Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This AVID Open Access article shares 13 engaging digital icebreaker strategies that help students build relationships, develop a sense of belonging, and become more comfortable participating in class from the very beginning of the school year. Rather than focusing on one specific tool, the resource introduces a variety of technology-rich activities using platforms such as discussion boards, Padlet, Canva, Book Creator, Quizlet Live, Flippity, and ReadWriteThink. Each idea encourages communication, creativity, collaboration, and reflection while giving teachers practical ways to foster classroom community in both face-to-face and blended learning environments. Because the activities are flexible and adaptable, teachers can easily modify them for different grade levels and content areas throughout the year--not just during the first week of school.

tag(s): classroom management (136), collaboration (116), firstday (25)

Digital Learning Day is an annual February event spotlighting successful instructional practice and effective use of technology around the country. Choose the "About DLDay" option to find out more about the goals of Digital Learning Day, begin with a detailed description listing the characteristics of digital learning. View exemplary models, showcases, lesson portals, and more using links provided. Sign up as a participant for Digital Learning Day then plan your own classroom activity, provide a presentation to parents, or choose from other ideas offered on the site. Explore the Participate portion of the site to find digital tools, online resources, graphics, lesson plans and more. Sign up isn't required; however, it does allow you to receive emails with updates and learning ideas throughout the year. The digital learning content demonstrations are conducted in four areas: math, science, language arts, and civics/social studies; critical areas, such as working with ELL or special education students, will be woven into the lessons.

tag(s): digital citizenship (108), digital storytelling (166), modeling (8), preK (322)

Jennifer Findley's blog post, "Digital Mother's Day Gift," offers educators a free, Google Slides-based project for students to create personalized digital gifts for Mother's Day. The resource includes four customizable themes--such as "Top Ten Things I Love About You" and "Top Ten Greatest Moments with You"--allowing students to craft heartfelt "Top Ten" lists for their mothers or other caregivers. Alternative versions are provided to accommodate diverse family structures, ensuring inclusivity. The project is designed for easy integration with Google Classroom, and upon completion, students can share their presentations via email or view them together with their mothers.

tag(s): mothers day (29)

This interactive social bookmarking and collaboration tool does so much more than any ordinary bookmarking tool. It is a research curation tool, knowledge-sharing community, website annotation tool, and social information network all rolled into one "cloud" package. To get started, check out the About link. You will find information and videos on the uses of Diigo. Set up an account, being sure to click the FREE education edition upgrade. This is a device-agnostic tool, available on the web but also available for free as both an Android and iOS app. Use it from any device or move between several devices and still access your work. App and web versions vary slightly. At this time Diigo is experiencing issues with the "Top 10 Tags" from the menu on the left.

This tool can be used as a basic bookmarking tool, simply allowing YOU to save, sort, and access your own bookmarks from ANY computer or mobile device (once you are logged in). You have the choice whether your bookmarks are public or private. You can gradually ease into more advanced and interactive features: highlight parts of sites and save or share those annotations, add sticky notes to parts of websites, pictures, screen-shots, documents, audio, and more. Do group collaborative research. Organize your bookmarks by tags. Unlike sorting bookmarks into file folders, adding tags permits you to put multiple tags or "labels" on one site. The same site you tag for book reports could also be tagged for biographies, for example. Additional Diigo features include groups (a way to share and exchange bookmarks with a certain group of Diigo users), messaging, and search features. You can search all the public bookmarks made by others and discover other people with similar interests, already bookmarked and ready for you to mark as your own. There are many groups you can join, such as those with a specific teaching interest or hobby. See "Tools" for many helpful options, including bookmarklets to make bookmarking instant on multiple devices. Bookmarklets drag directly to the toolbars on your computer and are well worth it. It goes beyond simple bookmarking and adds options like highlight, capture, send, read later, comment, search bar and Diigo message options. You decide your own level of use and desired tools to be shown on the bar. If choosing not to install the toolbar, then there is an applet called Diigolet that will be used in its place. It is not as strong a tool as the toolbar, but will work well if the toolbar installation is not possible. Check our sample group. You can also install a widget on your blog (or class web page) that will show your bookmarks there.
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tag(s): bookmarks (34), collaboration (116), curation (25), DAT device agnostic tool (129), forum (2), organizational skills (90), social networking (56)

The Disabled Here and Now Collection is a free image library that is a "disability-led effort to provide free & inclusive stock images from our own perspective, with photos and illustrations celebrating disabled Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC)." The collection is organized into five categories: Community, LGBTQIA2S+, Life, Nature, and Social Justice. You can also search using tags such as accessibility, autism, cane, deaf, dating, illustration, self-care, visually impaired, and wheelchair user. All images from Disabled And Here are published under a Creative Commons Attribution license, making them easy to use in educational and creative projects.

tag(s): disabilities (37), diversity (55), images (268)

The National Summer Learning Association's Discover Summer website is a helpful hub connecting families and educators to summer learning opportunities and resources. It allows you to search a large database of local and virtual programs by age, interest, and location, making it easy to find camps, enrichment activities, and academic experiences for students. In addition to the program directory, the site offers free resources, including activity ideas, planning guides, and access to select online learning platforms that support reading, STEM, and creative exploration. While many of the listed summer programs vary in cost, the site itself and its curated digital resources provide valuable no-cost tools teachers can share with families to help prevent summer learning loss.

tag(s): coding (109), STEM (369), summer (50)

This standards-based lesson for upper elementary students provides guidance to help students understand different aspects of identity through diverse book characters, including Marley Dias' Black Girls Books. Students work toward answering essential questions that identify similarities and differences between themselves and others and explore how stories teach us about identity. This site provides video clips, small-group discussion directions, and graphic organizers for use during the lesson.

tag(s): bias (33), charactered (86), difficult conversations (52), identity (39), racism (80)

Travel to the world's most amazing places whenever you like with Discovery Education's Virtual Field Trips, no chaperones or payment required! Explore the Curriculum tab at the top by subject and scroll down the landing page to view Virtual Tours, where you can filter by subject area. The virtual field trips include a video along with a Teacher's Guide, links, and downloadable resources. Some videos are hosted on YouTube. Search for your topic in the search bar; you never know what you'll find. This review found Pi Day virtual field trips!

tag(s): agriculture (54), animals (276), careers (184), constitution (104), design (76), energy (139), england (49), explorers (65), holocaust (42), lincoln (62), nutrition (137), pi (26), planets (124), shakespeare (98), spain (13), STEM (369), virtual field trips (141), weather (175)

Finding and implementing engaging lessons is difficult and time-consuming; Ditch That Textbook offers practical teaching ideas that adapt quickly to all content and grade levels. There are three main areas of the site to search for resources - the Blog, Google Ideas, and Resources. Blog content includes suggestions for feedback, gamifying classrooms, and sources for finding free content. Use the keyword search to look for specific information. The Google Ideas section shares material for all things Google, including using Chromebooks. Scroll down the page to find ideas sorted by Google tools and links to videos, templates, and related blog posts. Select the Resources link to find an abundance of free templates, how-to videos, and tools for remote learning. Be sure to dig around at length; there is much more available on this site, including a handful of free online courses for educators. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): assessment (143), blogs (79), Formative Assessment (47), Google (22), professional development (319)

Find an answer to your question or great question starters for any conversation here with this free tool! Featured under the Resource tab, you can access articles, books, case studies, lesson plans, Kahoot, videos, downloads, and events. The site caters to students in preschool through grade 12. When signing up for free, you gain access to more content on the site.

tag(s): animals (276), climate change (111), immigration (85), musical instruments (60), racism (80), timelines (60)

The Do Now Activity Generator uses AI to create five-minute activities that engage students of any grade or content area. After selecting to start, enter the learning objective and grade level to generate activities. The Do Now generator provides students with questions based on a possible scenario. Make changes and find additional ideas by selecting the Request Change button and providing details on changes.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (316), assessment (143), classroom management (136), Formative Assessment (47), questioning (37), Teacher Utilities (218), teaching strategies (68), thinking skills (117)

The Teach Like a Champion March Grab-and-Go Guide Do Now Checklist is a PDF with free, easy-to-use resource for teachers. It provides simple strategies to solve classroom challenges, build a positive environment, and keep students engaged. The guide includes clear instructions, examples, and tips to help teachers set expectations, lead discussions, and motivate students. It's a quick and helpful tool for improving teaching and learning.

tag(s): classroom management (136), Teacher Utilities (218), teaching strategies (68)

Need kid-friendly online news? This safe site, written for kids, by kids, offers news from a younger point-of-view. You can create a class page where you can load a variety of articles, add a book list, a calendar, favorite sites list, add lesson plan instructions, monitor student comments, and more. DOGOnews is kid-friendly, colorful, and flexible. After all, DOGO means young or small in Swahili. You can select articles from a number of categories (Social Studies, Science, World, Current Events, etc.). There is an integrated dictionary for challenging words and maps for geographical context. Some of the articles include short video clips. Students may leave brief comments about each article (no login required). Also, typing the word "video" in the search box will bring up the Video of the Week for the past several weeks. The videos reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. In addition, find a Book and Movie section with a brief summary for the book or movie, and comments. You don't have to join to read the articles, but you do need to join to create a class page. There are many benefits to creating a class page, and it's all free! Don't want to create a class page? You can also embed articles on your current web page.

tag(s): journalism (74), news (221), reading comprehension (146), sports (87)

Looking for best practices and ways to provide evidence for current practices? Discover Doing What Works! Find research and resources in the subject areas of reading, math, science, English fluency, and how to teach effectively for teachers and administrators. Current national reports reflect recent trends in education. Information is also geared to educating parents.

tag(s): grants (16), parents (52), professional development (319)

This collection of printable documents and PowerPoint shows provides elementary teachers with easy access to materials for reinforcing frequently used sight words. Includes vocabulary lists, flash cards, and a downloadable Dolch Word Book.

tag(s): sight words (22)

The Donkey Hodie website on PBS Kids is a bright and cheerful space filled with interactive games, catchy songs, and engaging videos based on the beloved series. Created by The Fred Rogers Company, this resource supports social-emotional learning, perseverance, and creative problem-solving as students join Donkey Hodie and her friends on whimsical adventures in the land of Someplace Else. The games help children practice turn-taking and flexible thinking, and everything is kid-safe and ad-free, making it a fun and trustworthy digital companion for classroom centers, brain breaks, or at-home enrichment.

tag(s): game based learning (308), preK (322), problem solving (273), social and emotional learning (197)