UEN Teacher Tips

Adobe Express Graphic Organizers

Boost Learning with Graphic Organizers in Adobe Express! Easily create and customize visual tools that help students organize ideas, deepen understanding, and stay engaged—right from Adobe Express.

Boosting End-of-Year Engagement With CCR-Centered Skills & Strategies

Keep students motivated by linking learning to real-world experiences and career readiness. Use creative strategies, soft skills development, and career-focused insights to make lessons meaningful and engaging until the last day of school!

Learning Through Stories

This teacher tip highlights how story-based instruction can transform classrooms by leveraging students' digital media familiarity. It outlines four storytelling approaches and provides practical implementation steps from storyboarding to digital creation, emphasizing how stories naturally enhance student engagement and understanding.

Generative AI for OER Creation

Discover how to save time and energy on lesson planning with OER and AI in this UEN Teacher Tip! Katie Blunt explains how Open Educational Resources (OER) can transform your instructional planning process. Plus, learn about accessing free, remixable teaching materials through UEN's eMedia.

What Is Media Literacy?

Equip your students with essential 21st-century skills! In this UEN Teacher Tip, Dani Sloan provides an overview of media literacy and presents techniques for integrating media analysis across various curriculum areas.

Students and AI: Positioning Students as Experts

Unleash student potential by teaching them to train AI. By creating AI chatbots that rely on students, you'll unlock a unique learning experience that deepens understanding and transforms AI into a powerful classroom learning tool.

Empower Student Creativity with Adobe Express' Guided Activities

In this UEN Teacher Tip, you'll learn how to equip students with 21st-century skills by utilizing Adobe Express’ “Guided Activities for Every Subject.” Embrace innovative tools to enhance learning and prepare your students for a successful future!

Unlock Free and Accessible Professional Development with the Utah Education Network

As educators, finding high-quality professional development that fits your schedule and budget can be challenging, however. In this UEN Teacher Tip, Kayla highlights some of the flexible and focused professional learning opportunities UEN provides year-round.

Personalized Learning Through Filmmaking

In this UEN Teacher Tip, Katie Blunt shares how to integrate filmmaking into your classroom to enhance student learning and creativity! This episode explores three powerful ways to use digital video creation as an educational tool. Perfect for educators looking to engage students through creative digital projects while teaching responsible content creation and media literacy skills.

Visualize, Learn, Grow

Are you new to using the Lucid integration in Canvas? In this UEN Teacher Tip, Val shares ideas on how you can use this new tool in Canvas to empower students to visualize their thinking. Helping you foster engaged learning and powerful cognitive development in the classroom.

Finding Digital Balance

Discover practical strategies and tools to help you foster a classroom culture that encourages students to reflect on how their digital use can significantly impact their overall well-being.

Using and Creating Podcasts in the Classroom

Podcasts can be a powerful tool to engage students and deepen their learning. Let's dive into some exciting ideas to kickstart the integration of podcasts into your classroom!

End-of-Year Celebrations and Activities

Need a little help planning year-end celebrations? This article by Kayla Towner guides educators on creating unforgettable end-of-year activities, from choosing meaningful themes to selecting the right tools for virtual excursions, artistic projects and more.

Empowering Secondary Students Through Media Making Challenges

Tired of boring class projects? Try media projects to engage your students. PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs offers StoryMaker, a free resource for educators to integrate media-based challenges into any subject area. Learn more in this UEN Teacher Tip Article by Katie Blunt.

Fighting Mis, Dis and Mal Information

In our digital age, equipping students with information literacy is key to their future success. This article provides a quick guide to help you empower your students to navigate the complex information landscape, preparing them as critical thinkers.

Revolutionize Elementary Math

Nearpod is a must-have tool for elementary math education! Learn how to turn lessons into engaging and accessible experiences that captivate young learners with this UEN Teacher Tip.

Tech Tools to Enhance Effective Classroom Management

Even the most seasoned teachers have struggled with classroom management at some point. Let’s explore some of the many tech tools available to help you create a positive and focused learning environment in your classroom!

The Art of Note-Taking

Where do you start when teaching students how to take notes? In this week’s Teacher Tip, Kayla Towner shares note-taking strategies for K-12 students, including using Microsoft OneNote and Canva templates to take these strategies online.

Better Discussions, Better Engagement

Discover the benefits of online discussions and how they can supercharge your lessons and create a dynamic learning environment for all students. From boosted engagement and deeper understanding to accessibility and inclusion, explore the advantages of incorporating online discussions into your teaching strategy.

UDL: Flexible Expression of Learning (and Instruction!)

Forget one-size-fits-all! In this article, you’ll learn how Canvas provides a variety of tools that enable both teachers and learners to access learning materials and demonstrate mastery in an engaging and truly personalized learning experience.

Three Ways to Ensure All Students Have a Chance to Answer Content Area Questions

Research has shown that active student participation, such as engaging in class discussions, leads to improved learning outcomes compared to passive listening to lectures. In this article, we explore three effective strategies to ensure that all students have the opportunity to actively participate in class discussions and share their insights.

Five Tips for Embracing the Holidays in the Classroom

Celebrating holidays in the classroom can be an exciting and fun experience, albeit somewhat exhausting. In this article, Kayla Towner shares five tips for incorporating holiday celebrations into your classroom. Learn how to foster an inclusive learning environment, introduce students to new cultures and traditions and make your lessons engaging and educational throughout the school year.

Screen Time: It’s About Quality

As educators, we often struggle with the question of screen time for our students. Instead of focusing on time limits, let's reframe our approach and focus on the quality of screen time. High-quality screen time aligns with the 4 C's: creating, collaborating, critical thinking, and communication, by prioritizing these we can transform screen time from a passive activity into an enriching learning experience.

Time-Saving Tips for Finding Premade Teaching Resources

Finding time to make high-quality teaching resources can be challenging. In this tutorial, Katie Blunt demonstrates how to find engaging learning materials in an eMedia collection. eMedia is a digital library that provides access to a wide range of educational resources, including videos, images, articles and more.

Grading Strategies and Reteach Opportunities

Looking for ways to streamline your grading and enhance your students' comprehension of their scores in Canvas? Join Val O’Bryan to learn a few tips for grading student work and providing substantive feedback.

Tips For Building a Supportive Classroom Culture

It's important to check in with our students regularly to see how they're doing and ensure that they're feeling supported. In this UEN Teacher Tip episode, Nicole Johnson shares four quick and easy check-in activities that you can use in your classroom to enhance student well-being and promote a positive classroom experience.

3 Surefire Ways To Increase Student Engagement

As we settle into the school year, it’s sometimes hard to keep students engaged. Luckily, Rob Bentley has some great ideas to keep students motivated. Join Rob as he explores educational games, animations and artificial intelligence.

How To Evaluate Online Sources To Find Credible Information

In this quick tutorial Kayla Towner shows you how to find and use Utah's Online School Library Nearpod Scavenger Hunts. These scavenger hunts are a fun and engaging way for students to learn about the different resources available in the library and how to evaluate them for credibility.

5 Tips To Talk About Digital Citizenship Every Day

Need ideas for talking about digital citizenship in your classroom? UEN Product Manager, Dani Sloan, suggests making it a daily practice. In this episode, learn five ways you can model digital citizenship every day.