TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Sep 21, 2014
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
Konstella - Elena Krasnoperova
Grades
K to 12
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Konstella was Simply Circle and now has a new focus - on parent and teacher communication. Konnstella makes communicating with groups easy and productive. Open up the lines of parent/teacher...more
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Konstella was Simply Circle and now has a new focus - on parent and teacher communication. Konnstella makes communicating with groups easy and productive. Open up the lines of parent/teacher communication with your email address to create an account and set up classroom Konstella. Use Konstella to share messages, pictures, and files. Add tasks, organize events, and assign roles. Members of your Konstella groups receive a weekly digest of upcoming events. There is an option to send urgent messages immediately. Create by adding email addresses; members of your Konstella do not need to be registered members of Konstella to view the emails. Be sure to click features to read about all Konstella can do for you, your school, and your parents community.
tag(s): classroom management (128), communication (136), homework (34), microblogging (18), Teacher Utilities (146)
In the Classroom
Set up accounts for all of your classes. Send homework, project, and supply reminders. Send changes to plans due to a snow day or other emergency. Remind students of upcoming events, practices, or things they need to bring to school. Don't forget to include any extracurricular activities. Use this tool to communicate with parents. Provide parents with the necessary information on your class web page. Remind parents of big tests, report cards, field trips, deadlines, back to school night, school spirit days, conferences, and more. Learning support teachers can promote organizational skills by having students and their parents sign up to receive reminders about tests and homework. Add messages with tips for parents to help their elementary child study. Need supply donations? Send out a request using Konstella. Set up a faculty reminder group within your school for emergency closures or department meetings and activities. Make a PTO/PTA School account to share resources for school-wide projects, events, or fundraisers.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Wheel Decide - wheeldecide.com
Grades
K to 12
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Wheel Decide helps make decisions interesting and fair. Choose from ready-made wheels with choices such as games or food. Create your own wheels. Scroll down below the wheel and choose...more
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Wheel Decide helps make decisions interesting and fair. Choose from ready-made wheels with choices such as games or food. Create your own wheels. Scroll down below the wheel and choose "Make/Modify Wheel" to customize your wheel for any purpose. Add up to 100 choices and a title. Advanced options allow you to remove a choice after landing on it, choose from color options, adjust the length of spin, and more. Cancel the "click" sound if it is distracting. At the time of this review saving a wheel required signing in with your Facebook account or bookmarking/copying the URL.
tag(s): classroom management (128), gamification (74), probability (96)
In the Classroom
Use Wheel Decide to select a student to do an activity or to answer a question. Allow students to use the name generator to choose which classmate comes next. Create your class name wheel and SAVE it to use throughout the year. Use Wheel Decide as part of a probability unit to chart how often names or items appear with random spins (be sure not to remove them from the list as they appear). Create custom wheels throughout the year to help with decisions such as students' choice activities, options for games at indoor recess, or subjects for reports.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fake Ticket Generator - faketicketgenerator.com
Grades
K to 12
9 Favorites
1 Comments
Create your own novelty tickets. Choose from two different ticket styles and enter information such as row and seat numbers, event title and place, and date of the event. After ...more
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Create your own novelty tickets. Choose from two different ticket styles and enter information such as row and seat numbers, event title and place, and date of the event. After entering information, click "Make My Ticket!" to view and save your ticket in JPEG format.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): behavior (43), classroom management (128), Teacher Utilities (146)
In the Classroom
Ask your students to use the Fake Ticket Generator to create excitement for class presentations. Have them create tickets and hand them out to other students to use to be admitted to class for their presentation. Create tickets to hand out to students at the beginning of any unit to create interest and excitement. Make tickets to give to parents as invitation to Meet the Teacher night, Science and Book Fairs, PTO meetings, and more. Create tickets that students can earn, such as a ticket to skip a homework assignment or to have extra time at centers. Give out tickets to special events in the library/media center, such as Dress as Your Favorite Author Day. Have students create tickets to a classroom museum or science fair. Use tickets as a behavior incentive.Comments
I sent ticket invitations to students the week before the Pixar Short Films Plot Study to make sure they came to school (some of my SpEd kids have attendance issues) and were on time. 6thKay, NM, Grades: 6 - 8
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NameCoach - Praveen Shanbhag
Grades
K to 12
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0 Comments
Never mispronounce a name again, thanks to the help of NameCoach! Record names using your own computer or any other device. Add phonetic spelling or pronunciation tips. You can listen...more
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Never mispronounce a name again, thanks to the help of NameCoach! Record names using your own computer or any other device. Add phonetic spelling or pronunciation tips. You can listen to the names as often as you wish. Create your account to make lists for Back to School, award ceremonies, graduations, and much more. After creating your name page, share a link with peers through email or as a link on your class webpage or blog. Share the link in your substitute plans, too! Create a master list with sublists for use in different departments, classes, or for individual events.
tag(s): classroom management (128), pronunciation (33), substitutes (27)
In the Classroom
Create a master list of student names in your school or class using NameCoach. Provide a subset for different activities such as award ceremonies, after-school programs, or for student tutors. Share with your school's ENL/ELL teacher as an authentic way to learn and practice unfamiliar names. Provide this list (and URL) to any substitute coming to your classroom. Use it in world language classes to help students learn pronunciation of new names.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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40 Maps That Explain World War I - Vox
Grades
7 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
It is hard to believe that World War I began over 100 years ago. Explore "The War to End All Wars" through a series of maps, both contemporary and historical. ...more
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It is hard to believe that World War I began over 100 years ago. Explore "The War to End All Wars" through a series of maps, both contemporary and historical. The collection provides extensive insight into the causes, progress, and impact of World War I. Each map is accompanied by a brief explanation of what it illustrated. Each map can then be opened as an image alone in another tab/window and is then zoomable. Some of the historic maps are static; others have interactive features. The maps are organized into categories: Background, War Breaks Out, Major European Battles, the War Outside Europe, Technology, Allied Victory, and Consequences of the War. There are hyperlinks to further information embedded in the explanatory material with each map.
tag(s): europe (75), map skills (56), maps (207), world war 1 (72)
In the Classroom
These maps are perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard. If you are teaching World War I, these maps need to be among your "go to" bookmarks for illustrating important highlights about the War. Consider also providing a link to the maps as part of materials students can access to learn more, as extra challenge, or for independent or group projects. The maps illustrating important technology first used in World War I will fascinate students who enjoy learning how things work. Have students create a multimedia presentation about the aspects of WWI that fascinate them most.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Printliminator - Chris Coyier and Devon Govett
Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Highlight and print (or view) only what you want from a web page using Printliminator. Downloading this tool is made easy with the drag and drop bookmarklet; Drage it to ...more
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Highlight and print (or view) only what you want from a web page using Printliminator. Downloading this tool is made easy with the drag and drop bookmarklet; Drage it to your browser's toolbar (Printliminator works with Chrome ONLY). Then click the bookmarklet from any page to open up tool options. Mouse over your web page and click on red boxes to remove them from the page. When ready, preview and send to your printer. Be sure to watch the Quick Slideshow Demo for a full overview of all features of the Printliminator.
tag(s): classroom management (128)
In the Classroom
Install the Printliminator on your browser tool bar. Show students how to use Prinliminator on your interactive whiteboard or projector for use when they are researching or preparing a study guide for a test. Use when viewing web pages on your interactive whiteboard to eliminate unnecessary information. Delete unnecessary information from webpages. Send to print and save as PDF for use with student handouts or links from your class web page. Of course, you will want to include your SOURCE on the handouts as a model of good digital citizenship. This is also a great tool to differentiate for any student. Use this tool to share handouts or PDFs with students who are easily distracted to help them stay focused on what matters.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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My Next Move - US Department of Labor
Grades
9 to 12
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"What do you want to do for a living?" is the springboard for this career and guidance site from the US Department of Labor. Choose from three options depending on ...more
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"What do you want to do for a living?" is the springboard for this career and guidance site from the US Department of Labor. Choose from three options depending on how sharply focused your career goals are. Consider job titles, explore general career groups, or take an interest inventory to help guide you. Each job title links to a fuller description: the skills, abilities, and knowledge needed for the job, the education required, the job prospects in that career and the personality traits that are linked to success in the career. Click on the icon to the left of the job titles to see what sort of knowledge and skills you need to whether the long term prospects for growth in that category are strong, whether the career is part of the "green economy" and whether there are internships or job training programs associated with that career.
tag(s): careers (139)
In the Classroom
Ask students to complete the interest inventory independently to get insight and ideas about possible careers. Then use the examples from students' results to explore representative industries or job titles. Help students appreciate that career planning is an ongoing process that includes education, aptitudes, and personality in order to find a "good fit." My Next Move is a great resource for helping students get more concrete information and insight into the sometimes vexing question of "what I want to do when I grow up." Use it in guidance classes or as part of a budgeting and life planning section in Family and Consumer Science or business classes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Printable Comic Strip Templates - Donna Young
Grades
K to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Find several different comic strip templates at this simple, yet useful site. Choose from templates with various numbers of panels and squares or arch tops. Click on any ...more
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Find several different comic strip templates at this simple, yet useful site. Choose from templates with various numbers of panels and squares or arch tops. Click on any template to view and print the PDF version.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): comics and cartoons (53)
In the Classroom
Have small groups of students each create one panel as a summary of what the class just learned. Use comics in math and turn a word problem into a comic strip/cartoon. In social studies create a comic strip/cartoon about a historic event, person, place, or speech. In language arts take a novel or non-fiction book and create a comic strip/cartoon depicting the characters and plot. Have students write summaries of current events or responses to reading assignments. With younger students, use an interactive whiteboard or projector to create a class comic on a current topic of study, such as the different parts of a plant, the planets, or a butterfly's life cycle. Use these templates for students to plan out storyboards for more involved projects, such as videos. Alternatively, have students use one of the templates for a rough draft before creating and online comic. In emotional support or autistic support classes, create comics to show how people interact. In world languages or with ENL/ESL students, create comics to reinforce correct language. Looking for even more comic resources? Check out TeachersFirst's complete collection of Comics and Cartoons.
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