Education is the tool to change the world. It has the power to fight diseases, poverty, child mortality, population growth...
Education changes lives!
"One child, one teacher, one book and one pen
can change the world" Malala Yousafzai
That's why I love educators.
Of course, we have all been upset about teachers. But we have also all had the teachers that transformed our lives by supporting, encouraging and believing in us.
Thank you, teachers and educators all over the world.
You can never be paid enough - and never be paid back.
"You don't have to be a teacher to be an educator"
You don't have to be a teacher to be an educator. You may volunteer as one. Or the next time you find yourself giving a presentation you can use these resources to engage your audience better.
Most of us are educators multiple times throughout our life: as parents, as friends, as presenters as colleagues. So let's get started.
In honor of all the teachers who have impacted my life:
20 (Free) Resources for Educators
Secret weapons to not only tell but share a lesson
I love this initiative and I think any student will too. It's a learning platform that helps students gain awareness about global issues. The best part: for the units that the students complete, Deedly's partners donate money to charity.
"Your students gain awareness on social issues
and money is donated to charity"
Yes, I do believe in intrinsically motivated learning, but has there ever been a better extrinsic motivation to study than improving the world?
This platform describes itself as a "unique engine for computing answers and providing knowledge". It seems like an online Encyclopedia - like a shorter, more interactive, artificial-intelligence based Wikipedia. As far as I understand it you just type in anything you want to learn more about, defines and explains it for you (and your students).
This simple quiz-game is timeless. You create the questions and the options and your students compete. It's that simple but I have played it in College and I promise that 21-year-olds get as excited about this quiz game as 8-year olds.
"Friendly competition that helps students learn without realizing it"
I believe that you could probably play this with Chief Executives at Fortune 500 companies and it would be a hit. Maybe someone can try that and tell me about it.
This is a 6-10 week interdisciplinary course that allows students to apply what they have learned in the classroom in a a meaningful project or service. This empowers kids to make a change in their communities.
"Integrate Service learning into your classes"
There are different course modules available for elementary up to high school students. Looking to implement even more service learning into your classroom? Check out their Semester of Service program.
I honestly believe that Quizlet is responsible for most of my success in High School. It's a simple concept: online flashcards. What it did for me is that I integrated memorizing stuff into my routine.
On the bus, while waiting in line... yes, on the toilet.
"Online flashcards and games"
You can simply use them as you would with physical cards, but it also has a range of games that students can play by themselves and in the classroom, like Quizlet live. You would think that High School seniors wouldn't be impressed with games like this but I promise I haven't never seen my classmates as eager and competitive as when we were playing Quizlet (or Kahoot).
If there is one thing we want to foster in our children it's probably kindness. This website offers a proven and free "social emotional learning" curriculum with the intention to foster kindness inside and outside the classroom.
"Foster a culture of kindness"
It also has a range of other kindness resources like a kindness calendar, a media kit and lot's of quotes, stories and videos.
I am not a teacher but I am definitely going to use this to promote kindness in my student dorm.
Videos are a great way to add a different perspective. But to make sure your students are actually engaging with it Ed Puzzle allows you to embed questions into videos. You can also add your own voice-over to the videos and trim it.
"Make videos more engaging"
After assigning the video to your students you can see who has watched the video and who may still have questions about it. Ed Puzzle has an array of videos from Khan Academy and Youtube, but you can also upload your own videos.
I know that most people are familiar with this, but if you are not: check it out! TED talks are inspiring speeches about everything from reconciliation, procrastination, science and art.
Most of my favorite TED videos were, in fact, introduced to me by teachers.
"Share inspiring stories and lessons as videos"
The stories can be incredibly empowering and communicate that what students are learning really does matter in the real world. And Ted-ed does an amazing job at creating explanation videos to a large array of topics. For curious kids this is a great place to browse and follow your learner-heart.
TIGed is an amazing platform that helps educators to use technology to make their students global and aware citizens!
"Use online games and technology to foster global citizens"
They offer free training, lesson plans and much more but what I love most about their website is their online games that raise awareness about global issues in a fun and interactive way.
This is a global collaboration platform for educators who want to transform the world of education.
"Browse inspiring and innovations and projects in education"
You can browse and be inspired by great initiatives and connect with the people behind them, as well as exchange thoughts and resources about the most recent developments in education. It also annually nominates the top 100 educational initiatives in the world - maybe your initiative could be next?
This is a website where you can quickly and easily create cartoons that you can use to make tests, assignments, worksheets and your classroom more fun.
"Enhance worksheets and tests with your own comics"
Even if your older students may cringe at your humor - deep down they will know you care - and maybe even think you are a just little bit cool.
If you want to give yourself a break from powerpoint and google slides, Prezi offers a beautiful alternative to giving presentations.
"Create beautiful slideshows"
It may take a little longer to create the slides but I promise it will be absolutely worth it.
Many educator-forums speak very highly of this platform! It allows you access and build compact units including videos, vocab cards and games and quizzes.
"Enhance units with videos, flashcards, games and quizzes"
They even have a "lyric lab" that challenges you and your students to create rhymes that explain what was taught.
This website offers free classroom resources like lesson plans, film kits, poster and strategies to help teachers address topics around social justice in their classrooms and make their students global citizens.
"Addressing social issues in the classroom"
They also have a magazine that comes out regularly and discusses the most recent educational methods on talking about and addressing social issues with students.
Did you know the New York Times offers articles and free lesson plans for educators?
Now you do :)
This is a platform with lesson plans and engaging games around humanities. Each lesson plan is categorized by age groups as well as thematically:
Art & Culture
History & Social Studies
Literature & Language Arts
World Language
Recognizing that every students learning journey is different, CK-12 is a STEM learning platform that offers free simulations, units and online textbooks that you can customize.
"Making STEM learning personal"
You can also create online classes to communicate with your students and engage with them individually, making sure no one is left behind.
A tool to measure a student's proficiency and identify strengths and weaknesses in hundreds of subjects. Here you can get an effective learning plan along with free tools to improve.
Offers more than 250,000 free practice problems in over 200 subjects. Also available as mobile applications.
Nearly 200 free, live K-12 classes available all day long intended to help parents fill their children's day with enriched learning. Some popular classes are "Intro to Spanish for Kids", "Coolest Women in History", "Java Programming Basics", and "The Story of Your Favorite Fairy Tales". We have received exceptional ratings from thousands of parents and students.
Free half-day summer camps are a week-long, with enrichment-based classes in subjects like foreign languages, chess, theater, coding, Minecraft, how to be a detective, photography, and more. These live, interactive camps will be taught by expert instructors vetted through Varsity Tutors' platform. We already have 300+ camps scheduled for the summer and 2,000 families per day signing up.
Teaching younger students?
Most of these resources can be geared toward children from kindergarten all the way to College students. But you are working with younger children age 5-10 you may also want to check out these educational resources for younger learners:
Want your students to increase their English vocabulary? Freerice donates rice to hungry people for each question students answer on this website. Spreads awareness, adds external motivation and improves your students ability to express themselves.
Trying to make science fun and engaging? Mystery Science uses an overarching "curiosity" question to teach important scientific lessons. Each unit has videos, discussion questions and suggestions for interactive games that is supposed to lead students to find out the answers themselves.
Aimed at making a classroom a community, ClassDojo is a free platform that offers countless resources like classroom decoration packs, presentations and videos. More importantly it allows you to give your students immediate feedback and communicate their progress and share achievements with their parents.