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Teaching Tools | Resources for Teachers from Scholastic

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There's no question that virtual learning is on the rise, helping school districts address the challenges of larger, more diverse student populations and smaller budgets. And online learning, at its best, can help districts provide a personalized learning experience so that all their students can develop strong foundations of knowledge and skills needed to succeed in school and beyond.

Motivating Students in a Virtual Learning Environment

How can districts use technology to facilitate student-centered learning and increase student achievement? Studies have found that motivation to learn is a key factor in student success. The " self-determination theory," a cornerstone of modern motivational psychology (Deci and Ryan, University of Rochester) holds that we are most deeply engaged, and that we do our most creative work, when we feel that we are acting according to our own will on behalf of goals we find meaningful. At the same time, this theory identified students' sense of relatedness as a key factor in their motivation. Relatedness refers to our emotional ties. It involves our basic need to feel connected with, and acknowledged by, others.

In fact, many studies have found that encouragement and guidance by teachers as well as real-time feedback from digital curriculum have a positive effect on student motivation and, as a result, achievement.

Student Engagement Leads to Motivation-and Achievement

"The great thing about teaching in a virtual environment is that you have the unique opportunity to individualize your instruction and personalize learning like never before," says Laurel Beach, a n Implementation Success Manager with Apex Learning, who has previously taught secondary English in a traditional classroom and s erved as a Lead Program Manager for Bay Virtual School.

According to Beach, one of the biggest challenges facing teachers in a virtual environment is to ensure student engagement, and choosing the right digital curriculum is key.

Digital curriculum, at its best, engages in students with a "learn by doing" approach that challenges students at just the right level of learning. The promise of personalized learning has piqued the interest of educators across the country. According to the Center for Digital Education's (CDE) 2015 Digital School Districts Survey, personalized learning is the number one priority of schools and districts.

It's easy to understand why. Effective personalized learning programs:

Ensure consistent standards coverage.

Identify what students know and are able to do through quality formative assessment.

Offer individualized learning plans to address student needs, from those who need more instruction to those who are ready to move on.

Allow student choice in pace, place and space.

Enable teacher insight into student mastery that is used to drive instruction.

For more information on selecting digital curriculum that supports personalized learning, download our free white paper.

Strategies for Successful Virtual Learning Programs

"While virtual teaching requires many of the same skills needed to effectively teach in a brick and mortar classroom - academic expertise, teamwork, organization, creativity, and of course love for learning and for students - there are strategies that are particularly helpful when trying to reach students with whom you may never see face-to-face," says Beach. Here are her hands-on tips for teachers to make the most of virtual learning:

1. Communicate regularly with students. This regular communication and collaboration can take place in person or online through a digital messaging center, discussion group, or even through the feedback provided on teacher-scored activities.

2. Provide opportunities for students to collaborate with peers. The temptation to "game the system" will be minimized if the student knows they have to analyze, justify, and/or evaluate the content in a group discussion or in a group project.

3. Set clear expectations. While flexibility is one of the greatest benefits that virtual learning programs can provide, setting clear expectations in regards to participation, pacing, and progress is a key component to ensuring student success.

4. Work with students to set goals. It's important that teachers and students are on the same page regarding a reasonable schedule for pace and progress. This gives each student ownership of their individualized learning plan and accountability for sticking to the goals that they have set.

5. Use data-driven digital curriculum for individualized learning.
At its best, digital curriculum delivers personalized content and meets each student at their learning level. That frees up the teacher's time to analyze student progress and performance in order to determine mastery and understanding. By regularly monitoring and reviewing student data, teachers are able to better guide student learning and provide interventions to struggling students.

6. Encourage a collaborative learning environment.
Research indicates that collaborative learning environments, where teachers and students collectively contribute to the content and flow of instruction, enhance learning, when compared with traditional hierarchal teaching methods. This two-way interaction enhances student-centered learning and motivates higher academic achievement.

The bottom line is that great learning is driven by a great teaching-regardless of the method of delivery. Technology is only part of the 21st century education equation. Successful virtual learning programs serve diverse student needs and offer a wide range of opportunities to learn, and just as importantly, support and empower teachers to take full advantage of all that digital curriculum has to offer. The result is a virtual learning environment that engages students, gives them ownership over their learning and continues to motivate them as they master content and experience success.

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Engaging and Motivating Students in a Virtual Learning Environment

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There's no question that virtual learning is on the rise, helping school districts address the challenges of larger, more diverse student populations and smaller budgets. And online learning, at its best, can help districts provide a personalized learning experience so that all their students can develop strong foundations of knowledge and skills needed to succeed in school and beyond.

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Creating a Virtual Classroom with Google Slides

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Check out TeacherVision's DK Instant Expert, our teaching guides for the interactive whiteboard. Read the DK reference books entirely online, then share what you've learned with your students using motivational mini-lessons featuring colorful PowerPoint slideshows and extension activities that engage students' creativity.

Bottom Line: Reinforce key concepts in science and social studies with unique photos and lessons. Price: Free with a membership to TeacherVision.

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Engage students in your classroom with our Top 10 favorite interactive educational technology resources. These websites will help you create new and captivating lesson plans for your curriculum.

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According to the U.S. Department of Education, teachers spend an average of $479 of their own money on classroom supplies per year. That's why WeAreTeachers is all about free teaching resources. We're always on the lookout for sites and sources that offer lesson plans, printables, videos, and all the other things teachers need to make their lives a little easier. Our list has options for pre-K through high school, in every subject. In short, there's something for every teacher!

To start, we've got lots of terrific options right here on our site. Take a look at some of these top roundups. Then, be sure to browse the site for anything else you might need.

Now, on to the rest of the big list of free teaching resources!

Check out this site for both multimedia K-12 classroom resources and teacher professional development podcasts and learning activities.

Sponsored by the Kennedy Center, ArtsEdge provides arts-centered, standards-based resources for K-12.

Nature activities, videos, games, DIY projects, and lessons to inspire children to explore and feel connected to the natural world.

Learn to code with these one-hour tutorials designed for learners of all ages in over 45 languages.

Free collection of reading passages in all literary and nonfiction genres for grades 3-12. Passages come with text-dependent questions that help you track student progress.

Use this site for help teaching digital citizenship, and learn about the latest ed-tech.

The Core Knowledge Foundation provides open access to content-rich curriculum materials for preschool through grade 8, including the Core Knowledge Curriculum Series™.

This is one of the most well-known research labs for birds and birding. They've got a quality selection of activities and lessons, with K-12 options.

Student-appropriate news articles, with original and simplified options. You can also listen to the article, a terrific option for struggling readers.

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, this site provides tons of materials on teaching classic literature like Moby Dick or Lord of the Flies. You'll also find lots of great resources for social studies, civics, and language arts.

Sample lessons: Examining Utopia & Dystopia in The Giver, Hopi Poetry, The Realism in Magical Realism

With lots of printable worksheets and activity ideas, this site is a must-bookmark for teachers. You'll get a limited amount of free resources each month. Or you can sign up for a very affordable membership for unlimited access.

Education World is a complete online resource for teachers, administrators, and school staff to find high-quality and in-depth original content. They offer more than 1,000 free lessons.

EVERFI offers free digital courses that are interactive and standards-based. The focus is on real-world learning, with courses offered in financial literacy, STEM, social-emotional learning, health, and wellness.

Games, books, videos, and printables for kids in grades pre-K to 8, all free! Resources are broken down by grade level, making it easy to find what you need.

Textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has compiled a big collection of activities for grades K-12. Activities, lessons, downloadables, videos, and more!

Jumpstart offers free teaching materials, including activities, worksheets, and lesson plans, for K-5 teachers.

Teachers everywhere rely on Khan for practice lessons and enrichment for their students. They have an especially robust high school section, with AP prep on a variety of topics.

Formerly named Teaching Tolerance, this amazing site provides free resources that emphasize social justice and anti-bias to K-12 educators.

Teach kids the proper way to use primary sources with lessons. Then, use the primary source sets here for research on lots of topics.

LDC is a national community of educators that provides literacy-rich assignments and courses (organized by collection) across content areas.

Search hundreds of resources by subject, grade level, type, and keyword. These lesson plans and teaching materials support K-12 STEM curriculum. Includes a wide variety of at-home lessons as well.

Teachers can borrow teaching packets and DVDs for a whole school year! Plus find lots of online help for teaching art.

Bring National Geographic to your classroom through lesson plans, maps, and reference resources. Don't miss Explorer Magazine, their free online publication for grades K-5.

In addition to lesson plans, the free teaching resources here include National History Day projects and the Suffrage Resource Center.

Nature Lab is the Nature Conservancy's youth curriculum platform, which provides lesson plans, videos and activities, and virtual field trips.

Teach and learn with the Times. Articles and questions, writing prompts, and lesson plans that coordinate with the New York Times Learning Network for teens. This site also provides access to professional growth resources and webinars for teachers, plus activities for students.

Newsela is a database of current events stories tailor-made for classroom use. Stories are both student-friendly and available in different formats by reading level.

National Science Teaching Association promotes excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. This site gives teachers access to NSTA magazines for students and teachers and lesson plans.

Whatever you're teaching, chances are you'll find helpful lesson plans, activities, printables, texts, and more on OER Commons. Hubs and Groups give teachers a chance to connect and collaborate too.

It's no secret that textbooks are incredibly pricey. OpenStax is out to change that by providing quality digital texts for free.

Free, standards-aligned pre-K-12 instructional resources including lesson plans, videos, and interactives.

Recycle Rally is a terrific free program that helps schools set up a recycling program and offers rewards for participation. Their Resource Library has lots of free articles, printables, and activities.

Get leveled reading passages with accompanying vocab and question sets for K-8. Teachers get free access to use with their students.

NCTE's site has thousands of standards-based resources for teachers and students of English.

Free teaching resources by grade, including articles, book lists, and collections of lesson plans and teaching ideas.

You already know YouTube has lots of great videos to use with your students. But not all schools allow access to the site. That's where SchoolTube comes in. Share videos safely, and get content you can trust.

Choose from hundreds of videos, STEM challenges, and lesson plans. Also, find a vast collection of hands-on science experiments and projects for K-12.

Seacoast Science Center's Your Learning Connection is packed with lessons, activities, and resources to support at-home learning and empower children to investigate nature. Each weekly issue explores four themes-Get Outside!, Our Ocean, STEM Activities, and Art & Nature-with lessons, videos, and activity sheets.

Share My Lesson houses over 420,000 free lesson plans and activities, organized by grade and topic.

Smithsonian's History Explorer offers hundreds of free, innovative online resources for teaching and learning K-12 American history.

This award-winning children's literacy website streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children's books alongside creatively produced illustrations.

The Lesson Plans section of this site has real plans created and designed by K-12 teachers. Search by subject or grade level.

Free standards-aligned lessons and interactive whiteboard activities products created by teachers for teachers.

There's such a wide selection here, way beyond lesson plans! Get hall passes, graphic organizers, rubrics, and lots of other useful free teaching resources.

TpT allows teachers to share their knowledge with their colleagues and make money doing it. There are many paid options, but you'll find lots of freebies available too.

If you're looking for resources to help build social justice in your school and community, start here. You'll find books, lesson plans, activities, and more.

TES (Times Educational Supplement) is a British website that offers thousands of free and paid resources for K-12 teachers. Made by teachers for teachers.

Sample lessons: Persuasive Writing Travel Brochures, Romeo and Juliet Review Lessons, Rainforest Introduction Lesson

Help kids learn about money: where it comes from, how it works, and how to manage it. There's a free mobile app to try out too.

Calling all math teachers! This site has over 1,500 video lessons covering Middle Grades Math through Algebra 2.

The World Wildlife Fund's mission is to protect the world's most beloved species and their habitats. Find games, videos, lessons, tool kits, and more.

Since 1978, the institute has been working with top-notch teachers and collecting their lesson materials for others to use. This site has thousands of complete units on pretty much any topic, all completely free to access and use.

Sample lessons: The Wonder Behind The Wizard of Oz, The Counting Train: Windows to Mexico, Anime and the Art of Storytelling

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50+ Amazing Sources for Free Teacher Resources

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These free teaching resources offer lesson plans, printables, videos, games, and more. Find options for pre-K to grade 12 in any subject.

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Educational Games, Worksheets, and More for Kids

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Download, print, or work on activities interactively today!