Incredibly easy-to-use video platform that saves time, boosts engagement, and improves student learning through videos. Use videos from YouTube, Khan Academy, or your own recorded videos! Students interact with the video as they watch it. Best part? It's FREE!
Easy-to-use social, video making website that allows educators and students to make video clips. Create a grid and ask students to discuss topics or questions; students answer by recording a short video of their responses! For educators, it's FREE!
Engage and interact with students in real-time. Perfect for Zoom lessons! It's a polling tool where you can set the questions and students give their input by using a cell phone or their computer.
Free quiz tool! Can be used on any device for in-class or online uses. Never grade a quiz again! The site has a ton of pre-built quizzes, too.
Homework option for independent work, or use in Zoom class.
An instructional platform that merges formative assessment and media. Upload tech-enhanced materials, or use one of their pre-made, standards-aligned lessons for all K-12 subjects. Easily integrates with Google Classroom.
Use alone or with Google Slides. Allows teacher to be in presentation mode, but also be interactive with students by giving formative assessments, create custom questions, add audio to a slide, and watch student reaction to the material. Great for Zoom.
Hyperdocs are customizable digital lessons that replace worksheets! They're the new thing in online learning, and you need to know how to create them!
Nadie's Collection of Hyperdocs
Teachers post question or prompt, and students post their response in this online bulletin board. Teacher is in full control! Great for collaborative work.
Turn any image into an interactive graphic! Create multiple hot-spots on specific parts of an image that launches multimedia when clicked on.
Use Remind to message students and parents... easy communication! Divide into classes to remind about assignments or just keep in touch.
Create classes and assign academic-aligned digital breakout games! There are also many pre-built games to choose!
Interactive learning experience that brings the content to life! For all subject areas... seriously, so good!
Host online, interactive meetings and include questions and polls. See results in real-time.
New tool! Easy to create and organize ideas. HERE is a presentation on uses of Wakelet from KATE's Patti DePreist!
Wide assortment of over 8,600 media for K-12!
Spin the Wheel random picker is an interactive tool that allows a teacher to make a decision at random. Good for calling on students during a Zoom meeting! FREE!
Students can annotate directly on top of Google Slides. It's a digital whiteboard that's simple to use! HERE is a simple tutorial!
Create your own games!
Scavenger Hunts... first student to bring the household item to their camera
Two Truths and a Lie
Virtual Guess Who... students e-mail you baby pictures; you show or post and have students guess who it is
Virtual Walk-On Song... students e-mail their favorite song; each day, play the song and students guess which of their peers picked the song
I wish I could take credit for this activity, but I had to share it with y'all! This teacher created a remote station activity for the first week of virtual school, and it is pretty amazing!
Here is the template: STATION ACTIVITY
Using a copied Google Slide deck for each of her students, she has students working at virtual stations, both alone and together, to get to know her and each other. Her five stations, which can be completed each day spread out over the first week or in just one or two days, are designed to allow her to learn more about each student, encourage collaboration, and help them practice their tech skills in a low-stakes way. They work in small groups for two of the stations and by themselves for the other three.
Here’s the station schedule:
Station 1 has the students introducing themselves using Flipgrid. It’s a great way for the teacher to start to put a name with each face and to also hear how to correctly pronounce the student’s name. The students also complete a Google Form so that they can tell the teacher a little more about themselves.
Station 2 targets the syllabus and logistics of the class. After reading what is posted, students are asked to respond to two questions: What is one thing you notice? and What is one thing you wonder?
Station 3 has the students create an “identity slide” in Google Slides. They are to place at least eight different images (their own photos or graphics they find on the web) on a slide that showcases their hobbies, favorite TV shows, what they are passionate about, etc. The teacher has provided a sample slide about herself for them to look at.
Station 4 is all about getting to know each other. In groups of four (in a Zoom breakout room), students must learn their classmates’ names, favorite snack, favorite book/movie/music, etc. and share that via a Google Slide.
Station 5 again has students work in small groups to create and share community statements about how they will treat each other. Once their lists are combined, the whole class will develop shared statements about how they will learn together moving forward.
There is another teacher who created a similar activity. Here is her template: GETTING TO KNOW YOU.
Her “Getting to Know You” slide deck has six stations that act as a review (or tutorial) of some key technology skills. They include the following:
Station 1 – inserting a video of your favorite music
Station 2 – timeline of your life
Station 3 – favorite place
Station 4 – drawing with the Shapes tool to show your favorite school supply
Station 5 – Word Art with your favorite quote
Station 6 – creating tables with your favorites
This is a wonderful article with 8 amazing ideas for student engagement while virtual teaching! It contains links and templates to the actual lessons!