Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

KQED offers several free, self-paced courses for expanding media literacy skills. Topics for the classroom include Making to Inspire Learning, Analyzing Media Messages, Making Audio to Inspire Learning, and several more. Choose any course description to view what is included in the modules and lessons in addition to the length of time to complete. All courses include interaction with an online community to share and learn together.

tag(s): media literacy (109), professional development (385)

Explore, play, and discover at the website for Exploratorium in San Francisco. This very comprehensive site is part of their learning laboratory exploring the world through science, art, and human perception. Choose from the many different offerings including blogs, videos, and websites or explore by topic. If you teach science, you will want to bookmark this site for use all year long!

tag(s): atmosphere (22), colors (64), earth (184), electricity (61), energy (133), geology (62), light (56), magnetism (36), matter (46), motion (47), oceans (149), optical illusions (10), optics (11), sound (72), space (222), STEM (297), temperature (35), time (91), water (102)

MathGames offers a large variety of math activities and interactive questions for grades preK-8 all fully aligned to Common Core Standards. Choose a grade to start, or choose by skills. Other options allow you to choose by grade level standards. Registration isn't necessary to play individual games; however, enrollment as a teacher provides additional features. Input your class to receive detailed progress reports as well as leaderboards and student competitions.

tag(s): addition (129), charts and graphs (171), differentiation (84), division (98), equations (119), estimation (33), fractions (160), game based learning (205), geometric shapes (135), measurement (122), mental math (19), multiples (15), multiplication (122), patterns (61), pi (29), preK (271), ratios (47), statistics (121), subtraction (110), time (91)

Asana is an easy to use tool for organizing projects and tasks as a team or group. Register with your work email address to be connected as a team. If you don't have a work email, no problem, use your regular email address. Once registered, create a project and divide into tasks. Assign tasks to team members and set due dates. Follow updates and progress in real time. Free accounts offer unlimited tasks and projects for up to 10 team members.
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tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), organizational skills (88)

Class123 is a classroom management tool containing several features for organizing classrooms and communicating with students and parents. Tools include a timer, seating chart, attendance manager, random name picker, and more. Sign up for free to add your rosters and avatars. Parents and students sign up with a code provided. Once enrolled, members receive or send communications privately or within groups. Please be aware that Class123 falls under the FERPA laws for "directory information" and "educational records." Any school getting funds from the Department of Education (public schools) is required to disclose to parents and get written consent to use Class123 with their child.

tag(s): behavior (45), classroom management (120), communication (129), DAT device agnostic tool (147), parents (57), Teacher Utilities (198)

Rambox is a free download for organizing online messaging services into one convenient place. This service allows access to several services in one place and also offers the availability of the included mobile apps onto your desktop computer. Some of the services include Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, Voxer, Linkedin, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, and much more. Not finding the service you need? Add it manually. Follow links to download Rambox onto your computer, then choose from provided services to enable them. Personalize each of the setting notifications to meet your needs.

tag(s): communication (129), organizational skills (88)

Intergalactic Mobile Learning Center is a set of six mobile apps for use in elementary and middle school collaborative learning situations. The apps include a spreadsheet, word processor, KWL tool, PDF, Flipbook, and a mind mapping tool. Two or more students work together using their own devices to collaborate on any project either face to face or from a distance. In addition to the apps, the site also offers a few starter activities, called Roadmaps for download. Apps use Google logins and work best in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browsers. The demonstration videos reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): collaboration (93), mind map (27), spreadsheets (23), Teacher Utilities (198)

Build your own 3D spaces using Delightex (was CoSpaces), then view in virtual reality. Choose from the large library of items to include in your creation including characters and objects. To get a sense of how this works, visit the gallery to view creations built by CoSpace users. Register to create your account to start building your own 3D space. Be sure to visit the section for educators with many lesson plans and ideas on how to use CoSpaces in the classroom. Tutorials for CoSpaces reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): augmented reality (9), coding (85), creativity (86), DAT device agnostic tool (147), digital storytelling (154)

Does your school block YouTube and other video sites? Download and save online videos with ClipGrab. Download the app to your computer to save videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Metacafe, and more. When downloading, choose the original format for best quality or convert to MP3, WMV, MPEG4, or OGG file formats.

tag(s): conversions (37), movies (54), video (266)

iExloreSTEM is a volunteer community dedicated to bringing STEM activities and festivals to local communities in and near Iowa; the ideas and resources can apply to any state. The site includes information and resources for planning STEM festivals and creating safe activities. Scroll down the page to find several sample activities listed by discipline including architecture, engineering, and more. Other useful resources include links to STEM career information and STEM links to specific states.

tag(s): animals (295), architecture (75), engineering (129), environment (252), plants (146), STEM (297)

This visual dictionary includes over 800 math definitions with almost 800 illustrations. Over 200 of the illustrations are animated examples of math terms and concepts. Use the keyword search to find specific terms or browse by letters of the alphabet. Most definitions also include a link to related concepts and additional information.
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tag(s): dictionaries (47), vocabulary (238)

Just as the title implies, this site converts text to speech. Enter any text up to 4000 characters, select a voice and speed, name the file, then choose "Start." After processing, click play to listen or choose from download options as an mp3 or wav file.
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tag(s): listening (93), multilingual (77), pronunciation (34), text to speech (20)

Guinness World Records offers an eight-page teacher's guide including STEM-friendly activities and Common Core connections for quick and easy download to your computer. Fill out the short form with your name and email to access the guide. Based on actual world records, activities challenge students to engage in research then share their findings through maps, drawings, or writing projects.

tag(s): animals (295), area (53), measurement (122), STEM (297), weather (160)

Discover ideas for new, captivating literature to include in your classroom! Each blog entry focuses on a recently published book. In addition to a summary of the book, entries discuss several different teaching methods incorporating the book along with extensive lists of links to additional information and similar books. In addition to the blog entries, use links to find book lists by topic as well as classroom and curricular ideas. This blog is a must-read for teachers of all subject areas and is free! This blog is a sister to The School Library Journal which costs for a subscription.
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tag(s): blogs (65), book lists (167), literacy (122), literature (221), preK (271), reading lists (77)

Writer is a distraction-free writing app for online and offline typing. Register using email to begin using the typewriter. The free version allows saving an unlimited number of documents, and it automatically saves documents as you write. Customize your experience to include typing sounds or not, change background colors, fonts, and more. When finished, export as a PDF or text document. this is a great writing tool for students with distraction issues!

tag(s): digital storytelling (154), editing (93), journals (15), process writing (37), proofreading (21), Special Needs (53), Teacher Utilities (198), writing (325)

WordClouds generates custom word clouds using your text. Create using their "wizard" with step-by-step directions to add documents or text and personalize features. Another option is to use the dashboard at the top of the page to add and customize the look of your word cloud. Choose colors, type of display, and font. The most frequent words appear larger and darker. When finished, select file to save in your choice of format or share online.

tag(s): editing (93), proofreading (21), speech (69), vocabulary (238), word choice (14), word clouds (13)

Check your blogs, emails, and other written content for grammar and spelling using Grammarly. Consider it your second set of eyes for proofreading any document. Copy and paste text into Grammarly's text editor, or install the browser extension for use on Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Grammarly also includes an add-in for Windows OS for use in Microsoft Word and Outlook. Use Grammarly to flag 250 types of errors, including context-optimized synonym suggestions. Click on underlined words to view and correct errors. This review is for the free edition of Grammarly, which includes the browser extension.

tag(s): editing (93), grammar (137), Microsoft (80), proofreading (21), spelling (98), writing (325)