Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

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)

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)

The Classroom Freebies Resource Library contains thousands of free materials for grades K-8. Many different kinds of resources are included such as task cards, classroom management charts, coloring sheets, worksheets, and posters. Use the search bar to find specific content or browse using links to grade level content and topics such as the End of the Year and Common Core Freebies. Follow links for directions about downloading materials.

tag(s): back to school (55), book reports (28), classroom management (120), commoncore (73), posters (43), preK (270), substitutes (25), worksheets (69)

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)

Got an Inkling contains many prompts for creative writing. Browse through the site for ideas or choose the link to Prompt Categories to find story inspiration and starters, as well as character and dialogue prompts.

tag(s): creative writing (124), descriptive writing (42), expository writing (31), paragraph writing (15), persuasive writing (58), process writing (37), writers workshop (31)

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)

Iditarod Teacher on the Trail includes posts for the current Teacher on the Trail detailing their journey from selection through participation in the Iditarod. Posts include classroom lessons correlated to Common Core Standards about the Iditarod in all subject areas. Choose links to particular parts of the curriculum to view videos, classroom images, download printables, and complete lessons. This site focuses on each new teacher of the year; be sure to see archives and information from previous years' teachers.

tag(s): alaska (21), iditarod (4)

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)

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 (324)

Create an intricate paper city that will stand up on its own with the free printables on this site. Choose from several different options including Paris, vehicles, Sydney, dinosaurs, a circus, Aladdin's city, and more. Click on the link to any of the paper creations and follow directions to download, color, and create.
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tag(s): australia (28), cities (17), communities (35), dinosaurs (43), france (41), preK (270), transportation (30)

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 (324)

Add text to any image or photo, using a web browser or smartphone, and share with no registration. Choose images from one of seven categories or upload your own. Change the color of the text or elect to add more text. Share using X (formerly Twitter), Google+ (available with G Suite), or the URL given. At the time of this review, all images in the Gallery were appropriate for the classroom. However, we recommend to preview the images before you share with younger students.
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tag(s): creativity (86), DAT device agnostic tool (147), digital storytelling (154), editing (93), images (263)

We all know that having an audience for our writing makes us better writers. Comments4Kids provides that audience. There are four rules for commenting on others' blogs: be relevant, be positive, comment only when you have something to say, and always use good conventions (grammar, spelling, punctuation). Explore 5 Smart Ways to get Comments4Kids on your blog, read the Rule of Return, and learn how one teacher manages his students' comments on others' blogs. Back on the main page, click the link to see how another teacher manages blogs and also testimonials from several different professionals about why creating an audience for writing is necessary. Then, start by adding your class blog or your blog to the registration area. Consider Tweeting the blog address under the comments4kids hashtag when you want your students to have a commenting audience. On X (formerly Twitter), type in #comments4kids, to see the current activity.

tag(s): blogs (65), writing (324)

Call Me Ishmael is a charming site that celebrates books and life through a very simple concept. Call the phone number on the site and leave a voicemail about a book you love. Browse through the latest entries by clicking Calls. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. There is a PAID feature for a Yellow Pages type book for some of the favorite calls and other features. This review is for the FREE portion of the site which you will find by clicking Calls. If you plan to allow students to call Ishmael, be certain to obtain parent consent and check with your school's policy to ensure this type of communication is permitted, even with parental permission.
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tag(s): book lists (167), family (51), literature (221)

Typewrite.io is a collaborative writing tool that is in real-time so multiple editors can be working on the same document at the same time. It is distraction free, and you can save versions and revert to previous versions. When viewing versions, changes will be highlighted. Sign up using email and get started right away. There is no waiting for approval. Share documents via email to have them edited.

tag(s): editing (93), proofreading (21), writing (324)

Use this delightful tool to flip through 20 Flickr pictures. Every image is on the screen for only 20 seconds. Advanced options allow for changing the time and the number of images. See if you can build a story from the pictures with this entertaining tool.

tag(s): acting (19), images (263), speaking (26), speeches (23)

Create an online bulletin board (much like Padlet, reviewed here, or Lino, reviewed here) for brainstorming and VOTING on any topic. The voting is what makes this tool different. Create an account. There is no waiting for email approval. Add a board, title, select how many votes the participants will have (up to 10), and start adding posts with text, images, and video. Add images and video via URL or upload from your computer. When participants join, they give their name. Participants can add posts. Names of participants using the board appear below the chat box. Participants name's appear when they make a comment in the chat. However, comments on posts don't have the participant name. Once the board is complete, the creator can finalize the board so no new ideas can be posted, but the voting feature is still open. At the time of this review, a free account allows you to have one fully featured board. If you wish to create another board, you will need to delete your existing board.

tag(s): bulletin boards (15), gamification (83), images (263)