TeachersFirst's Teacher Utilities
Technology offers teachers many management tools for classroom procedures, communication, design of the classroom, and more. This collection highlights what we call "Teacher Utilities." These are any tools that make the job of the teacher slightly easier to manage. Some examples of tools in this collection include timers, learning management systems, lesson plan builders, classroom design tools, and many more. Remember our "In the Classroom" suggestions give you ideas about how to use these tools in your classroom.
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Evolve EdTech - Evolve EdTech
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (145), computers (109), infographics (56), podcasts (103), resources (88), Teacher Utilities (159), video (262)
In the Classroom
Discover the many free resources to add to your technology toolbox. For example, visit the Jamboard portion of the site to find and download many organizers for posing questions, summarizing, and vocabulary development. Download any of the templates to use or modify to fit your needs. Watch the short tutorials for tips and tricks on using PowerPoint and Microsoft Teams. Use the ideas found on this site to learn 24 ways to use ChatGPT, reviewed here in 24 days. Learn how to create collections using Wakelet, reviewed here, to curate and share information with students or to use for lesson planning and student projects.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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WellCheq - Jodi Miller
Grades
K to 12tag(s): emotions (48), identity (29), social and emotional learning (96), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Add rhis program to your social-emotional learning (SEL) resources. Share WellCheq with your school counselors for possible use in monitoring the mental wellness of students. If your school doesn't want to use a program such as this, consider other possibilities for sharing wellness tips with students and parents and share resources for obtaining help when needed. Find resources at the TeachersFirst Resources for Self-Identity Special Topics Page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Along - Gradient Learning
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): classroom management (122), communication (138), social and emotional learning (96), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Along makes it easy for you to implement this tool into your classroom with their many free resources. Resources include guides to introducing Along to students and fellow educators. Share the privacy information guide with parents as you begin using this tool. Begin by using the customizable calendar as a method for planning to introduce and use Along. Consider using the information found on the site to create and share a presentation about this product using Google Slides, reviewed here, or by creating a short video using Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video Maker reviewed here. Be sure to show students how to prepare for their responses. If you find some students are reluctant to use one of the modes, for instance, the video, work with that student to help them feel comfortable. Uses for this tool are only limited by your imagination, and it's perfect for staying updated on the social-emotional learning (SEL) of your students. Check-in with students during long projects or reports to see where they are in the process and if they have any frustrations, check-in after a science lab to see who has questions, ask students at the end of a project or lab what they would do differently next time. Check-in with Language arts book groups to see how students are doing with the novel, their group, the project at the end, etc.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Floop - Floop Edu, Inc
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): assessment (148), editing (91), Formative Assessment (72), homework (32), Online Learning (42), proofreading (21), rubrics (35), Teacher Utilities (159), writing (323)
In the Classroom
Use Floop to provide timely and specific feedback for any assignment. Floop is a great resource for teaching students how to provide and respond to feedback in purposeful ways and engaging them in the learning process. Floop chose to use hotspots on documents to access feedback so that students have to revisit and refer to items shared. Take advantage of this by strategically placing feedback within documents in areas where students are to focus. For example, place a hotspot on an area with grammar mistakes that need correction and guide learning by asking students to revisit that portion of the text. Allow peer feedback when working on group assignments or create rough drafts to encourage students to provide input and direction as a class. After using Floop for several assignments, encourage students to reflect upon common mistakes found in their work. Extend learning by asking students to create a tutorial using FlexClip, reviewed here, explaining how to avoid these errors. One example will be in math class if a student makes an error in several assignments, such as forgetting how to borrow and carry when subtracting. Ask them to create a video tutorial demonstrating the proper steps to reinforce the concept and share it with peers.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Education for the Real World - EVERFI
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (165), financial literacy (89), game based learning (181), literacy (115), mental health (36), social and emotional learning (96), STEM (279), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Discover the many free resources on this site to provide individual lessons or complete learning units for your students. As students complete assignments, use the many offerings found at Class Tools, reviewed here, to enhance learning through creating timelines, completing graphic organizers, and more. For activities that include new vocabulary, use a digital game creation site such as Baamboozle, reviewed here, to review and practice new words and terms. Have students show what they know upon completion of any of the activities using Adobe Express for Education, reviewed here, to create a collage, poster, flyer, or multimedia presentation sharing their knowledge of the subject.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wheel of Names - Martin Omander and Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): classroom management (122), preK (263), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Use the Wheel of Names to randomly call students during class discussions. Add images instead of names to make the wheel more interesting. In addition to the obvious use for calling names, use this random wheel in a variety of different ways. Add dates onto the wheel when reviewing events in history, review vocabulary, instead of student names add character names from novels for students to discuss, add books to determine the next read-aloud, the list goes on and on! Be sure to save the wheel with the names of class members so that it is ready to go at any time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classkick - Andrew Rowland and Peter Do
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (148), collaboration (94), Learning Management Systems (20), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Use Classkick in class, for blended learning or remote learning since you can see all students working from anywhere. Use Classkick to differentiate instruction based on students' current performance. Many students are motivated to learn at their own pace using online tools, and Classkick is an option providing lessons in a different format than currently available. If not using Classkick whole - class, it provides many options for helping and enhancing learning for individual students, use for homework, or as a temporary option for providing instruction to home-bound or remote learning students . As students learn through this type of management system, ask them to use a portfolio tool such as Majara, reviewed here, to document and reflect upon their learning process.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Future Ready Schools Planning Dashboard - Future Ready Schools
Grades
K to 12tag(s): collaboration (94), data (147), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free online tool to guide your district toward planning and implementing your technology plan. Share with administrators as an option for use with your technology committee. As you gather and share information with your community and staff to use in your guide, consider using a collaboration tool like Padlet, reviewed here. Use Padlet to share technology options with the community and gather comments. Create another Padlet to gather comments and ideas from staff. When considering more complex ideas during your planning, use Flip, reviewed here, to create and share video discussions. Use Flip's MixTape feature to build a "mix" of responses to highlight and share. Help build community support for your technology plan by creating ongoing podcasts using Spotify for Podcastors, reviewed here. Share podcasts with your community throughout the planning process to discuss ideas, update listeners on your goals and progress, and to compare and contrast options considered for your plan.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Deck.Toys - Boon Jin Goh
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (148), bookmarks (47), classroom management (122), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Use Deck.Toys to create gamified learning activities for all students. Deck.Toys is perfect for creating mini-lessons for students to explore during center time or as a flipped classroom activity. Use to remediate and enrich lessons for struggling learners or as an enrichment activity for gifted learners.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Class123 - Choong Hee Lee
Grades
K to 6tag(s): behavior (46), classroom management (122), communication (138), DAT device agnostic tool (147), parents (59), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Use this tool to communicate specific behaviors with parents - both positive and negative feedback. Share this site with students on the first day of school as you go over class expectations and your behavior plan for your classroom. Take advantage of the other tools to take attendance or rearrange your seating chart quickly and easily.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Symbaloo - Learning Paths - Symbaloo
Grades
K to 12tag(s): bookmarks (47), curation (36), DAT device agnostic tool (147), game based learning (181), gamification (79), multilingual (69), personalized learning (9), playlists (10), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
You will want to use Symbaloo Learning Paths for many different types of classroom instruction! Create lesson plans to differentiate learning and assign based on student needs and interests. Embed a lesson on your class website for students to complete at home. Using this site allows you to create a clear and concise learning path for any lesson. Share it on an interactive whiteboard with students as you follow through any learning path. Be sure also to include a link to the lesson on your class website for students to use throughout the unit and as a review. Use Symbaloo Lesson Plans as enrichment for independent learning for advanced students, or for remediation with students needing additional help. This site is perfect for use with ENL/ELL students - include links and activities to resources in their native language or add tools for practicing English. There are too many uses for Symbaloo Lesson Plans to include here, be sure to take the time to learn how to create and use this wonderful tool with your students!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Smithsonian Learning Lab - The Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): animals (288), architecture (65), art history (89), aviation (38), black history (130), civil war (136), dinosaurs (41), explorers (66), images (260), inventors and inventions (77), Learning Management Systems (20), oceans (149), scientists (63), shakespeare (95), Teacher Utilities (159), volcanoes (56)
In the Classroom
The Smithsonian Learning Lab is a must-add to your list of classroom bookmarks! Search for collections and information throughout the year on all topics. Add a link to classroom computers for the entire site or specific collections. Be sure to take advantage of the many features of this site to create customized collections, then have students add additional resources. Have students create quizzes for review of topics. Enhance student learning by challenging them to create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here.Comments
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Seesaw - Charles Lin, Carl Sjogreen , Adrian Graham
Grades
K to 10tag(s): blogs (65), communication (138), DAT device agnostic tool (147), digital storytelling (152), Learning Management Systems (20), portfolios (23), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Sign up for Seesaw, and after students have parental permission, generate a join code for the class from the menu at the upper right corner or by clicking your name or initials in the left corner to get a drop down menu. The join code expires in 15 minutes, so it is best to do this in your classroom or computer lab. Teachers can add photos, drawings, links, notes, and upload a file from this same menu by clicking the + symbol. You can even add a co-teacher! See Seesaw's FAQs for ways for parents to sign up and letters to send home. Use Seesaw portfolios for any subject or grade level. Once your account is set up, create a simple project or borrow one from the Activities on the Help and Teacher Resources page. Share the project on your interactive whiteboard or projector to get your students started. The teacher portal allows you to access and comment on student work. View the work of an individual or the entire class. The ability to import work from many creation apps to Seesaw makes this a perfect portfolio tool. Don't forget to watch the video about setting up blogs for your students. Remember, this is all free! Science teachers could have students write up their lab reports, take photos of their labs and label them in a portfolio. History teachers could set up portfolios for student report writing or digital storytelling projects. Seesaw is the perfect tool to use during parent conferences.Comments
I love using Seesaw with my elementary school students. It's great that parents can comment also.Katy, , Grades: 0 - 12
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Better Lesson - BetterLesson
Grades
K to 12tag(s): commoncore (75), professional development (407), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Use this site to create lessons for students to follow. Use this site to share inspirational lessons you create or to find inspiration in the work of others. Meet the Common Core goals by using the tools and lesson plans offered at this website. Though the site deals with the technical aspect of lesson planning, many ideas exist to reverse engineer to your own lessons. Create a course to maintain and tweak your lessons for your classes. Expand PD to others in your school or in other schools to learn from the best ideas of others!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Nearpod - Nearpod
Grades
5 to 12When in the "live presentation" mode (in person or remote web conferencing), teachers control the lesson's pace, and students do not move to the next screen until advanced by the teacher. With the "student pace" mode, students progress through independently, whether at home or in class. The third mode is "front of the class;" you project your presentation, and the students do not use their devices. Use the teacher version of the app to push out the presentation to your students. For the first two modes, every student uses their own student app to follow the screens and answer the questions. This provides immediate feedback about every student. The feedback can be emailed to the teacher for later review. This formative assessment tool is invaluable and a unique part of the app. The tool also includes drawing for students to work out problems. Teachers can identify students who are not "on task" and not working within the app when a little red light pops up. Absent students can complete the assignment at home.
The free version of Nearpod for Educators is called Silver; you get 100 MB of storage, 40 students per session/lesson, access to standard formative assessments features, pre-made interactive lessons up to your storage limit, pre-made interactive videos up to your storage limit, create interactive videos, lessons, and activities, upload PDF, PPT, and Google slides, and more. Again, how many lessons and videos will depend on your storage.
tag(s): assessment (148), classroom management (122), DAT device agnostic tool (147), differentiation (89), Formative Assessment (72), gamification (79), Learning Management Systems (20), multimedia (46), Online Learning (42), personalized learning (9), playlists (10), remote learning (56), slides (42), Teacher Utilities (159), teaching strategies (42)
In the Classroom
This is an exciting way to begin iPad (or BYOD), blended learning, or remote learning integration into the classroom. Initially it may be difficult to determine the best pacing of the lesson, the ability to slow down the advancement of the next screen allows more time to digest the information. Be aware that students needing more time may be very frustrated as the screen may advance before they are able to finish. Start small by uploading presentations and using JPEG and other images. Add interactive elements such as polls and videos. Grab students attention by using the first slide to deliver a piece of humorous information. Create guided learning stations and push out several presentations to different devices as students move through the various lessons to be learned. This technique can be helpful for struggling learners. Use this tool to help reinforce the most difficult parts of the lesson. Use the app to create schedules for training, clubs, and more. For English, learn about grammar rules, sentence structure, and other elements necessary for good writing. For ENL/ESL classes and world languages, practice various vocabulary words and learn tenses of verbs. Learn vocabulary and basic scientific concepts in any science class or facts about historical periods in history classes. This app is a valuable tool in any classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Remind - Remind 101
Grades
K to 12tag(s): chat (41), communication (138), DAT device agnostic tool (147), microblogging (15), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Set up accounts for all your classes, and even your extracurricular activities, to send homework, project, and supply reminders. Remind students of upcoming events, practices, or things they need to bring to class or practice. You could also use this to communicate with parents (allow them to sign up for text message updates at back to school night). Share this site the first week of school to save time throughout the entire year. Remind parents of big tests, report cards, field trips, deadlines, back to school night, sneaker days, conferences, and more. Set up a faculty reminder group within your school for emergency closures and more.Comments
Love this site! I'm using it to send reminders to students about overdue library books and/or fines!Terri, VA, Grades: 9 - 12
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TED-ED - Ted.com
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): blended learning (37), business (51), design (80), literature (219), psychology (67), religions (85), Teacher Utilities (159), video (262)
In the Classroom
Choose a video or create your own videos for students to use for review. After students view a video that has the questions, show one that doesn't, and have students generate questions for it. Assign videos for students to view at home or in the computer lab. Use them as a springboard for engaging writing prompts or to spark a discussion connected with a unit of study. Challenge students to do a compare/contrast activity using an online Venn Diagram tool, reviewed here. Most of the videos are less than twenty minutes, which makes it realistic to use them in a one-period class lesson or if you are implementing blended learning or flipped learning in your classroom or school (leaving class time for asking questions and clarifying).Show a video or two with your class and discuss the set up of the lesson. Discuss the difference between basic comprehension questions and open-ended questions. Show your students an inspirational video or two from TED reviewed here. As a class, pick out eight or ten of the TED videos and allow students to sign up to work on one of the videos. Have cooperative learning groups develop a TED Ed video lesson. You will need to proofread all work using a word processor, before allowing students to upload their questions on TED Ed.
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Educreations - Educreations, Inc.
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): blended learning (37), homework (32), remote learning (56), Teacher Utilities (159), video (262)
In the Classroom
Use this resource to create homework help for students to peruse when they are stuck on their own trying to complete assignments. Create mini lessons for students to review or learn the material they may have missed. Consider allowing students to use your account to write a script and record mini lessons for use by other students. Even two recordings of the same lesson is valuable as information can be explained differently from more than one person. Be sure to include this link on your class website for students (and parents) to access at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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