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Ready. Set. Let's Go!

Welcome back! Are you ready for a new school year? This week we feature tech tools to help you set-up your classroom, get to know your students, and communicate with families.

Grades 1-12

Thrively

Discover your students' strengths and interests, based on 23 factors. Teachers receive a profile that is personal, positive, and celebrates each student's strengths and unique talents. Personalize learning with 120,000+ activities and hundreds of videos.

Grades K-12

21 Bad Ways to Start Your School Year

Navigate your way through this quick slide show (and reminders) of what behaviors and choices to avoid. This is a great list to share with staff at inservice trainings before the school year begins. Get off to a great start by making positive choices.

Grades K-12

ClassClimate

Use emojis to gauge the mood in your class. With two ways to collect feedback--share your class code and ask students to register or send a "Speed Read" link to all students--this site collects data for up to a month!

Back to School Necessities

Discover three TeachersFirst exclusives to prepare you for the new school year. Find the perfect ice-breakers and read-alouds for the first days and weeks of school, plus a list of resources for substitutes (should you need to prepare).

Grades K-12

First Day of School Icebreakers

Establishing rapport with a new group of students is key to knowing how to help them learn. This list of reviewed resources offers many suggestions for all grade levels to "break the ice." These activities are perfect for the first day or week of school.

Grades K-6

Back to School Read-alouds

Start building a sense community in your classroom right away! This selection of back to school, read-aloud books are mostly realistic fiction and provide opportunities for class discussions that will help students make connections.

Grades K-12

Substitutes - Ideas and Resources

The collection, for both substitutes and teachers planning for a substitute, provides tips and suggestions to make subbing a positive learning experience for all. Explore the many resources, plus time-fillers for when plans don't work quite "as planned."

Organize Your Space

Plan your room design, complete your seating chart, and more with this trio of tech tools.

Grades K-6

Happy Class

Create charts in minutes based on your students' needs and relationships. Simply type or paste your class roster into the website and configure the virtual desks to look like your physical classroom. Add, edit, or delete students and move desks.

Grades K-12

Mega Seating Plan

Set up the layout of your classroom and import student data from a spreadsheet. Choose to create a random seating arrangement or boy/girl setup. Drag and drop students to adjust as you like. Add details such as reading levels, who to separate, and more.

Grades K-12

Class Setup Tool

Drag and drop items such as windows, doors, desks, etc. Rotate or resize items for proper fit. After all furniture is in place, add student names on the seating chart then drag and drop into place. When finished, be sure to print. Saving is not an option.

This Week at TeachersFirst

Join us on Tuesday for our final OK2Ask® virtual workshop of Summer 2018 and again on Thursday for a special Back to School Twitter chat! Plus, please take a moment to answer our weekly poll and share how you use technology to ease the transition back to school.