual and written content can increase the impact of the writing that your students do. As students learn to use imagery to illustrate critical points in an argument or visualize the action in a storyline, they become better communicators. Join this session and help your students develop the ability to communicate clearly and creatively. Model and nurture creative expression while providing a new way for your students to reflect on what they have learned. As a result of this session, teachers will: 1. Understand the components of a visual essay; 2. Explore a tech tool that can be used to create visual essays; and 3. Create a visual essay exemplar to share with their students. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

tag(s): essays (21), professional development (385), visualizations (11)

TeachersFirst Reading Treks create a virtual field trip of resources about a piece of literature or text using the My Maps feature of Google Maps. This Reading Trek provides inspiration and suggestions for using the trade book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Learn through two different timelines (the 1940s and 1980s) the story about the friendship of a Chinese American 12-year-old boy and a Japanese American girl. It is set in the city of Seattle and its cultural, musical, political, and social conflicts at the height of the WWII. The plot focuses on the painful separation of friends during the confining of Japanese Americans to internment camps. Use our robust Instructional Guide with students in grades 9-12. Content correlates to Common Core Standards and ISTE Student Standards. Find the entire selection of Reading Treks here.

tag(s): 1940s (14), 1980s (7), cross cultural understanding (173), virtual field trips (128), world war 2 (161)

Sometimes educators need short notice ideas for student projects that try to fill in instructional gaps with limited guidance or teacher support. This collection shares ideas and resources to get you started with student projects, especially in remote learning situations. Browse through to find a variety of tools for students to "Show What You Know" for web-based formative assessment.

tag(s): assessment (147), Formative Assessment (74), professional development (385)

TeachersFirst Reading Treks create a virtual field trip of resources about a piece of literature or text using the My Maps feature of Google Maps. This Reading Trek provides inspiration and suggestions for using the trade book, The 57 Bus. Use our robust Instructional Guide with students in grades 7-12. Content correlates to Common Core Standards, ISTE Student Standards, and National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. Find the entire selection of Reading Treks here.

tag(s): courts (20), emotions (49), racism (79), social and emotional learning (102)

TeachersFirst Reading Treks create a virtual field trip of resources about a piece of literature or text using the My Maps feature of Google Maps. This Reading Trek provides inspiration and suggestions for using the trade book Buffalo Dance The Journey of York. Get to know York, the only enslaved man on the Lewis and Clark expedition, through these poems that provide insight into how and what York may have felt and thought. Use our robust Instructional Guide with students in grades 10-12. Content correlates to Common Core Standards, ISTE Student Standards, and National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. Find the entire selection of Reading Treks here.

tag(s): 1800s (75), commoncore (73), explorers (64), lewis and clark (14), poetry (193), westward expansion (39)