Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Use the magic of speech recognition to create emails, dictate notes, or write an essay in many languages without ever touching your keyboard. Online Dictation only works in the Chrome browser. Click "Start Dictation," and grant the site permission to connect to your computer's microphone. Begin talking, and watch your words appear on the screen. Dictation detects many different languages so is useful for many non-English speakers. When you finish speaking, export your text using links to Dropbox, Google Drive, your computer, or send as an email. This is a speech to text tool.

Since this tool has to connect back to its own servers to "translate" your spoken words to text, it may not have the sensitivity you expect. It is a good idea to test it first yourself before assigning students to use it. You might want to demonstrate how clearly you must speak to make it work.

tag(s): communication (136), differentiation (84), note taking (34), speech (66), writing (315)

Create video conversations including up to four people instantly with Whereby (formerly Appear.in). There is nothing to download, and no registration is required. Add a name for your room and click "create." Allow access to your computer's webcam and microphone, and your room is all set up. Send the link to others to click and join in. Claim a room to get privileges such as customizing your room's background and locking your room when empty. Whereby works with Chrome, Firefox, Vivaldi, and Opera browsers.

tag(s): chat (42), communication (136), DAT device agnostic tool (143), remote learning (61), video (257)

Achieve the Core provides high-quality resources to assist with implementing Common Core Standards. Whether you are already a Common Core whiz or just a beginner, this site will help you grow and learn. Choose from three main portions of the site: Professional Learning, Planning for Instruction, and Classroom Resources. Search the site by selecting Classroom Resources, which has subject area, lessons, student samples, tasks, assessments, and more. Begin your professional development with instructional modules found under the Professional Development tab and Instructional Materials and Assesments. Modules include a facilitators guide, a video, and hands on activity with discussion ideas. Content includes both ELA and Math. Some lessons can be found (in ELA) that also incorporate science and social studies. Filter by individual grade level or by elementary, middle school, or high school. Under ELA/Literacy, examine text dependent questions and text complexity. You will also find instructional videos, sample lesson and assessment questions, instructional practices, and aligning materials. Math activities include videos, examining the shifts, and evaluating yourself. Another area to explore is the Leadership Tools. To the far right of the Classroom Resources, find Early Reading Accelerators which includes Foundational Skills and Knowledge and Vocabulary. This can be viewed online or downloaded in PDF format. Under Early Reading you will also find special materials for fractions.

tag(s): commoncore (75)

Brainly is social networking site for homework help. Use this tool on ANY device! Created for students of all ages, Brainly allows you to post questions and also respond to other questions. The site's point system encourages you to return and participate within the network. Use the "Ask a question" box to post any homework question. Choose a subject and type the question. View questions others ask by browsing latest questions or within subject categories. View questions and responses without creating an account. However, an account is required to post questions. Registration requires an email address or Facebook account. Although Brainly states that it is a homework help site for all ages, registration requires that users be 13 years or older.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (143), homework (34), social networking (67)

Visit four of the world's poorest slums through this powerful collection of stories, images, and sounds. Following the introduction, choose a city: Caracas, Venezuela, Nairobi, Kenya, Jakarta, Indonesia, or Mumbai, India. Hear each family's story by choosing from images at the top of each page or view the slideshow including images, audio, and facts about the region.

tag(s): africa (137), cross cultural understanding (157), india (25)

This tool is a stunning 3D reconstruction and tour of the Giza pyramids, Sphinx, and other structures. Watch a guided tour both around and inside the structures. This tour also shows structures at various points in history. To view in 3D, the 3D Lifeplayer needs to be installed. Note: This site may take a little time to load.

tag(s): architecture (64), egypt (46), pyramids (16)

Visme helps you create presentations and documents, charts and infographics, videos and animations (GIFs), documents, and social posts. There's more! Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page, find the Create column, and click More to Create. Find templates for all the projects listed, there are 5,000 audio files to select from, and Visme includes the capability of audio voice-over; you can also make your objects into interactive hotspots! At the bottom of the page, under Resources, you'll find the Templates and Video Tutorials for just about anything you want to do. Fortunately, there is a menu on the left for all the video tutorial categories.

To start, choose your type of creation and then a specific template theme. The Navigation area is along the left side. Customize the various tools by clicking on My Files, and upload your Google Drive, Dropbox, and/or OneDrive. The work area is to the right of the Navigation, and where the template you selected appears, various new tools, grids, and texts appear to the left. Drag and drop items into the work area and even include vector images. Click My Files to upload images, audio, and video from your computer. Once placed in the work area, style images the way you want, including animation! Invite collaborators or team members through email. Products created by this tool play on any browser or device or can be embedded in a web page or blog. Free accounts allow 100 MB of storage.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): animation (62), charts and graphs (169), images (262), infographics (56), multimedia (43), presentations (17), video (257)

Download the Jumpshare tool for sharing and viewing files easily. Create an account with your name, email, and password to begin. Drag and drop files to share. Use the link to browse and find files on your computer. Jumpshare supports 200 file types including images, videos, and documents. Once uploaded, use links to share documents via email or social networking options. In addition to the file sharing you can now create screenshot capture and screen recordings (making your screenshot into a video. Free accounts include storage of up to 2 GB and a limit of 100 MB on individual files.

tag(s): collaboration (87)

The Historical Marker Database is an illustrated and searchable website for finding and viewing historical road markers. Information includes photographs, marker locations, and more. Search and browse the site in several ways. Find markers near your location, enter a keyword in the search bar, or choose from category options. Most entries include a short description, map location of the marker, the transcription, and links to other nearby markers. This site is rather text-heavy. It is full of great information. There is also a link to a free Google Field Trip app that uses these markers.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): 20th century (59), american revolution (82), anthropology (9), california (16), civil rights (194), civil war (134), disasters (36), explorers (64), heroes (22), hispanic (28), immigration (64), labor day (5), mexico (29), native americans (91), natural disasters (16), natural resources (37), texas (7), vietnam (35), war of 1812 (14), world war 1 (72), world war 2 (149)

Explore the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum site to learn about the effects and aftermath of nuclear war. Click Learn from the top menu, then, look at the menu on the right titled Learn About the A Bomb and Peace. There you will find a link to view images of monuments located in Hiroshima. These monuments were constructed as memorials to those who lost their lives. Visit the Kids Peace Station for activities geared toward younger students. Explore the virtual museum to view exhibits such as damage caused by the atomic bomb blast and recorded testimony of survivors.

tag(s): atomic bomb (9), japan (56), world war 2 (149)

Become an expert at Roman Numerals! Practice with a Roman numeral converter, chart, videos, games, quizzes, and interesting facts! Enter any number into the numeral converter to view the Roman Numeral. Explore one of several charts with numerals from 1-10 on up to 1-1000. Watch a video explanation about how to create numbers using the Roman number system. Other informative portions of this site include short explanations of the origins of Roman Numerals and four rules for understanding how to use Roman Numerals. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.

tag(s): roman numerals (7)

Between 1909 and 1930, photographer Edward Curtis set out to document the life and culture of the North American Indians, and this site shares his work. Like so many of his time, he viewed Native Americans as a "primitive" race of people whose customs were a source of curiosity. As westward expansion began to destroy the culture of indigenous people, Curtis wanted to record, through photographs and narratives, what he believed was a savage and mysterious world before it disappeared. While Curtis' work represented the popular viewpoint of his time, today we recognize that it is, at best, the impressions of someone who neither understood nor particularly valued what he was recording. This digital reproduction of the entire project needs to be carefully previewed and introduced so that we don't perpetuate this way of viewing Native American life. In fact, some of the images of the ceremonial life were never intended to be seen by "outsiders," and their use today is controversial. The site does a good job of setting the context for the use of Curtis's work and helps establish respectful boundaries.

tag(s): difficult conversations (58), native americans (91)

An artist sees the world and then tries to communicate that vision through his or her work. The Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester presents 17 works of art, each illustrating the artist's view of America. Each piece is indexed by theme such as Meeting America's People or Telling America's Stories and is accompanied by a rich set of resources including lesson plans, classroom activities, and a printable image that can be duplicated. There are works from as early as the 18th century up until the present time. An interactive timeline helps pinpoint pieces according to the dates they were created.

tag(s): art history (86), artists (77)

Cars are more than a way to get from point A to point B, and Hans Tangerud, a Norwegian car enthusiast, recognizes American's love of cars in this historic collection of sales brochures. Cars, particularly in the United States, represent an important part of the culture. Their design, their advertising, their features all communicate something about what matters to the people who bought them. Tangerud has scanned images of American Car advertising and brochures back as far as the 1920s up through the present. A very deep resource, there are well over 100 brochures here, part of a larger site that focuses on his obsession with cars, particularly those from the US.

tag(s): 20th century (59), advertising (24), history day (40), transportation (32)

Send simple invitations or surveys with Yarp. Choose the type, name it, add more information, and choose responses such as Yes/No or other clever possibilities. Click "Let me see it" to view the survey. Send the link to your Yarplet to others. No membership is required to create Yarplets or to vote! Click "Save my Yarplets" for instructions to keep track of your polls and invitations when moving from one device to another. This tool will work on any mobile browser.

tag(s): assessment (146), data (147), Formative Assessment (70), polls and surveys (46), Teacher Utilities (146)

Discover blog ideas galore from the "friendly writers" at Wordpress, especially these ideas for connecting your blog with other bloggers via special events, such as "blog hops." A blog hop is simply a response to the same prompt during a fixed time frame, with links to the other bloggers' responses so you can "hop" to read the many takes on the topic from the original post or prompt. Share writing around a common theme, image, quote, or topic by checking out the offerings compiled here. Note that this collection is intended for the general blogging public (not schools), so some topics may not be school-appropriate. On the other hand, making contact with "real world" people blogging about how they write, do photography, stay fit, and more. Click on the link to the updated list of blogging events to find inspiration and connection, sorted by general areas of interest. Don't miss the detailed information about how to Start and/or Participate in a Blog Hop.

tag(s): blogs (66), writing prompts (58)

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.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): bookmarks (47), collaboration (87), curation (35), DAT device agnostic tool (143), forum (2), organizational skills (90), social networking (67)

The Presidential Library of Harry S. Truman offers an extensive archive of resources to help us understand the idealogical foundations of the Cold War era. The Cold War shaped much of the history of the second half of the twentieth century, particularly in the Western world. Included are a chronology of the era, photographs, oral histories (text based), profiles of important figures, primary documents, and lesson plans. The lesson plans were developed by a group of teachers who attended a summer institute at the Truman Library and can be downloaded as either Word documents or PowerPoint presentations. The documents can be viewed online or downloaded in a printable format.

tag(s): cold war (30), europe (75), primary sources (117), russia (33)

Webnode is a free and easy website or blog builder. Create an account. Choose from hundreds of template design options, including personal blogs (scroll to the bottom menu and select "Make your own website or blog." Add many site features: photo galleries, polls, forums, social features, and much more. Webnode saves changes as you make them, so information is stored in real time. Possible uses are only limited by your imagination!
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): blogs (66), communication (136), social networking (67)