TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Sep 16, 2018

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

 

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oodlu - Wayne Holmes and Douglas Lapsley

Grades
2 to 12
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Create learning games for use on any device using oodlu. Sign up for a free account to begin creating question sets. Take advantage of many different question formats including sequencing,...more
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Create learning games for use on any device using oodlu. Sign up for a free account to begin creating question sets. Take advantage of many different question formats including sequencing, multiple choice, and fill in the blank. Optional features provide the ability to add different forms of feedback to guide students when making incorrect choices. When finished, share the code with students to access the learning games. Students sign in using their username, password, and the code provided. As students complete activities, they earn award badges. Use the teacher dashboard to review and monitor student achievements. Free accounts include an unlimited number of students and questions.

In the Classroom

Use oodlu to differentiate learning in your classroom. Assign questions sets to different groups of learners according to their specific needs. Be sure to show students how to log in and access questions (if your class is remote learning, show students the log in, etc. by using a video conference room such as Zoom, reviewed here, and then include a link to the site on your class webpage for students to play at home. At the end of your unit, enhance learning and augment technology use by asking students to plan a multimedia presentation using a tool like Milanote, reviewed here, where you can turn your notes into a storyboard for this project! Extend learning and modify technology use by having students use the Storyboard to create a multimedia presentation with a tool like Sway, reviewed here, to share their learning. Have students include text, images, videos, and a link to oodlu learning games in the Sway.

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Microsoft Learn - Microsoft

Grades
8 to 12
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Find free online training for a variety of skills and products, delivered by experts in the field, at Microsoft Learn (formerly Virtual Academy). Choose from the many courses offered...more
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Find free online training for a variety of skills and products, delivered by experts in the field, at Microsoft Learn (formerly Virtual Academy). Choose from the many courses offered for developers, IT pros, and data pros by topic or product. Some options include beginner courses and learning paths for students interested in technology careers. Participate in courses by viewing a series of videos then completing a final course assessment.

In the Classroom

Share the Learn site with students interested in learning more about technology and considering careers in computer programming. Have students choose courses of interest to complete on their own as part of a computer technology course. Share with the leader of after-school computer clubs to supplement their current material. You may also be interested in these printable, quick guides on how to use many of the most popular Microsoft products, such as Immersive Reader, Live Captions, and Reading Coach, reviewed here.

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Scratchwork - Scratchwork LLC

Grades
8 to 12
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Scratchwork is a collaborative whiteboard tool developed by mathematicians. This site uses LaTex code formatting for use with science and math documents. Draw, write and upload PDF...more
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Scratchwork is a collaborative whiteboard tool developed by mathematicians. This site uses LaTex code formatting for use with science and math documents. Draw, write and upload PDF documents for use on the whiteboard. Another unique feature allows you to scan written equations then access individual portions for use within the whiteboard. Collaborate in real time using chat, audio, and video features. When complete, download and save your whiteboard activities. Sign up with email or Google is required, and it allows you to access boards and share them at a later time. Free options include four boards with up to 100 MB storage with basic math recognition.

In the Classroom

Use Scratchwork in place of other whiteboard tools in secondary math and science classrooms for collaboration purposes. Scan written work while in a video chat as you and your student discuss questions and problem-solving activities. Share Scratchwork with students to use with peers to discuss and collaborate on homework. Ask students to use this site, then export their discussions in PDF format to demonstrate the exploration of concepts. Have students document learning from this site and other problem-solving activities using a blogging tool like Edublog, reviewed here.

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Deck.Toys - Boon Jin Goh

Grades
K to 12
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Deck.Toys is an interactive lesson creation site that works with your existing content. Use the site's drag and drop features to build lessons using your PowerPoint and Google Slides....more
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Deck.Toys is an interactive lesson creation site that works with your existing content. Use the site's drag and drop features to build lessons using your PowerPoint and Google Slides. Add differentiation features within self-exploration paths. Other options include teacher-sync, turn this feature on, and all students are synced to your current slide. Deck.Toys also includes student progress reporting in real-time and a comprehensive lesson report. Included with the free option are two classrooms, up to three private decks, unlimited public decks, and the ability to assign up to two classroom decks at a time. Be sure to watch the tutorials and take advantage of the site's FAQ section to get started.

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.

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Notejoy - Sachin Rekhi and Ada Chen Rekhi

Grades
K to 12
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Notejoy is a collaborative note-taking and sharing resource for teams. Create a note for a group and receive real-time updates. Features include checklists, upload of images and documents,...more
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Notejoy is a collaborative note-taking and sharing resource for teams. Create a note for a group and receive real-time updates. Features include checklists, upload of images and documents, and discussions. Quickly see who's viewed your notes and use emojis to respond or participate in threaded chats. Notejoy integrates with several major platforms including Google Drive and Microsoft Office. After signing up for Notejoy, follow the prompts to add your team name and emails of team members. Use your dashboard to create, share, and view notes. Free plans offer up to 5 members per library, up to 3 team libraries, and individual uploads up to 10 MB with a total storage of up to 100 MB.

In the Classroom

Use Notejoy to work collaboratively with your peers. Share discussions on lesson planning, field trip preparation, and professional development sessions. Take advantage of the checklists to assign and track completion of projects. Extend classroom technology use by sharing Notejoy with older students to use when working on group projects to help plan and complete tasks on time. ENL/ESL and resource teachers can use this with teachers of students who are mainstreamed.

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The Most Dangerous Writing Prompt App - Manuel Ebert

Grades
4 to 12
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Can you type for three minutes without stopping for more than five seconds? How about five minutes or longer - up to an hour? This website tests your writing persistence. ...more
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Can you type for three minutes without stopping for more than five seconds? How about five minutes or longer - up to an hour? This website tests your writing persistence. Choose how long you want to write or how many words then start writing. If you hesitate for five seconds, all of your work disappears. However, if you make it to the set amount of time, you can download what you typed.

In the Classroom

The creator of this app states that it "is designed to shut down your inner editor and get you into a state of flow." Share the app with students to use as a non-threatening way to practice putting their thoughts down without worrying about grammar, spelling, or being graded. Use the app as part of brainstorming sessions before beginning writing projects. Instead of using paper and pencil for journal writing, use this site as students become more comfortable with non-stop typing for a set amount of time (or number of words).

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Netboard - netboard.me

Grades
4 to 12
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Curate and share texts, documents, links, photos, and more with Netboard. Register and activate your account to begin. Choose "create" to begin a new page and begin adding content....more
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Curate and share texts, documents, links, photos, and more with Netboard. Register and activate your account to begin. Choose "create" to begin a new page and begin adding content. Enter the URL for any website, upload information from your computer, or add text boxes. Personalize the look of your page using layout, font and background skin options. Save your Netboard and share the custom URL with others, privacy options allow others with the link to only view or contribute to your board and for boards to remain private.

In the Classroom

Use Netboard to curate and collect resources for any subject. Create a new board to share with students for each unit, for example, when teaching a unit on fantasy in literature share resources to examples of fantasy writing, student examples of writing, images to inspire fantasy writing, and more. Have students create a Netboard to accompany any research project and ask them to include a link to all resources they used as part of their research.

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Wufoo - Survey Monkey

Grades
K to 12
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Create, personalize, and share online forms using Wufoo's form builder tools. Choose from a wide variety of templates for surveys, RSVP's, expenses, and more or create your own form...more
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Create, personalize, and share online forms using Wufoo's form builder tools. Choose from a wide variety of templates for surveys, RSVP's, expenses, and more or create your own form from scratch. The free plan includes up to five forms,10 fields, and 100 entries. Share your form when finished and Wufoo sends you email notifications as responses are posted.

In the Classroom

Use Wufoo to create response forms for any classroom need. Take advantage of the templates to invite parents to class or school events. Have students develop surveys using Wufoo and then analyze the results. Use order forms to collect money for field trips or to sell school t-shirts or memorabilia.

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Microsoft MakeCode - Microsoft

Grades
K to 12
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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...more
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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 the videos may not be viewable.

In the Classroom

Make use of the resources offered by Microsoft to share with your students as they learn how to code. Share project ideas with students and include materials for them to create their projects as part of makerspace activities. Have students take pictures of their creation and enhance their learning by using Voxer, reviewed here, to add audio to describe their creative process. Add images to your class website as part of your student work gallery. Challenge students to use Sway, reviewed here, to create an online multimedia page including images, video, and text to describe, evaluate, and share their work with coding projects. Include project ideas from the site and set up a makerspace during open house events at your school.

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edX - Anant Agarwal

Grades
8 to 12
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edX offers access to many of the best courses offered at top learning institutions - for FREE! Institutions include MIT, Harvard, and Berkley. Classes are available to complete for...more
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edX offers access to many of the best courses offered at top learning institutions - for FREE! Institutions include MIT, Harvard, and Berkley. Classes are available to complete for a Certificate of Achievement or as an audit. Choose from courses with topics in many areas including computers, literature, and humanities. Each course listing offers a short description of the course, details about the university offering the course, estimated time involved, course staff, and available options for taking the course. Start any course at any time. Take the edX Demo course to get a good idea of how courses work and find out about the online learning experience.

In the Classroom

Share with students on your interactive whiteboard and take the demo course together. This is perfect for use with gifted and advanced students as an option for college level courses and enrichment. Allow gifted students to enroll in courses that interest them or that provide enrichment beyond classroom content. Share with others, in your building, as a resource for professional development. Explore the topics yourself for some new, engaging topics to round out your own expertise. Allow students to enroll in a course that would fit into their career goals as an exploratory opportunity in that field.

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OK2Ask - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
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OK2Ask'® is TeachersFirst's series of virtual workshops available in both live (for credit) and on-demand (without credit) formats. These sessions, scheduled at convenient times...more
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OK2Ask'® is TeachersFirst's series of virtual workshops available in both live (for credit) and on-demand (without credit) formats. These sessions, scheduled at convenient times for you to attend from any computer or tablet, will share great ideas you can use in your classroom, are free courtesy of The Source for Learning, and are led by TeachersFirst''® ed tech coaches. These hands-on sessions are useful and teacher-friendly. You can earn Professional Development Certificates for attending the LIVE sessions (and completing the requirements) or learn independently from the archived recordings. Approved by special arrangement for re-licensure credit in Texas, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Sessions are correlated to the ISTE standards for Educators.

In the Classroom

Attend OK2Ask'® sessions with your teacher friends or "meet" teachers from far and wide. Mark OK2Ask in your Favorites. Then check back often for new offerings during the school year and summer breaks. During the school year, LIVE OK2Ask sessions are usually offered on Tuesday evenings in a 90-minute format. You can earn Professional Development Certificates for attending the LIVE sessions (and completing the requirements) or learn on your own from the archived recordings.

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