TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Jul 21, 2019

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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Twitter Chat: Using Technology to Strengthen Social Emotional Learning - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
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This archived Twitter chat is from February 2019 and will open in Wakelet. The title of this chat is: Using Technology to Strengthen Social Emotional Learning. During this chat, participants...more
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This archived Twitter chat is from February 2019 and will open in Wakelet. The title of this chat is: Using Technology to Strengthen Social Emotional Learning. During this chat, participants will: 1. Define and discuss the main components of social emotional learning 2. Discuss the role of technology in strengthening SEL and 3. Share resources to help educators address the social emotional needs of students.

In the Classroom

Find resources and explore ways to build and strengthen social emotional learning (SEL) within the classroom. Share this chat with your colleagues looking for sites and information related to social emotional learning (SEL).

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Mentoring Resources - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
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This collection from TeachersFirst features resources to help teachers mentor students. Find tools to use with all grade levels. Here you will find tools to help students prepare for...more
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This collection from TeachersFirst features resources to help teachers mentor students. Find tools to use with all grade levels. Here you will find tools to help students prepare for college or a future career, anti-violence tools, ways to empower girls, character building, and more. Use these tools to coach, lead, teach, and mentor in your classroom and beyond.

In the Classroom

Share sites with the entire class or find specific tools that are useful for individual students in your class. This is a great list to share with parents at the beginning of the year, and list on your class website!

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Understood - Understood.org USA LLC

Grades
K to 12
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Understood is an online collaboration of 15 non-profit organizations with a goal to provide learning resources for students aged 3-20. The site offers thousands of articles, decision...more
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Understood is an online collaboration of 15 non-profit organizations with a goal to provide learning resources for students aged 3-20. The site offers thousands of articles, decision guides, quizzes, and more. Also, choose from unique tools such as the Parenting Coach, Tech Finder, and Through Your Child's Eyes (simulations of different learning issues). Use the Parent Toolkit to find personalized resources available by topic, grade, or learning disorder. Videos reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site as an excellent tool for finding learning resources for classroom students and sharing with parents. Understood includes several helpful resources for parents and educators on how to discuss and teach about racism, use the search feature to find activities to incorporate into your current units about race and prejudice. Be sure to share a link to the site with parents on your class website or newsletter. Use items found on this site as part of your professional development activities. Organize participant's thoughts and ideas using a mind mapping tool like MindMup, reviewed here. Share websites, articles, and resources related to your topic using a bookmarking tool such as Papaly, reviewed here. Papaly allows you to share resources and add comments making collaboration easy for participants. Expand your learning and collaboration efforts using a tool like Flip, reviewed here. Flip is a video response tool that allows you to record a question and gather video responses. As a final product and follow-up to send to your participants, share information learned from this site and others through a multimedia presentation with Sway, reviewed here. Sway is an easy to use tool for creating professional-looking online presentations including video, images, text, and more.

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Bitmoji - Bitstrips Inc

Grades
K to 12
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Build an emoji with Bitmoji. Bitmoji is an Android and Apple app, also available as a Chrome extension. Use email to create an account then follow prompts to create an ...more
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Build an emoji with Bitmoji. Bitmoji is an Android and Apple app, also available as a Chrome extension. Use email to create an account then follow prompts to create an emoji with your likeness; save it as a PNG to your computer, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive. The fun starts after creating your emoji! Choose from countless options to share your Bitmoji in emails, messages, as an avatar (even inserting it into your favorite games), or anywhere you communicate online.

In the Classroom

Create a Bitmoji to use as your avatar on your class website or blog. Update your avatar to reflect current lessons, holidays, or events. Use emojis to appeal to students and draw their attention to important information. For example, choose the bitmoji with praying hands and "please" as a reminder to read all of the directions before beginning work. Choose a Bitmoji with an interesting background or phrase to use as a writing prompt. Insert a bitmoji into a Google form as feedback for student responses. Have older students (13+) take a picture of a portion of text and add a Bitmoji to share a connection or response to the text (also known as BookSnaps).

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Coaching Boys Into Men - Futures Without Violence

Grades
4 to 12
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Coaching Boys Into Men is a prevention program for athletic coaches to teach young men healthy relationship skills and that violence doesn't equal strength. Tools include several downloads...more
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Coaching Boys Into Men is a prevention program for athletic coaches to teach young men healthy relationship skills and that violence doesn't equal strength. Tools include several downloads such as posters and step by step lessons to integrate into weekly training sessions.

In the Classroom

Share this program with your school's athletic coaches, physical education teachers, school counselors, and parents who coach athletic teams. Use the program locator to find nearby communities involved with the program. Invite a local coach to speak to young men in your school regarding healthy relationship skills. Extend technology use and student learning by having them create a newspaper featuring sports role models using a site such as Printing Press, reviewed here.
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Teach With Movies - TeachWithMovies.com, Inc.

Grades
3 to 12
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Hundreds of teachable movies! That's how many lesson plans or guides you'll find at Teach With Movies. Search one of the numerous categories to locate the movie, documentary, or short...more
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Hundreds of teachable movies! That's how many lesson plans or guides you'll find at Teach With Movies. Search one of the numerous categories to locate the movie, documentary, or short you want. Some of the categories are Subject Matter (and not just math, science, history, etc.), Social-Emotional Learning (themes like Ambition, Coming of Age, and many others), Appropriate Age (three through adult), and Set Up the Sub (found on the top menu under Features), just to name a few. Lessons include a general summary of the film and discussion questions with answers. Most also include a rationale for using the movie, the subjects, topics, and themes, if there is a book - a bit of background and review of it, objectives, possible problems, historical context, and more. Of course, the topics for consideration depend on the film. Sign up for the newsletter to see when there are lesson guides for the newest movies. Whether culminating a unit or introducing one, using these lessons and guides along with the video will help to make a lasting impression about your topic.

In the Classroom

Movies offer an entertaining format for history and thematic studies. Use a video to add to the learning experience of students who are visual and auditory learners. Use this site to find videos in a wide range of topics to share on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. Take advantage of the free lesson plans for classroom use. Preview the lessons before viewing and convert those that can be to a real-time discussion to engage students WHILE they watch a video! Enhance classroom learning and technology use and achieve this by setting up a backchannel chat using GoSoapBox, reviewed here. Alternatively, if you are distance or remote teaching or have a blended classroom, use VideoAnt, reviewed here, to ask questions and have students respond directly on the video.

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Big Ideas Video Series - Class Dojo

Grades
K to 8
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The Big Ideas Series, offered by ClassDojo, provides ten video topics encouraging students to explore different ways to healthy social emotional development. The videos discuss concepts...more
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The Big Ideas Series, offered by ClassDojo, provides ten video topics encouraging students to explore different ways to healthy social emotional development. The videos discuss concepts such as Empathy, Perseverance, Positive Thinking, Gratitude, Mindfulness, and more. Each topic has a series of short videos and includes a discussion guide to download for classroom use and a page with take-home questions for parent use.

In the Classroom

You may want to start your school year by sharing the three part video series on Empathy. Each video is five minutes and has a discussion guide. As a follow up use the Ripples of Kindness activity in small groups. Share younger students' observations on a whiteboard or poster. Older students can share their observations using a tool like Stickies, reviewed here. Dotstorming allows participants to add comments. Share other videos with a projector or on an interactive whiteboard to introduce a video each week and explore the discussion questions together. These videos could be very useful when preparing and motivating students for upcoming standardized testing or at the beginning of a school year to set a tone that everyone can learn. Include a link to videos on your class web page for parents to discuss at home with their student, and be sure to send home the take-home questions with topics to talk about.
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Radio Rookies - WNYC Public Radio

Grades
8 to 12
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Radio Rookies offers programming created by teens for teens to help in coping with the challenges of teen life. Scroll down the home page to browse through recent episodes and ...more
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Radio Rookies offers programming created by teens for teens to help in coping with the challenges of teen life. Scroll down the home page to browse through recent episodes and articles featuring difficult topics such as abuse, dating, and dealing with peers. Become a part of Radio Rookies by downloading the DIY Radio Rookies Toolkit here, featuring ideas and information for sharing your own story. Be sure to check out the features of the toolkit for videos and tip sheets with ideas for using Radio Rookies as a teaching tool. Please note - many topics discussed on this site are sensitive, and not necessarily appropriate for your class. Be sure to preview any broadcast before sharing with the class.

In the Classroom

Be sure to include this site on your class webpage for students to access both in and outside of class as a resource for hearing how peers handle difficult teenage issues. Share a link with parents as a resource for them to use with their teen. Remind parents to PREVIEW! Be sure to share with your school's counselor as an excellent tool for use when working with students. Listen to episodes together with your class, and then have cooperative learning groups create podcasts discussing specific issues found in your school or classroom. Use a tool such as podOmatic, reviewed here. Before beginning the podcast, have students create a storyboard using a tool like Notepad, reviewed here. They will also need to develop a script and practice. Try using Typewrite, reviewed here, for students to write the script collaboratively. This tool allows groups to write together. All the tools mentioned in this review will augment classroom technology use.
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Happier - Nataly Kogan

Grades
3 to 12
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Share positive moments and increase your happiness! Share by describing your happy moment, upload a picture (not required), and place it in categories you create, such as working out,...more
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Share positive moments and increase your happiness! Share by describing your happy moment, upload a picture (not required), and place it in categories you create, such as working out, family, and more. Click Share to share with others, including on Twitter or Facebook. Why use categories? If you are lacking motivation for working out, viewing your positive messages from before can definitely help! Connect with others and comment on their happy moments! Read helpful tips to center you on happiness, find mini-courses, and use daily reminders to increase your happiness. Read the many articles on your journey to a happier YOU! This site/app is easy to use with today's busy lives, and interactivity is grounded in actual science.

In the Classroom

With testing, social pressure, and the desire to do well use Happier in class to celebrate the small steps and successes on which students should be focusing. Teach students to identify positives along the way, no matter what the test or situation's outcome. Consider asking what did you learn from the situation? Identify categories that encompass all of the student's lives and focus on finding happy moments in all areas. Be sure to use this yourself! Find the positives in every facet of your day building happiness day by day. Psychology and Sociology classes can use this as an experiment about happiness, collecting student or family data through the year.

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Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted - SENG

Grades
1 to 12
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Change lives and futures of gifted and talented individuals by gaining a more comprehensive view of being gifted. SENG's mission is to empower families and communities to help gifted...more
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Change lives and futures of gifted and talented individuals by gaining a more comprehensive view of being gifted. SENG's mission is to empower families and communities to help gifted and talented individuals to reach their goals: intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. Various of programs offer education either through home study courses, annual conferences, online parent support groups, or ways to establish a parent support group in your area. Continuing education credits are offered for health care professionals or any interested individual. Find a health care provider in your own area. Free materials further explain medical misdiagnosis for Gifted, Emotional Health, Twice Gifted, ADHD, Roles for Health Care Professionals, and more. An extensive free library of print, audio, and video resources helps explain the need of gifted and talented students and how to advocate for them. Find links to other gifted organizations, books, and downloadable informational brochures.
This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Have questions about a gifted child or a child you suspect to be gifted? Teach a gifted and talented group? Answer many of your own questions and also parent questions with an amazing amount of information available. Sponsor a parent night for Gifted Students and offer and feature many of the resources highlighted. Be sure you have a strong base of your own knowledge of the needs of gifted and talented students. Keep up to date with latest research and information.
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CurriConnects Book List: Books for Tough Situations - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
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Use this CurriConnects list to find independent reading books to help students facing difficult circumstances such as divorce, loss, bullying, deployed parents, friendship issues, eating...more
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Use this CurriConnects list to find independent reading books to help students facing difficult circumstances such as divorce, loss, bullying, deployed parents, friendship issues, eating disorders, and more. CurriConnects thematic book lists include ISBN numbers for ordering or searching, interest grade levels, ENL/ESL levels and Lexiles'''® to match with student independent reading levels to challenge, not frustrate. Don't miss other CurriConnects themes being added regularly.

In the Classroom

Build student literacy skills and help students facing personal challenges. Reading about personally meaningful topics will help students work through them. It will also build the important reading strategy of connecting what they read to what they already know. Keep this list handy in your Favorites to suggest options when a student seems to need them. Since the list includes topics for all levels of maturity, you might want to share portions of it rather than the entire list. You may also want to tell parents about it during parent conferences or when situations arise. As always, allow students to self- select independent reading books from a list of options. Don't forget to share the list with the school and local libraries so they can bring in some of the books on interlibrary loan, if needed. Your school counselor will also appreciate this list. CurriConnects are a great help for teachers and parents who have lost school library/media specialists due to budget cuts.

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