Helpful Tools For When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed

The first few weeks of school were always some of my favorite weeks of the year. The getting-back-to-school energy always made me so excited to be an educator! However, these weeks can also be overwhelming, especially for new teachers. There’s so much to do and plan, and finding time to create engaging lessons can be hard.

Over the years, I developed a short list of flexible activities that meet the needs of my classroom and learners across many different content areas.

Here are a few tools that I’ve found helpful when I’m feeling overwhelmed:

• eMedia offers a wide variety of free educational resources for all K-12 grade levels and subject areas. You can find interactive lessons, activities and videos specifically created for Utah learners.
• Google’s Applied Digital Skills program provides free, interactive lessons that teach students the digital skills they need to succeed in school and the workforce. The lessons align with state and national standards and can be used in any subject area.
• Nearpod is a state-licensed presentation tool that allows you to incorporate videos, quizzes, polls and other activities into your lesson. Nearpod also has a library of over 20,000 ready-made lessons that you can use in your classroom.

Check out the video below to learn where to find great lessons and activities within these resources.

Matt Winters, aka @teacherwinters, is a former high school and college ELA teacher and current co-host of the UEN Homeroom podcast. He’s the UEN Google leader, President of the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET) and was recently named to the ISTE 20 to Watch in 2023. Matt loves stories, creativity, technology and the intersections where all three topics grow together.