Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Thousands of Teacher-reviewed Resources!

Championing Creativity!

With International Dot Day less than a week away, this week's edition of our TeachersFirst Update spotlights creativity in the classroom! Infuse more creativity and inspiration into your 4Cs-related lesson plans with our Twitter chat archive. And with so much creative energy in the air, it's the perfect time to get familiar with Google Doodles!

Grades K-12

International Dot Day

Celebrate creativity in your classroom! Formed in response to The Dot written by Peter H. Reynolds, International Dot Day is set aside to rekindle and inspire the power of creativity in all. Register to view the Educators Handbook full of ideas.

Grades K-12

Twitter Chat: Technology and the 4Cs

Our Twitter chat archive focused on technology and the 4Cs shares resources and suggestions specifically for developing and cultivating creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication in your students (and yourself).

Grades 3-12

Google Doodles

Have you ever explored Google Doodles, the fun and creative daily changes to the Google logo? View the archives to learn about the details behind each doodle. Challenge students to create their own Doodles (there is a yearly contest).

Inspire Creative Minds

Find ideas for your classroom, including simple activities and entire units to encourage creativity within your students. Additional tech integration ideas can be found in our teacher reviews.

Grades 8-12

@stake

This exciting online game is designed for 3-5 players to build creativity and empathy through small group deliberations. Set up the game following prompts on the site. All players must physically be in the same room. Learn more in the instructions!

Grades 3-12

Project H

Explore these lectures, videos, lesson plans, and more for implementing building projects in the classroom. Project H offers programs to teach design, creativity, and hands-on building. Find a bridge competition, Home Depot scavenger hunt, and much more.

Grades 1-12

Creative Educator

Implement creativity in your curriculum through articles, lesson plans, and resources. Explore four main topics: Creativity, Digital Storytelling, 21st Century Classrooms, and Project-based Learning. Try the activities with your students.

Tools to Create Tech Projects

This trio of tools allows students to create all kinds of presentations, animations, and interesting visuals. Share new ways to display information, imagery, and messaging with templates and ready-to-use designs!

Grades 5-12

Smilebox

Create slide shows, greeting cards, scrapbooks, invitations, collages, and more. Photos, videos, and music can all be added to your creations. A Smilebox template must be used to make your creations. Our full review includes many tech integration ideas.

Grades 6-12

Beautiful.AI

Try your hand at building dynamic, animated presentations easily with smart templates and designs. Use your images or choose from the site's database of millions of stock photos and icons. Use the share option to add collaborators. Keep public or private.

Grades K-12

Renderforest

Use this video and animation creation tool to easily create introductions for YouTube videos, animations, and slideshows using the site's free templates. Follow the step-by-step instructions for adding backgrounds, images, music, and more.

This Week at TeachersFirst

Looking to mix things up in your classroom or just want to see how students might react to the PIRATE style of teaching? Then don’t pass up our recent blog post! We're also sharing timely information about a unique learning opportunity to support STEM education and careers. And do tell us what you think about infusing creativity into your lesson planning in our weekly poll!