Jamboard is a free Google tool that creates whiteboards that are a lot like slides. You don't need an interactive whiteboard to use it. You can use the app for free on any device! It works with Google Drive and allows you to present your whiteboard to people viewing remotely. Which makes it a great online whiteboard option for distance learning.

Check out the "Getting started with Jamboard video" and the 10 Jamboard templates that you can use for remote learning.

Click on the the "The Google Teacher Center" link to discover has some great resources for educators looking to get started using Jamboard in their classrooms. Resources include:
- a video library or tutorials
- tips and trick from teachers
- PDF guides
- lesson plans and more

In today's world, 21st century skills are crucial for our learners as they provide the foundation for success in a rapidly evolving society. These skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and digital literacy, equip children with the abilities to navigate complex challenges, adapt to change, and thrive in a globalized world. By nurturing these skills, we empower our learners to become agile, innovative, and socially responsible individuals who can actively contribute to the progress and well-being of our society.This resource has a 21st Century Skills poster, a big view 21st Century Skills Scope and Sequence document for grades 1-12, and a more focused view 21st Century Skills Scope and Sequence document for each of the following grade groupings 1-2, 3-6, 7-9, 10-12. This resource also has  Digital Literacy Scope and Sequence documents for each of the following grade groupings 1-2, 3-6, 7-9, 10-12 (linked in each of the previous documents).

Students can self-assess their 21st century skills using the division rubrics. You may wish to have them write a short reflection in the box they evaluate themsevles in (supported, with some support, with limited support or independent), or they can simply mark where they feel they are as another option.At the bottom there is room for students to reflect on their greatest area of strength, and explain why. There is also an area for the student to indentify an area of growth and state how they can imporve. The documents are attached below in MSWord (feel free to edit to fit your needs) and PDF verisions. Teachers may include these reflections with student reports or conferences if they they choose to. 

Over 40 free online escape rooms to use with your class. They are already made and free!

Culture is crucial. Teachers want to build it in the classroom. School administrators want to build it in their schools. How do we build relationships with students, set standards, and make school a place where students want to be?

The classroom is a good place to start. This video shares 5 ways to build school culture with your interactive display.

Samsung has a fantastic interactive display called the Samsung Interactive Pro. This is the tool being used in the video, but the same strategies can be used with any interactive display device.

Here are the 5 ways to build school culture with your interactive display:
#1 - Classroom Rules and Norms Brainstorming Session
#2 - Get to Know You Unboxing Video Activity
#3 - Create a Digital Appreciation Board
#4 - Create a Class Banner or Quilt
#5 - Do a Digital "What Do You Remember" Activity

Check out this collection of challenge materials for fun, easy, and engaging ways to get your students learning!

There are new challenges every month so keep checking back! Be sure to explore past Creative Challenges as well!

This is available in website and app versions. This is a very user friendly way to make podcasts.  There are a variety of sound effects, clips etc to be used to make a polished more professional sounding podcast.  Students - make sure you have your school's and parent's permission before using this! 

These interactive videos are meant to stimulate creativity and a hands-on activity at home.

Socratic seminars are a democratic, student-centered, approach to class discussions. They can be used at any grade level with any subject area. In a Socratic Seminar, members meet in a circle and share their insights. Participants do not raise their hands or call on names. Because there’s no discussion leader, each member can comment or ask follow-up questions to one another. This approach can be empowering for participants because they own the conversation. Unlike a typical class discussion, the conversation moves fluidly back and forth rather than having to go through the teacher.

This article outlines several approaches to conducting a Socratic Seminar:
- The Giant Circle Approach
- The “Fish Bowl” Approach
- The Round Table Approach
- The Scattered Approach
- Multiple Seminars
- Online/Offline Seminars

The author also provides a sample of how to run a Socratic Seminar and tips for ensuring that all students can participate.

This site has an amazing variety of tools that students can use to share their learning.
Let your students have voice and choice!
Some of the best choices on this site include

FAKEBOOK - kids can make a mock facebook page ONLINE for a historical figure, or a character in a novel. Etc.

PAC MAN & ARCADE GAMES -transform your quiz into a trivia Pac Man game. The kids have to answer questions to play and if they die they must answer more questions to continue. The kids can make their own trivia games as well. This could be a great final product and you could play it on the smartboard as a class to evaluate it.

FAKE NEWS Headlines - this would be great for an important event in a novel, or current events, or historical info!

QR CODE TREASURE HUNT – no Internet needed. Kids can create these; or you could!

BURGER ESSAY PLANNER -students can plan and organized essays with the provided structure!

Other Options include: timers, turn your text into a Star Wars theme, 3D gallery, fake Twitter, random name picker, etc!

By signing up with your email address and clicking the yellow subscribe button, you will receive this great design thinking project that your students will love! It is part of a design thinking toolkit and includes a free design thinking project, an eBook, and a suite of assessments. You will also receive a weekly email with free, members-only access to the latest blog posts, videos, podcasts and resources to help you boost creativity and spark innovation in your classroom.

The AI Family Challenge is a free, hands-on AI education program that brings families, schools, communities, and technology know-it-alls together to give everyone the chance to learn, play and create with AI.

If your student/child is not sure what they can write, use this handy chart from Scholastic to get them started. There are so many choices!

When students create digitally, that doesn't mean they can't interact face to face. The digital gallery walk blends digital and face-to-face learning.

Here's how it works:
1. Students create a digital artifact of their learning.
2. When everyone is finished, students display their work on their screens.
3. Students stand up and leave their devices on their desks.
4. They circulate the room, stopping at their peers’ desks (and devices) to check out their work.

(This could be applied to professional learning as well)

It's that simple. Check out this post for more details!

"Introduce students in grades 3–5 to Digital Passport™ by Common Sense Education. The award-winning suite of six interactive games addresses key issues kids face in today's digital world. Each engaging game teaches critical digital citizenship skills that help students learn to use technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate. Games are available in Spanish."

Learn about passwords, online safety, sharing private information online, cyberbullying, how to search and more - all by playing games.

A complete educator guide is available.

Help your students to get organized by keeping all their materials and resources for your subject in this digital portfolio. The downloadable template provides tips, tricks and lots of examples to get you and your students started documenting their learning journey. You provide the template to the students so they can implement what they have learned during the class, semester or year.

Create a free account (use your Google sign in) to have access to this great resource!

Students have access to a number of courses in the area of:

*Social & Emotional Learning
*Financial Education
*Health & Wellness
*College & Career Readiness
*Early Learning

NEW courses are being added regularly.

ECE- K-3
Word Force
Healthier Me Jr
Compassion Project

Elementary/Middle 4-8
Vault
Healthier Me Middle School
Hockey Scholar Math & Science
Endeavour STEM Career Exploration
Ignition Digital Safety & Citizenship
Character Playbook
Venture Entrepreneurship
Mental Wellness Basics

High Schools 9-12
Mental Wellness Basics
Venture Entrepreneurship
AlcoholEdu
Prescription Drug Safety
Marketplaces
EVERFI Financial Literacy
Honour Code

Flipgrid is social learning for PreK to PhD learners ... and beyond!

Teachers can create grids and add topics.

Grids are the meeting place for your classroom, your school, your department or any learning community to discuss your Topics.

Start with an icebreaker, add weekly reflections, share book talks, explore STEM principles, give mini-presentations ... any Topic to ignite discussion!

Check out the Flipgrid Educator’s Guide (copy and paste this web address into a browser: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzZGEfOtEWqPcGUzcFd2RzRjYTQ/view) by our awesome friends Karly, Sean and Jennifer!

One of the daily challenges of life is: “How do I get people—including myself—to do what I want?” The Four Tendencies framework makes this task much easier by revealing whether a person is an Upholder, Questioner, Obliger, or Rebel.