Google Classroom - as a Google-based district, this should be your first choice for classroom management. Check out this Teacher's Essential Guide to Google Classroom to get started.
ClassDojo - a digital portfolio platform that allows teachers to communicate with students and parents.
Classflow - a site for online lesson delivery, interactive assessment and collaboration tools.
Edmodo - a digital classroom platform that allows students, teachers, and others to collaborate and communicate.
Seesaw - classroom management and student portfolios aimed at early and pre-readers.
Adobe Spark - create digital content for online learning.
Animoto - a free online video slideshow creator.
Flipgrid - free online software that allows teachers to post a question or discussion and have students record a video response.
Flippity - easily turn a Google sheet into a set of flash cards.
Google Help - a link to our RNESU page that has Google suite user guides, tutorials and tips and tricks.
Google Tools - an outline of the different apps and tools offered by Google.
Kahoot - offers live quiz games and self-paced challenge games for home-use at no cost.
LucidChart - tool for creating infographics. How to's and help available at Lucid for Education.
Quizizz - free quiz building site that also allows access to quizzes created and saved by other educators.
Quizlet - a compilation of flash cards, games, and diagrams in different subject areas.
Screencast-o-matic - a free screen recorder - there is also a free 30 day trial for a video editor.
Teach From Home - a temporary hub of information and tools from Google to help teachers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
WeVideo - our district subscribes to this online video editing software. Sign in with your RNESU Google account and
Building Blocks for Literacy - a robust professional learning program for early care and education professionals to help ensure that our youngest learners are prepared for literacy success when they enter kindergarten. Currently being offered for free thanks to the generosity of H. Sinclair Sherrill, co-founder of Boon Philanthropy.
Distance Learning Jump Start Guide - created and shared by GRCSU, this document outlines the steps teachers should take to set up an online learning environment, such as choosing your platform and designing modules/lessons, setting norms and expectations, communicating and collaborating, and determining how to assess completed work and provide feedback.
Distance Learning Jump Start Guide Using G-Suite - created and shared by GRCSU, this document outlines how to set up a virtual classroom, build interactive and engaging lessons, engage parents and guardians, stay organized, and use Google communication tools.
Facing History and Ourselves - provides resources and webinars related to online learning.
Global Online Academy - providing free online learning courses for teachers called “Designing for Online Learning”.
Harvard University Best Practices for Online Pedagogy - establishes guidelines, general approaches and best practices for online teaching.
How to Support Home Learning in Elementary Grades - an article on Edutopia where a first and second grade teacher shares his home learning plan for his students and how he is engaging their families.
If I had to do it Over Again - advice from international educators who are on prolonged online learning due to school closures.
A Letter to Educators Teaching Online for the First Time - an article from EdSurge with tips for staff who are teaching online for the first time.
A Note on Creating Distance / Virtual Learning Experiences - a message from Great Schools Partnership.
Online Learning: Teachers - A one page guide with links to tools and approaches.
Preparing for Remote Learning - created and shared by GRCSU, this document provides guidelines on how to shift to an online learning environment, how to deliver instruction, and how to determine the correct content for different age groups.
Public WiFi Hotspots in Vermont - from the Vermont Agency of Education: Broadband Internet access is an important resource for remote learning and working from home but may not be readily available to all residents. The Public Service Department has prepared a map of public buildings in Vermont where WiFi with access to the internet is publicly available. These sites are accessible at all hours from a parked vehicle on the road or parking lot. As a safety precaution, we discourage users from entering the premises or congregating outside. These sites should be accessed from within a parked vehicle. This information was compiled through an email survey of schools, libraries, and town offices conducted in March 2020.
Remote Learning Webinars - Illuminate Education is offering several webinars to help harness your current Illuminate tools to support remote learners.
Resources for Teaching Online Due to School Closures - a blog from Edublogger that provides planning examples, video conferencing suggestions, and app/site lists for online book access.
Stern Center for Language and Learning - schedule of online courses, webinars and workshops.
Tips for Enabling Distance Learning through G Suite & Chrome - a document from Google outlining how G-Suite can be used for online learning, including instructions on how to create interactive lessons that students can access in offline mode.
Transitioning to Online Learning Pro Tips - an interview with Mike Flynn, the director of Mathematics Leadership Programs at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, who has trained K-12 teachers and higher education faculty in best practices for online instruction.
What Teachers in China Have Learned in the Past Month - an article with suggestions on how to transition to an online classroom, and what difficulties may arise.
Vermont Agency of Education Secretary Daniel French has shared this well organized website that offers free tools, strategies, tips and best practices for teaching online.
Vermont PBS At-Home Learning - Vermont Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and the Agency of Education (AOE) are partnering to support continuity of learning for our students and school communities. This partnership provides access to free educational programming through Vermont PBS At-Home Learning. The Main channel delivers PreK through grade 8 programming that is aligned to national standards and includes interactive lessons and suggested activities. PBS Plus (WGBH) is airing standards-aligned educational programming for grades 6-12. Teachers can create unique accounts with their school email or Google account through PBS LearningMedia. Accounts are free and provide access to a range of additional features.
In addition to the sites above and our Online Learning Resources, we have found the below sites that are providing tools, content, and webinars for teachers as we navigate this challenging time.
21st Century Learning Assignments - education templates for a range of age groups; includes graphic organizers, activities, and lessons for many subjects, including arts & music, ELA, Math, Science and more!
Achieve - the EQuIP (Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products) suite of tools offers resources by grade (K-12) or by subject (ELA, Math, Science).
Actively Learn - a curriculum platform that is being offered for free through the remainder of the school year and can be accessed by any type of device, including smart phones.
Agency of Education - the Vermont Agency of Education has put together a Google doc with ELA resources.
Agilix Continuity of Learning - free online K-12 content from top publishers.
Amplify K-5 Literacy - offering educators free access to a remote learning version of Amplify Reading for the remainder of the school year.
'Blizzard Bag' Lessons - a compilation of lessons from various teacher websites, many of which are printable take-home worksheet type assignments.
Collins Education Associates - free resources for creating distance learning packets.
Content Creation Tools - a Wakelet page that offers suggestions on different programs for creating content.
Dan Meyer's Three-Act Math Tasks - small math units which may be appropriate for adapting for online learning, many of which include videos.
Edmentum - free resources to continue learning during school closures.
Edpuzzle - allows you to make videos interactive to add questions for comprehension, and can be integrated with Google Classroom.
Education Companies Offering Free Subscriptions - this is a Google Sheet with a list of companies offering free subscriptions for schools that close amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Please check back often as it is being updated regularly.
Edutopia - tools, resources and blogs for teachers.
Flyleaf Publishing - Free access to beautifully illustrated decodable books for emergent and beginning readers, starting with VC/CVC words (e.g., I Am Sam) through r-controlled vowels (e.g., Marvin's Trip to Mars).
Illumination Education - a Google drive folder of free, printable ELA and Math Performance Tasks from the "Inspect Plus" product. Each performance task allows students to explore concepts, scenarios and texts in depth and includes step-by-step instructions and scoring rubrics, which allow students working from home to check their work.
Illuminate Education: Supporting Schools and Districts Impacted by COVID-19 - a community page with free resources as you support students remotely and continue their learning. There is a variety of new webinars about distance learning and virtual proctoring, professional learning activities, articles, product tips, and links to other trusted resources.
K-12 Support for Emergency Online Instruction - a Facebook group for educators where updates on free subscriptions and curriculum are shared.
KellyGallagher.org - Coronavirus-related lesson plans for reading and writing in social studies and ELA.
Khan Academy Schedules - free, non-commercial schedules which are meant to be templates that can be adopted or copied and modified to better suit the needs of your children, classroom or district. Khan Academy has self-paced, interactive content - exercises, videos and articles - for students in every grade and in most major subject areas.
Laura King's Literacy Blog - created and maintained by RNESU literacy teacher leader Laura King, this blog offers resources and high engagement/home adapted learning activities.
Learning At Home Resources for Teachers - a list of resources compiled by the Vermont School Library Association (VSLA)
Learning Forward - offers webinars, the first being "Preparing educators for school closings and a new learning environment" on Thursday, March 19th - "Teaching in an online environment" will be Thursday, March 26th - "Mindfulness and well-being (taking care of yourself!) during unprecedented times" will be Thursday, April 2nd.
Learning Keeps Going - a coalition of education organizations has curated free tools, strategies, tips and best practices for teaching online.
Maintenance of Learning Guidance - a document by Megan Grube and Mary Fitzgerald to give you some guidance to think about as you make your plans.
Nearpod - an online instructional platform that allows you to create formative assessments, interactive quizzes and more.
Newsela - free educational resources for ELA, Science, Social Studies, SEL, and more.
Online Learning Teaching Plan - examples of Larry Ferlazzo's online learning plans.
Open eBooks - the free Open eBooks app allows kids to instantly download* up to 10 eBooks at a time to their mobile digital devices. Each eBook will be available for 56 days before it must be renewed. Students and their families can choose eBooks based on the topics that get them excited about reading and learning, and search for eBooks by title or author. *Teachers must request the free access codes and PINs to provide to students.
Really Good Stuff - free printable PDFs of activities for students
Stanford History Education Group - includes "Reading Like a Historian" lessons which revolve around a central historical question and feature a set of primary documents designed for groups of students with a range of reading skills; "Beyond the Bubble" history assessments which includes 80 easy-to-use assessments that measure students' historical thinking rather than recall of facts; and "Civic Online Reasoning" curriculum which provides free lessons and assessments that help you teach students to evaluate online information that affects them, their communities, and the world.
Social Studies School Service - free digital access for the rest of the school year to the following proprietary platforms: Active Classroom, Nystrom World, and Young Citizens
Socrative - an online learning platform that allows limited free access for classrooms with 50 or less students.
Stern Center for Language Literacy Resources - the staff of the Stern Center for Language and Learning Orton-Gillingham Institute and Orton-Gillingham Center of Charleston put together a brief list of resources.
Teacher Content Resources - online content for subjects such as Math, ELA, Art, Music, PE, etc.