Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

The ESCEI is part of the Air Force Associations CyberPatriot program. On this page find and download a kit with everything you need for teaching your K-6 students about digital safety! Fill out the registration form and submit. You will quickly receive a link for downloading the kit which needs to be un-zipped and takes about five minutes. You'll find cover letters to parents, guardians, and educators, three interactive learning modules about online safety and cybersecurity principles, slides for classroom instruction, and a complete instructors guide (with descriptions for each module, vocabulary, games to print, and more). Students will learn basic computing skills to how to deal with complex issues like phishing and malware. Be sure to see the supplemental activities and videos. Though the lessons are labeled up to sixth grade, they are adaptable for eighth grade and ninth grade.

From this landing page also find the home page with all the information about CyberPatriot and check out the competitions that are for middle school, high school, and beyond. CyberPatriot brings you these real-world competitions in conjunction with the Cisco Networking Challenge. There is online training for competitors. Videos on this site reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): computers (101), cyberbullying (45), digital citizenship (66), internet safety (116), STEM (193)

Learn computer science through hands-on learning projects for all ages at Microsoft MakeCode. Take advantage of project ideas to inspire computing projects for your classroom. Introductory courses for middle school students teach the basics of coding and beyond. Learn more through live sessions offered weekly by Microsoft team editors as they share tips for using different editing programs. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as Freemake Video Converter, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

tag(s): coding (66), makerspace (15), STEM (193)

Discover the parallels and differences between a good citizen and a good digital citizen with this interesting infographic. The nine points shared compare the hallmarks of good citizenship to the similar applications in digital citizenship. Be sure to check out the related links shared on this page to learn more about promoting good digital citizenship.

tag(s): cyberbullying (45), digital citizenship (66), infographics (53), internet safety (116)

Explore educational videos providing help with Google products on this YouTube Channel. The site provides playlists offering support for Chromebooks, protecting and using Google accounts, using Gmail and Drive, and much more. Choose individual videos or select playlists by topic to find up to date help in using Google tools. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as ClipGrab, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

tag(s): Google (33), video (272)

Google provides a series of lessons correlated to career readiness and reading standards in three different levels to teach students how to search effectively. Select from topics including picking the correct search terms, understanding results, and evaluating the credibility of sources. Find additional lessons related to culture, geography, history, and science by clicking the link for "A Google a Day Challenges," reviewed here.

tag(s): Google (33), search engines (58), search strategies (24)

The Florida Center for Instructional Technology (FCIT) has an extensive collection of resources for integrating technology into classroom instruction. Find over 100,000 pieces of digital content including clip art, audio files, historical maps, and more for classroom use by students and teachers. Find resources and professional development in their Technology Integration Matrix (TIM), reviewed here, including graphics, PDF's, and evaluation tools. Each month FCIT curates and shares digital collections related to holidays and important events in history.

tag(s): images (283), maps (295), professional development (160), teaching strategies (25)

Do you want to start a classroom blog but don't know how to start? This series of articles provides all the information you need from getting started through promoting your blog. Information on this site begins with the most basic information including choosing the appearance of your blog and moves on to cover using and customizing your site. All information in these articles pertains to using WordPress as your platform; however, the tips and information apply to anyone wanting to create a classroom blog.

tag(s): blogs (84)

This safe and straightforward site creates unique passwords within your given parameters. Choose the length of your desired password and use the checked boxes to include or exclude letters, characters, or numbers. Additional options allow you to select the number of numeric characters or symbols to add. After making your selections, click "Generate" to create your password. Additional information on the site explains why it is important to use strong passwords along with specific content on how a strong password looks.

tag(s): internet safety (116)

Don't let the simple look of this article keep you away; it lists explicitly several specific threats facing children through their use of online content. After viewing these risks and corresponding data, this site shares suggestions for protecting against these threats and pre-emptive steps for avoiding many Internet pitfalls.

tag(s): cyberbullying (45), internet safety (116)

This handy infographic provides viewers with tips and tricks for using Google for online research. Scroll down the page to find helpful tips for searching smarter, narrowing down results to needed information, and keyboard shortcuts for viewing and finding information on your computer. This page also includes a link to a YouTube video sharing Google Search Hacking Tricks. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable. You could always view it at home and bring it to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as ClipGrab, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

tag(s): Google (33), search engines (58), search strategies (24)