Educators need real teacher-tested digital tools to connect with students online. During this difficult time, there is truly limited time to plan or assess every single online option for teaching. That’s why I created this list. The digital resources below were put together with the help of Pathway 2 Success members who have done the work, tested the programs, and worked through the challenges.

Before I get started with the actual list, I must give a HUGE thank you to all the Pathway 2 Success members who contributed to this post. Your expertise is a huge service to the entire community of educators out there. I truly appreciate you. If you’re interested in becoming part of the Pathway 2 Success community, head over here to learn about joining. Not only is it free to join, but I send you free materials, ideas, and information about upcoming specials. I’d love to have you!

Connections are the most foundational element for kids and young adults to be successful. This is precisely why educators can’t just send packets home or e-mail work to parents during distance learning time. The magic happens when kids and teens feel connected, respected, and loved. That’s true whether school is in-person or online.

Further, no matter your school’s current plan for heading back to the classroom, it’s worth having a plan to integrate digital tools with students. Given the uncertain nature of the school year, it only makes sense to put some of these strategies in place early on. It’s a great time to test them out, see what works, and what needs to be tweaked.

If there is one huge silver lining of education during the pandemic it is that education is becoming more flexible. While these tools are listed specifically for distance learning needs, there are so many other ways we can use them in the future. This includes helping learners access the curriculum who may need to be out of school for various reasons and providing accommodations to kids who need extra support.

Here are some of the most favorite and helpful digital tools to connect with learners:

Zoom

Zoom is an online video conferencing service. Educators can use it to virtually meet with students in groups or for private 1:1 sessions. Here are some highlights:

• Zoom makes it easy to have that necessary face-to-face connection with kids and young adults. Even if it is virtual, students need to see the smiling face of their teacher on a regular basis!
• It can help educators adjust instruction since you can see student facial expressions.
• Educators can meet with students in a full class for morning meetings or daily check-ins.
• Provides a platform to teach and deliver live instruction to all students at once.
• One helpful suggestion is to allow kids 10 minutes just to chat! This can help learners settle in while boosting connections.
• Educators share share their screen to complete work alongside students. The image below is a Social Emotional Learning Journal, but you can use any assignment your students need!

Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a web service to help educators create, send out, and grade assignments. This is an incredibly helpful tool that allows educators a space to send out and collect work in an organized fashion. Here are some more details you should know:

• Ideal space to assign instructional content in a digital way. Students can type responses right in documents and send them back to educators for review.
• Teachers can make paraeducators and support staff co-teachers to allow extra supports in the classroom.
• Educators can create their own content or assign pre-made digital activities to students.
• Google forms or slides can be used as a daily check-in for students.
• Serves as one of the most organized and all-in-one programs to organize work.
• Take a look at some digital resources designed for use in Google Classroom (and grab some free digital materials, too!).

Flipgrid

Flipgrid is a website that allows educators to create a virtual meeting place filled with “grids.” Educators ask a question and encourage students to respond. Here are some highlights for this website:

• Flipgrid is a favorite tool to allow students to share their work with others. After creating a project, writing an essay, or finishing an art project, students can use Flipgrid to showcase their work and describe what they did. Other students will watch and share as well.
• Students can feel empowered and motivated to share their ideas with others.
• Use as a reflection tool for learners. For example, students can share their biggest takeaways from a lesson or activity.
• Educators can add paraeducators and other support staff to join in the grid.
• Educators can choose favorite responses to curate a “mixtape” to share with the entire class. This can be a great way to summarize learning after a unit or topic. It can even be used as a reminder at the beginning of the week to review things students learned last week.

Class Dojo

Class Dojo is an online educational platform that helps connect educators, students, and families. Here is more information and tips for Class Dojo:

• Educators can host morning meeting or check-ins through Class Dojo.
• It can be a helpful tool to share student work.
• One of the biggest benefits is the ease in sharing student work and progress with families, encouraging a positive school-home connection.

Boom Cards

Boom Cards are an online tool to provide extra practice with skills. The platform is entirely digital and interactive, making it a helpful technique to make concepts more fun. Here are some helpful tips and suggestions:

• Educators can assign Boom Cards to entire classes or individual students, making them ideal for extra practice or intervention.
• Cards include multiple choice answers, giving students immediate feedback about their responses. Options for open-ended responses are also available.
• The Boom Card platform includes a huge variety of activities on several concepts. Both free and paid cards are available.

YouTube

YouTube is a huge online platform of videos. Not only can educators record and share their own videos, but can access are a selection of pre-made videos as well.

• Educators can record themselves going over a topic, lesson, or directions for a project, and then share that video with students.
• Options are included to make videos private so that videos are only accessible to your students and families.
• Instead of creating videos, educators can select from other pre-made videos on a variety of topics.
• This can be an especially helpful tool for students who need visual supports.

Seesaw

Seesaw is an digital platform that allows teachers a space to share materials and assign activities all in one spot. Students can respond to the prompts in a variety of ways. Here is some extra information on Seesaw:

• Students can take pictures, draw, record, or write responses to show what they have learned. This allows differentiation for students. For example, if you ask students to share their three biggest takeaways from a lesson, some students might type out a response, while others could draw or a record a video.
• Assignments approved by the teacher can be posted for others to see and discuss.
• Students can like and/or comment on each others’ work. An option is also included where educators must approve comments before they are posted.
• An option is available to share work with families.

Google Jamboard

Google Jamboard is an interactive whiteboard. It includes tools for writing, drawing, and adding sticky notes. Here are some ways to use Jamboard:

• Educators can share their Jamboard with students as they make notes for their lesson.
• Students can work together on a collaborative board at the same time. For example, if students need to create a poster together, Jamboard would be a helpful tool.
• Students can solve problems out on their Jamboard while teachers are watching and providing feedback, as needed.
• Educators can post an image of work and have students respond by drawing or writing on a sticky note. The image below is a free Positive Thoughts and Affirmations activity to boost student confidence and start the day off strong.

E-mail

E-mail is another critical tool to use during distance learning. Even though we all use e-mail on a regular basis, it was worth adding this in as a reminder to use with students and families. Here are some tips and ideas:

• Though a simple online tool, it’s important to remember that e-mail is extremely familiar and easy to use for families.
• Educators can send personalized e-mails to students and families, as needed. For example, educators might send a thank you note to a student for helping another classmate.

Padlet

Padlet is a digital board that educators can fill with ideas, links, videos, and more. Here is more information on Padlet and what you can do with it:

• Educators can give a subject or idea to students and have them brainstorm on the topic. This can be a helpful tool for collaboration.
• Students can create their own individual portfolios with Padlet by saving materials to their board.
• Padlet can be a tool that helps students post their questions live during a class lesson.
• Lots of different activities can be created with Padlet, such as creating a classroom newsletter, creating discussions about a book, or developing exit tickets. The options are endless.

Screencastify

Screencastify is a tool that helps to easily record, edit, and share videos. Educators can use this tool to record lessons for students. Here is some extra info you might need:

• This can be an ideal tool to help create pre-recorded and edited videos to share with the class.
• Students can watch the video over and over, as needed, to learn a new skill.
• Serves as a tool to help educators “be themselves” in front of kids, even at a distance.
• Teachers can record a “message of the day” that students can watch any time that works for them.
• Educators can create videos to use year after year for certain topics.

Remind

Remind is a simple and easy-to-use two-way messaging system that serves as a direct line between schools and families. Here are some strategies for using Remind:

• Educators can use Remind to give notes to families about assignments, activities, and topics students are learning.
• Individual messages of support can be sent to students in need. This might be to a student who is struggling with a math assignment, or a learner who is having a rough time and needs an extra boost.
• Provides a space to send out class reminders to all students and families at once, much like a class newsletter.
• Educators can send out reminders about deadlines. This can be especially helpful as a quick engagement tool for older learners who need extra support.

Flippity

Flippity is an online program that turns any Google Spreadsheet into a game or learning tool. This can be especially fun for a brain break with students.

• Use the demo and instructions to help guide you in starting off.
• Website includes a variety of activities including flashcards, quiz show, random name picker, scavenger hunt, board game, and several more activities.
• Educators can keep students engaged with different learning tools.

Other Tools and Websites

While these tools aren’t specific to connecting with students or organizing content, it is worth the time to check them out. They provide a wealth of information and can be assigned as class content or interventions to struggling learners.

• BrainPOP – Short engaging videos and assessments on a variety of topics.
• RAZ Kids – A helpful selection of reading practice.
• Kahoot – Engaging games to work on skills.
• MobyMax – Extended practice for reading, math, and more.
• IXL – Another online tool for academic practice.
• Epic – Digital tool to provide reading activities and track progress.
• Teachers Pay Teachers – One spot where you can find a variety of ready-to-use digital resources to meet the needs of your learners. You can find my store here.

Final Thoughts

Note that there is probably not one magic solution when it comes to digitally connecting with students. You might need a variety to make it work. For example, some teachers use Zoom for morning meetings, FlipGrid to showcase student work, and Google Classroom to keep track of academic work. Perhaps for a family struggling to keep track of different services, you might end up sending work via email. This is a time for one of my favorite quotes that we used to say often in the classroom: Do what works. Be flexible, try new things, give it practice, and learn together.

If I’ve missed any of your favorite digital apps or programs, feel free to reach out! I would love to hear.

Executive functioning skills are the processes we use in our brain to accomplish daily tasks. It’s true that we use a variety of executive functioning skills when completing academic work, but the truth is that these skills are actually life skills. We use them all the time in daily chores and tasks, from planning a meal to tidying up a room and so much more.

Use this article as a guide to give some ideas for practicing executive functioning skills at home. This has become increasingly important while students are home from school, but truly it’s important all of the time. These are simple strategies educators can suggest to parents to help kids develop stronger skills for planning, organization, time management, attention, and more.

If you need more background on these skills and why they matter, read everything you need to know about executive functioning skills here.

To get started, read through each of the executive functioning skills and some strategies to try them out at home.

Planning

Planning is making a road map to help achieve a goal. Students might plan for a long-term assignment or plan how to tackle a challenging homework page. We also use planning lots of times in real life outside of school, such as planning what to make for dinner for the week.

Some strategies to strengthen planning skills at home include:

• Plan for a meal. Choose the meal you want to make, list out the ingredients, and review the steps before making it together. If you can, go ahead and make the meal together. The process of actually cooking a meal involves lots of skills from attention to follow the instructions to flexibility when something doesn’t go exactly as planned.
• Plan a trip. Discuss what your dream vacation would be. Practice planning by thinking about where you would go, what time of year might be best, what you would bring, and more. Of course, this activity can be just for fun or really to plan a family vacation. That’s up to you.
• List it out. Take one task, such as making a sandwich, and break it apart to all the small steps. Then, act it out following those steps. This can be a fun activity, because it’s easy to see how many small steps there are to every activity.
• Fill the calendar. Try to think of as many events and activities for the year as you can. List them out on a yearly calendar ahead of time.
• Make a daily checklist. Before starting the day, work together to come up with a daily checklist of tasks that need to get accomplished. After each task is accomplished, check it off!

Organization

Organization is developing and maintaining a system to stay neat and tidy. Learners might need organization skills to keep binders and supplies tidy. They also use organization when putting their ideas together before starting a project. Organization is also critical beyond school for keeping our homes neat and having systems in place to help us complete work efficiently.

Some strategies for organization at home include:

• Organize a room. Choose one room or area of the house and organize it together. Doing an organization project together makes it considerably more manageable for everyone involved. You can even listen to music while you clean to make it more fun.
• Sort and tidy. Choose something that could be sorted, such as a pile of clothes or a stack of books. Discuss how they can be sorted and work it out together.
• Cut and paste organize. Make learning about organization a fun activity with a simple cut-and-paste craft. Use this free “Organize the room” activity to get started. Simply cut out the items and paste them onto the picture of the room where they should go. Of course, you can do this by taking a picture of any room, cutting out items in a magazine, and pasting them on the picture!

Practice organization with a free hands-on activity.

Task Initiation

Task Initiation is the process of getting started on tasks right away. This includes overcoming procrastination and staying motivated, even when it’s something we don’t want to do.

Some strategies for working on task initiation at home include:

• Practice rocket ship 5-4-3-2-1. Discuss how starting, or initiating, a task is like a rocket ship blasting off. This is a strategy to help you get up and going, even when you’re not very motivated. Sit and count down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. At the end of the countdown shout, “Blastoff!” and hop up.
• Break down the task. Choose one daily task or chore that you need to accomplish. Break it down step-by-step. This can be a helpful strategy to “get going” when a task seems daunting or too long.
• Make a reward list. Come up with small rewards to give yourself after you finish a task. These can be really simple rewards, like time watching your favorite show, time outside, getting to play videogames, or anything else. Identifying these incentives ahead of time can help us stay motivated and ready to go.

Time Management

Time Management is using techniques and strategies to make effective use of time. This involves having an accurate understanding of time, ignoring distractions, and working well when we need to.

Some strategies for working on time management at home include:

• Estimate and compare the time. Take any task and estimate how long it might take to complete. Then, actually complete that task and compare the times.
• Beat the timer. Choose any task, such as folding laundry or putting away groceries. Estimate how long you think it will take you to complete. Then, set the timer and try to beat it.

Self-Control

Self-Control is the process of stopping and thinking before making a choice.

Some strategies for practicing self-control at home include:

• Practice coping strategies. It’s important to practice coping strategies when we are calm so we can use them when we are overwhelmed. Spend time practicing listening to calming music, exercising, coloring, and more.
• Practice positive self-talk. Self-talk can be a healthy strategy to keep us calm and collected. Come up with some positive phrases that can help keep your cool. You can even make positive self-talk a morning ritual to start the day in a positive way.
• Practice mindful breathing. One of the best ways to work on self-control is by practicing our breathing. Use these mindful breathing activities for kids and teens to get started.
• Play games. So many different games align themselves to work on self-control skills, from Freeze to Simon Says. Read more about games you can use to practice self-control.
• Discuss scenarios. Come up with problem-solving situations. For example, you might say, “You want to watch your favorite show, but your sibling is already in the room watching theirs. What can you do?” Think about the situation by discussing what the problem is, what your choices are, and how you might handle the situation. Use these free scenario cards to get started.

Practice self-control and decision-making skills with these free scenario cards.

Attention

Attention is being able to focus on a person or activity for a period of time. It also involves being able to shift focus and ignore distractions.

Some strategies for working on attention skills at home include:

• Hold a conversation. Choose any topic to discuss, free of distractions for a period of time. Use these free printable conversation starters to get started.
• Make a distraction list. Make a list of your biggest distractors. Then, come up with strategies to reduce or avoid them.
• Work focused. Use a timer to set a period of time (such as 10 minutes) and do chores or other activities during that time. Try to stay focused and not get distracted while the timer is running.
• Take a brain break. Practice spending time doing something calming, like deep breathing or mindful coloring to give yourself a break.

Use these free printable conversation starters to practice staying focused while talking.

Metacognition

Metacognition is thinking about your thinking. Using metacognition skills helps us consider what we know about a topic before we learn, check in with ourselves while we’re learning, and reflect to grow our skills.

Some strategies for working on metacognition skills at home include:

• Talk, read, discuss. Choose a book (non-fiction books are the best for this). Talk about the topic and list off things you know about it. For example, if you are reading a book on airplanes, list off everything you know about airplanes. Then, read. Afterward, discuss what you’ve learned. Note that this same process can be done for any non-fiction videos, too!
• Circle share. Choose any topic. Starting with one person, list off one thing you know. For example, if your topic is plants, you might list off that you know plants start as a seed. Then, go to the next person and have them list off something they know. Continue this for as long as you can to help create shared knowledge on a topic.

Flexibility

Flexibility is being able to deal with change effectively. It includes being able to “go with the flow” and change our approach when we need to.

Some strategies for strengthening flexibility skills at home include:

• Change the ending. After reading a book or watching a movie, try to come up with an alternate ending or a different way the characters could have solved the problem.

Perseverance

Perseverance is working through to complete a goal despite challenges that pop up along the way.

Some strategies for working on perseverance at home include:

• Develop a goal. List off a goal you want to accomplish. Then, list the steps it will take you to get there. Post this somewhere as a reminder.
• Discuss problem-solving situations. Come up with “road blocks” and discuss what you might do. For example, you might say, “Imagine you are going to start a collage for an art project, but you can’t find the scissors. What can you do?”
• Start a daily reflection time. At the end of the day, talk about one thing you did well and one thing you could improve. This practice of reflection helps encourage perseverance and growth.

If you need more ideas for practicing executive functioning skills at home and beyond, you can give these executive functioning choice boards a try! They are filled with ideas, strategies, and activities to practice executive functioning skills that kid and teens need.