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TF Update - December 11, 2016
Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers®
For Your Classroom
December evokes thoughts of family, friends, candy canes, cookies, snow, and a general sense of “busy.” Whatever holidays you celebrate, we hope you find time to unwind, relax, and enjoy your family and friends. December is also known as the gift-giving season. Whether you are looking for resources about Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa, be sure to explore our curated lists on TeachersFirst. This Update will also include some additional hidden “gifts” for the season. Our Featured Sites include some of the newest additions to TeachersFirst, our “gift” to you. Our biggest gift to you is coming in 2017. The TeachersFirst Update is ready to evolve. Get ready for a fresher, more practical, and most innovate Update ever created by TeachersFirst. Are you excited yet?
Ready or Not - Snow Days are Coming!
Depending on where you live, you may have already seen some of the white stuff. Did you know that TeachersFirst has a special curated collection of resources for your students to explore on a Snow Day! Share this list of resources on your class website for students to explore (and play) at home, when they take a break from the snow.
Professional Development
PD on Your Time - OK2Ask
Our OK2Ask sessions are on a December break, but will be back in full swing in January. Registration will open soon for Winter 2017 sessions. However, if you didn’t get a chance to view sessions from the Fall, our archived sessions are FREE to view anytime. Our Fall topics included Digital Storytelling, Chrome Features and Extensions for Accessibility, Tech Integration Made Easy with Animoto, Coding for Kids, and others. Our archives are free to view. However, we do not offer PD certificates for viewing archived sessions.
Final Tweet Time of 2016
Join us for our final 2016 Twitter Chat (#OK2Ask) THIS Thursday December 15st Google Extensions. Our Twitter chats are offered at 8pm Eastern. New Twitter Chats will start back up in January 2017!
TeachersFirst Exclusives
Christmas - Wrapped up in some Literature and History
If you study the Victorian Era or Charles Dickens, you will love our collection of Victorian Christmas Resources to make your history lesson come to life! Learn how to make a Victorian Cornucopia! Plan a truly Victorian experience with ideas from these resources.
Season of Giving... Tree
TeachersFirst’s Giving Tree lesson is an all time favorite among many. Students in all grades can relate and respond to the message of Shel Silverstein’s classic. What would your students like to give/receive? What would you like to give/receive? Plant the seeds of generosity within your class with The Giving Tree.
Favorite Feature?
This week’s Teacher Poll asks: What is your favorite feature of the TeachersFirst Update? Place your vote on the teacher poll on the TeachersFirst home page.
TeachersFirst Featured Sites
Explore this week’s Featured Sites:
- Art Attack
- Libib
- Glean: Digital Literacy
- Google Play Music: Listen Now
- Beamium
- Tolks
- And more
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are reading this January 1st, or later, the link above will take you to the Featured Sites for the current week. Find the archived December 11th Features here, and don’t miss our many other recent additions from the link at the bottom of the Featured Sites page.
We hope that you take some time to rest and rejuvenate during this busy season. We look forward to seeing you in 2017!
Melissa Henning
Educational Content Manager
TeachersFirst/Source For Learning