Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Microsoft's OneNote, a downloadable app, keeps all notes, emails, drawings, photographs, and more organized into folders on a page in different sections of a "notebook." Drag copies of files or documents from your computer into OneNote. Share and collaborate with others. Access your OneNote account by signing in to any computer or device.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), Microsoft (80), organizational skills (88), Storage (6)

Create standards-based lessons and rubrics in minutes with ThemeSpark. Incorporate your ready-made materials or use global resources available on the site. The lesson builder includes the ability to add a hook, information to learn, practice, and application activity. When finished, download the lesson in an easy to use format. Be sure to watch the QuickStart Lesson Builder video and read through the FAQ section on the site for full information about creating lessons and using ThemeSpark. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): assessment (147), professional development (385), rubrics (37), Teacher Utilities (198)

Blog About is a blog title generator and a nifty tool to generate writing ideas with specific content. Click the refresh button to view different writing topics or add your own to the provided blank. Then choose the "Next" button to narrow your topic to specific points. Use the refresh button (heart) to view different ideas for focusing on the subject. Be sure to check out the "writer's block?" link on the right side of the page to access a page to doodle your thoughts and download when finished. Don't be thrown off by the "business" prompts; keep clicking and you'll get to prompts about challenges, opinions, improvement, and plenty more.

tag(s): blogs (65), creative writing (124), persuasive writing (58), writing (325), writing prompts (61)

Create a personalized sign using the many templates offered on the Sign Generator. Options include personalized cakes, cartoon characters, movie marquees, and much more. Click the thumbnail of the design you want, add your text into the provided lines, and click the link to finish. Your personalized sign appears on a popup image ready to save onto your computer.
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tag(s): graphic design (49), images (263), photography (130), posters (43)

eLearning Infographics offers an extensive selection of infographics for educational use. Choose from a variety of topics such as Playing to Learn and The Evolution of Technology in Schools. Each infographic displays a category. Click that link to view others with similar topics. Click on the infographic link to see the full image along with links for sharing on social networks and email, or copy and paste the embed code to embed directly onto your website.
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tag(s): digital storytelling (154), infographics (56), professional development (385)

Create a world language learning plan with the Vocabulary Trainer. Use dropdown boxes to select your native language and a language to learn or practice. Other options include different course levels and options such as business vocabulary. Tools in the program allow you to set up a personalized learning plan, including time set aside for learning and days of the week to practice.

tag(s): arabic (13), chinese (45), french (75), german (49), greek (47), hebrew (16), italian (31), japanese (47), multilingual (77), spanish (109)

Helping Writers Become Authors is an award-winning blog by an internationally published author focusing on tips and suggestions for improving writing. The author recommends starting with the three core series contained within the blog: The Secrets of Story Structure, How to Structure Scenes in Your Story, and How to Write Character Arcs. Be sure also to check out the Story Structure Database containing detailed looks at story structure in popular books and movies. Other sections worth a look include Writing Inspiration and Most Common Writing Mistakes.
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tag(s): characterization (19), creative writing (124), descriptive writing (42), expository writing (31), letter writing (19), paragraph writing (15), persuasive writing (58), process writing (37), writers workshop (31)

Create beautiful visual designs with Adobe Creative Cloud Express (was Adobe Spark). First, follow prompts for creating an account, then select a creation you will work on; those include flyers, banners, posters, business cards, social graphics, advertisements, YouTube thumbnails, and a few others. The canvas where you will create has a right and left menu. Choose a template, text, photos, shapes, backgrounds, and design assets from the left menu. Next, you can select colors, animation, background, resize, or design from the right menu. When complete, share using email or with the social media links provided, or you can download.

tag(s): blogs (65), communication (129), creative writing (124), design (79), digital storytelling (154), microblogging (14), posters (43)

Learn something new each day with Highbrow's unique course delivery system. Sign up for a course, then receive an email each day with a five to ten-minute lesson. Each course is completed in ten days making learning quick and easy! Choose from many different course options in subjects such as art, literature, languages, history, tech and coding, photography, and several others. Highbrow only allows one course per user at a time to encourage complete focus on each topic. If you don't see what you like, choose the Create Course option and create your own learning experience using your expertise!

tag(s): 20th century (62), architecture (75), authors (107), business (52), differentiation (84), endangered species (27), equations (119), financial literacy (93), greeks (46), human body (93), inventors and inventions (80), logic (161), medicine (57), mental math (19), numbers (120), photography (130), poetry (193), psychology (65), short stories (18), surrealism (2), weather (160), women (151)

The Blended Learning Implementation Guide is an interactive resource for planning, implementing, and evaluating blended learning in the classroom. The guide takes you through the basics of blended learning with infographics, links to videos, and specific instructions for blended learning instructors. Other topics include suggestions on purchasing devices for use, questions to consider when lecturing, and resources for funding. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. Though some of the videos have a 404 message and some links don't work, the PDF itself still has a lot of information.

tag(s): professional development (385)

Quickly create and share quizzes using Go To Quiz. Begin by choosing from three types of quizzes to offer, each includes an explanation and examples of best use. Follow the steps to name your quiz, add questions and responses, and share your quiz. Go To Quiz will work on any device with a modern browser and an Internet connection.
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tag(s): assessment (147), quiz (67), quizzes (90)

Flock is a free chat and collaboration service. Start by signing up for a free account and begin chatting. Communicate one on one or create a group using text or video conference. Add attachments, polls, a code snippet, or an emoticon. Create a to-do list for the group or project. With the free account, chat records are kept for 30 days. Be mindful of the laws and regulations. Use the web version or download the software.

tag(s): chat (41), communication (129), microblogging (14), polls and surveys (49), video (266)

Voxer is a combination of instant voice and text messages. You can also text images and your location. Voxer will work with your headset and Bluetooth so you can be hands-free. It is available on the web and all mobile devices. Hear messages live, or listen later. Broadcast messages to an individual or group, or listen and respond to chats in Walkie-Talkie mode and not even be in the app. Voxer allows talk and text across countries, wireless carriers, or data networks at no additional charge. Registration with email is required.
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tag(s): chat (41), communication (129), DAT device agnostic tool (147), listening (93), microblogging (14), multilingual (77), social media (48), speaking (26), speech (69)

Promptuarium is the creator's "little stockroom of goodies" for writers. Find resources in categories of writing, dialogue, picture prompts, and a character bank. Narrow down selections by scrolling down the page and using the Categories links on the right to find ideas for different genres such as fantasy and science fiction.

tag(s): creative writing (124), descriptive writing (42), writers workshop (31), writing prompts (61)

Organize your brain and your life with Workflowy. This tool allows you to take notes, make lists and outlines, and use hashtags to create groups of items. Import lists from other documents directly into Workflowy. Share lists with others using the share button, use options to allow them to edit if desired. Quickly create an account using email and a password to begin. Once you create an account, be sure to take advantage of the many tutorial videos demonstrating Workflowy's features. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable; be sure to look at alternatives for sharing the videos on classroom computers.

tag(s): calendars (37), organizational skills (88)

Use this clever and simple tool to create conversations (or presentations) that look like text messages. Use the icons on the bottom to get started. Email is not required. Clicking either speech bubble will begin the text message, and click the other one to reply. Save the presentation with a password. Share via embed or QR code or URL.

tag(s): book reports (28), creative writing (124), digital storytelling (154), writing (325)

Genius allows you to "Annotate the World" of music. View lyrics and crowdsourced knowledge for thousands of songs and musicians. In addition to music, using the search bar, Genius also offers annotations for literature, news, sports, TV shows, and movies. Search any section to find specific content or browse through the latest offerings. Install the Chrome extension to use Genius's Web Annotator and add your own notes to any web page or put genius.it in front of any URL to annotate and read other user's notes on any web page. If your district blocks YouTube, some portions may not be viewable. Important: Content is not moderated, be sure to PREVIEW and check for inappropriate content before using with students.

tag(s): bookmarks (43), citations (33), curation (32), note taking (36)

Take a stand against bullying with practical ideas and information from Bystander Revolution. Choose the All Videos link to filter solutions from different perspectives, or filter by specific problems or solutions. Most videos run less than two minutes in length. The presenters include well-known celebrities as well as "typical" students. Sign up for the weekly newsletter that includes a simple transformative task to complete each week along with other helpful tips and videos. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): bullying (48)

Join the Global Virtual Classroom (GVC) and bring students from other regions and countries into your classroom - virtually! Global Virtual Classroom has been around for a long time and has learned what is needed to create global citizens. They've done everything for you from Lessons, Resources, a Mini Web Design Contest (completed with another class and on a world issue), and a Web Design Contest completed with just your class), to directions for becoming part of the community, providing a list of other educators who would like to participate, and a Clubhouse for your students. Be sure to register by mid September each year!

tag(s): collaboration (93), communication (129), competitions (10), cross cultural understanding (173), cultures (180), wikis (14)

Publish ebooks in any language with Ourboox. Keep track of how many readers you have and read their comments. Sign up with email to get a free account, and get started right away. Click Create, add a title, choose the style of your book (Square Book - a picture book with up to 15 lines of text, or a text-oriented book, more like a long story or novel). Choosing a Square Book enables the ability to have an image (JPEG, PNG). You can also upload animated GIFs or embed a YouTube Video. Ourboox will step you through the process of getting your book online and publishing it. The pages of the book will flip, and the tool has an accommodation for languages that read from right to left. It can take up to 24 hours for new books to process. Before starting on your own book, you may want to look at others' books to get ideas about the format.

tag(s): digital storytelling (154), ebooks (43), writing (325)