Resources for Educators

We have compiled a list of resources to assist you with this challenge.We will continue to add to resources to this collection to support your distance learning needs.

Google for Education.A suite of tools designed to empower educators and students as they learn and innovate together.Educators can provide instant feedback and track a student’s progress to improve performance.G Suite for Education is a suite of free Google apps tailored specifically for schools.
Nearpod is a student engagement platform built to make teaching with technology easy. It’s designed to work with any classroom technology, from iPads and iPhones to Macs and Chromebooks. With Nearpod you can control what your students see and get feedback in real-time.
Edpuzzle is a way to make any video your lesson, interactive and student-centered. Rather than a teacher playing a video, clicking pause, and then trying to get students to discuss or take notes or interrogate the film based on what the teacher deems reasonable, Edpuzzle puts the student in control.
Zoom is an easy to use video conferencing program that allows for multiple participants, audio and video sharing, screen sharing, working on a whiteboard and recording.
Poll Everywhere is a student-response tool that offers whole-class participation and assessment through teacher-designed surveys, polls, and discussion boards. Available on just about any platform, from the web to iOS and Android to all the major presentation providers, setup is quick and easy. Teachers can register for a free account with limited responder access that includes the ability to create questions that can incorporate images and text as well as graph results in real time.
Screencastify is a Chrome browser extension that records your screen, face, voice, and more. To use Screencastify, find its icon in the Chrome toolbar and choose among the recording options: record a single tab in your web browser, capture all screen activity, or use your webcam to record or insert a video of yourself.
Quizizz is limited to single-select or multi-select multiple-choice quizzes, it'll likely be best for helping students recall facts and prepare for traditional tests. Use Quizizz as an in-class quiz game or assign it for homework for students to complete on their own. While teachers can create quizzes brand new, there's also a handy database with tons of existing quizzes and questions that can be grabbed and edited as needed. Quizizz is a game show-style quiz tool similar to Kahoot!, Quizalize, and Quizlet.
Kahoot!, a free student-response tool for all platforms, allows teachers to run game-like multiple-choice answer quizzes. Teachers can either create their own quizzes or find, use, and/or remix public quizzes. Questions and polls can contain images and video to help further appeal to all learners. Classic mode and Team mode take place in real time, but Challenge mode enables students to take quizzes within a set time frame, such as for homework. The energized, game-like atmosphere comes from the use of bright colors, suspenseful music, and points awarded for response accuracy and speed.
AWWApp.With the basic (free) version of AWW - A Web Whiteboard, teachers can write, draw, highlight, type, and import images onto an interactive whiteboard. They can share the board with students via a link, giving them access to view only or to edit as well. There's also an option to give every student his or her own version, which is a great option for assessments. Use this for one-on-one tutoring sessions, for whole-class instruction with participation, or for interactive professional development or student presentations. Students join the presentation via a link and can enter any name, so teachers may want to specify what they'll accept.
Lino is a web-based sticky note platform that lets users add virtual sticky notes to a virtual bulletin board, or "canvas." Each note can contain simple text, or you can add photos. Canvases can be left public or made private, and you can invite others to join and contribute content. You can download a bookmarklet tool to make it easier to grab content from the web; you also can view and search through public canvases for interesting content.*Brainstorming a concept,*KWL,*Classifying objects in a lesson,*Comparing and contrasting an idea,*Image sharing,*Word wall,*Class excursions: plan, feedback, reflections,*Mind mapping. Alternative to Padlet.Free.
Synth is an audio/video recording and publishing platform that is designed for teachers and students of all age levels. I have had the opportunity to work with Synth both in the early elementary grades as well as in advanced high school level courses. Synths are 256-second audio or video sound bytes that you can share publicly or privately with your students. - Can be put into Podcasts , for a whole class discussion, or for a multi-Synth listening experience, -Public Synths and Podcasts can be shared and searched for and cover hundreds of educational topics, -Synths and Podcasts can be created on your mobile devices or on your Chromebooks/Desktop providing students the ability to create podcasts on any device available to them.
Flipgrid is a website that allows teachers to create "grids" to facilitate video discussions. Each grid is like a message board where teachers can pose questions, called "topics," and their students can post video responses that appear in a tiled grid display. Grids can be shared with classes, small groups, or any collection of users interested in a common strand of questions. Each grid can hold an unlimited number of topics and each topic can hold an unlimited number of responses. Use Flipgrid to further classroom conversations by assigning questions as homework assignments and then continue the conversation in class the next day. Ask students to weigh in on a critical current event for a social studies or civics class; use it in a math class to ask students to describe the process they used to solve a complex problem.
Newsela is an online news-as-literacy platform that features high-interest articles on everything from current events to myths and legends and from literature to science.Content is updated daily, with stories from a wide range of sources (from the Associated Press to Scientific American to the Washington Post) in English and also often in Spanish. Topics run the gamut from pop culture to roller derby and Minecraft, and they touch on subjects that encourage cross-curricular reading, such as DNA testing, global women's rights, living conditions in Syria, and travel to Mars. All articles are available in five Lexile levels, ranging (roughly) from third to 12th grade. Each leveled text features a quiz tailored to that particular article plus a writing prompt that asks students to write and respond to what they've read.
CommonLit is a free digital tool that helps students in grades 5-12 make measurable gains in reading and writing. Teachers can go to CommonLit.org, create a free account, and access our free library of high-interest, standards-aligned lessons.CommonLit Literacy Model is built on a foundation of over 2,000 high-quality free reading passages for grades 3-12, complemented by aligned interim assessments, growth-oriented data, and expert-led teacher development.
InsertLearning (formerly DocentEDU) is a Chrome extension (with companion iOS and Android apps) that lets teachers turn any site into an interactive online lesson. Once the toolbar pops up, teachers and students can add annotations, embed videos into websites, add maps, quizzes, discussions, and do much more. Ultimately, the goal is that teachers can guide student learning with questions or class discussions online so students can learn outside the classroom and teachers can help the next day in class.
ReadWorks is a free website offering resources for differentiated reading instruction, specifically comprehension. There's a range of nonfiction texts, activities, and assessments as well as an online platform teachers can use to track student progress. After signing up as a teacher, click on Class Admin from the top menu and create a class. Teachers can add students manually or via Google Classroom by sharing a class code. Using the drop-down menus, teachers will find all that they need to get started: class demo videos, classroom protocols, tips, and suggestions that will make it easy to implement or improve reading instruction.
GEOshow is a guided virtual field trip (VFT) experience that virtually takes you around the world.Our VFTs will introduce you to new histories, cultures, and natural wonders of the world. The aim of GEOshow is to inspire wonder about our home planet and its inhabitants. So pack your bags, lace up your boots, and let’s go exploring!
NewseumED is a free online learning platform that reaches more than 11 million teachers and students around the world.The museum's website offers a supplement to the Newseum's exhibits as well as a variety of digital extension activities and resources providing ample background on journalism, civics, and historical events. The main part of the website complements the physical museum's exhibitions. Teachers can also make use of the collection of front pages of 750 different newspapers from around the country and the world.
LabXchange brings together high-quality content from a variety of sources in the form of online learning assets, including videos, assessments, and simulations. Our re-engineered Open edX platform gives users the flexibility to search, select, and insert these assets into their own customized learning pathways.Users can add material to link the learning assets they select to create their own storylines, clarify new learning objectives, and adapt existing pathways to better meet their needs.Users can run their experimental designs online, assess the quality of the virtual data outcomes, and troubleshoot their designs in iterative cycles of improvement.
Praxilabs is a virtual lab and 3D simulation software designed specifically to help educational institutions around the world acquire an affordable, innovative, and immersive solution to their science lab needs. The 3D virtual lab solution gives students an immersive learning environment that delivers realistic experiences sans the risks and the costs that come with expensive and dangerous lab experiments.The software is a perfect application that replaces actual biology, chemistry, and physics labs but doesn’t impede or hamper the students’ learning process. Instead, it helps enrich their understanding.