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 (77)

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 Product (top menu) or from the middle of the screen to add 5 widgets including Engage students, Control the clock, Give instruction, Save your time, and Games for learners. 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 (77), social and emotional learning (103), Teacher Utilities (198), time (91)

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 (198)

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 (77), 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 (263)

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 (77), parent conferences (21), parents (57), professional development (385)

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)

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 (154), ebooks (43), literacy (121), preK (270), reading comprehension (149), writing (324)

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 (198)

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 (129), creative writing (124), digital storytelling (154), summarizing (23)

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 (47), rubrics (37)

Use bulb as a portfolio tool to showcase your work, share ideas, and ask for feedback. Sign up with your Google, Microsoft, or Clever account or enter your email. With a free account you get all of the standard features, and can choose to publish ten portfolio pages and upload up to 2GB of content. After creating your account, click to take a tour, then in 140 characters tell members who you are, create a cover image (optional), and then choose to create a page or a collection (multiple pages). You can also create groups (with or without Google), and lots more. Click symbols at the top right of your name to get help, search, create pages or collections, and more. On the home page in the top menu bar, look at projects students and teachers have created. bulb is easy to use due to its drag and drop interface. Besides creating text, you can embed images and videos, and integrate with your Google Drive. bulb offers educators a special account that integrates your LMS, has a teacher dashboard, and dedicated manager and tech support for a very minimal fee per year.
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tag(s): multimedia (53), portfolios (23), writing (324)

Awesome ScreenShot makes screen capture and annotation effortless! Click the camera icon, and Awesome Screenshot takes a snap of the whole page on your screen or any portion. You can also upload an image from your computer, drag and drop, or paste from your clipboard to your account. Annotate the picture with lines, text, and shapes. Crop or blur out sensitive information before saving or uploading the image. Save to your account or get the URL to share via email, on your web page, etc. You can download video as WebM files and upload videos to your YouTube or Google Drive account. This tool supports images in PNG or JPG format. Awesome ScreenShot is available on the web. It works with Windows, Linux, and iOS 10.9 or later. It is also available as an extension for Mozilla FireFox and Chrome. The free account includes 20 recordings, unlimited recording length, 100 screenshots, and unlimited basic annotations.
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tag(s): blended learning (37), drawing (61), editing (93), images (263), tutorials (52), video (266)

LanguageTool is a spelling and language checker for English, French, and more than 20 other languages. Copy and paste your text to check for spelling and grammatical errors. Use the drop-down boxes to change language preferences. LanguageTool also offers browser add-ons for downloading on Chrome and Firefox, and add-ons for Google Docs, LibreOffice, and OpenOffice.

tag(s): editing (93), french (75), german (49), grammar (137), portuguese (22), spanish (109), spelling (97), writing (324)

Be Internet Awesome is a series of resources from Google to teach digital safety. Resources include Interland, reviewed here, an online interactive that offers participants the opportunity to practice skills to combat phishers, hackers, and cyber bullies. The free curriculum, available for download, is best suited for grades 3-5; however, it is easily adaptable to other grade levels. Click the Educator tab on the top menu bar and find a teacher curriculum, ready to teach Google Slides, an Internet safety poster, certificates and badges for students, plus a lot more. All features of this site align to ISTE Standards.

tag(s): cyberbullying (40), digital citizenship (85), game based learning (205), internet safety (114), OER (43)

Telegra.ph is a simple to use web publishing tool for even the most novice creators. Click and type to fill in the title, your name, and add content. After starting your writing, click on Your Story to choose the camera icon to upload images from your computer or select the brackets to paste a YouTube, Vimeo, or X (formerly Twitter) link. When finished, click on the publish button. That's it! Your work is now online. Just copy the URL to share. Add or delete content at any time using the link to edit.

tag(s): blogs (65), communication (129), digital storytelling (154), writing (324)

Add a voiceover to any YouTube video or video on your computer choosing from 15 different voices and 13 languages with Text2VoiceOver. Select the "Create VoiceOver" button to begin, then choose from options to select your video. Once the video loads, select the location for your voiceover and follow directions for adding text and choosing from voice options. Be sure to watch the tutorial video with complete instructions for using the site and generating your voiceover. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable.
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tag(s): communication (129), text to speech (20), video (266)

Do you need sound effects to spice up a presentation? SoundGator contains a large variety of free audio sound effects for personal use. Search for any sound, or use categories to browse through available files. Click any file to preview the file, then choose from options for use. Share via email, copy the embed code for use on web pages, or download to your computer. Downloading and sharing requires registration on the SoundGator site.

tag(s): sound (72), sounds (43)

This lesson for elementary students helps them to understand how reporters choose news stories, how they are shared, and will get students starting to think about asking good questions. If you are not in the position of taking a field trip to the News History Gallery at the Newseum, not to worry; they have their Today's Front Pages, reviewed here, online, too! The lesson provides standards and a PDF to download. The PDF contains all instructions, worksheets, the Passport, and a Certificate of Completion. Membership to NewseumEd is free. You need to register to become a member to have full access to this lesson.

tag(s): journalism (74), news (228), newspapers (93)