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"There are lots of ways to stretch student thinking and get them talking to each other about ideas. One fun way is through riddles that require inductive reasoning, critical thinking and hopefully some good collaboration around student ideas. The three brain teasers below created by TED-Ed have fun visuals and include an explanation at the end. All the videos also include lesson plan ideas to deepen the conversation and start discussion."

"During this week's #TEDEdChat, Megan Roberts (@OnPointEdu) co-hosts about the power of creativity and play. At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play - with many examples you can try at home (and one that maybe you shouldn't)."

"The breakthrough happened after the student took the Bartle's Gamer Profile Quiz and we found out that he was a "killer." Off-the-charts killer, but achievement meant nothing to this student. Just like grades. No, we haven't identified the next school shooter, and I sure wish that Bartle hadn't named one of the four gamer profiles "killer" -- but nonetheless, this student identified with this profile. Jane McGonigal mentioned it in her Gaming Can Make a Better World TED Talk when she discussed an epic meaning. My so-called "killer" student (and we really should rename this when applying it to education!) simply saw things as a battle between good and evil and wanted to fight on the side of good in an epic quest to make the world a better place. Points don't matter in gameplay, and grades don't matter, either. But when we tweaked the kinds of work he was doing in our Gamifi-ED project to focus on "world-changing games," he was suddenly engaged. Now his face lights up when he sees me. He's one of the first kids to class. He's an engaged gamer and, finally, an engaged student. "

"Whiteboard animation videos are videos that draw themselves. They involve an animated use of images, shapes, characters, sounds and voice-overs to create a clip. This form of video production has been very popular recently and is widely used by some leading educational YouTube channels such as TED Ed and RSA Animate. Creating a whiteboard animation video is no longer a graphic designer's job. There are actually several web tools that allow you to easily put together an animated video with as simple tools as drag and drop. As a teacher, you can  use these animations to create and share tutorials,  presentations, step by tsp guides, and many more. Below are three  of my favourite tools I would recommend for you:"

"Education expert Sir Ken Robinson notes that in the factories of the 20th century, creativity was not valued. Yet in the startups of the 21st century, it's critical for success. What can teachers do - right now - to prepare students for the world of the future? Below, 10 ways to teach creativity in the classroom:"

"We've all been told that we should recycle plastic bottles and containers. But what actually happens to the plastic if we just throw it away? Emma Bryce traces the life cycles of three different plastic bottles, shedding light on the dangers these disposables present to our world. "

"When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians' brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout."

"It is getting to be that time of year here in Maine when we can't walk across a carpet then touch a light switch without getting a bit of a shock. What causes that happen? And why does it seem to happen more often in the winter months than in the summer months? The answers to those questions and more are found in the TED-Ed lesson The Science of Static Electricity."

"What can you write in 10 minutes or less? Let's find out! For a quick creative writing exercise, try one of the 21 writing prompts below, excerpted from Chronicle Books' 642 Tiny Things to Write About. Each prompt was created by a writing teacher at the San Francisco Writers Grotto to be done in 10 minutes or less. For a bigger creative challenge, do one writing prompt a day for 21 days."

"Years ago TED-Ed started a playlist of video lessons called Math in Real Life. That playlist that started out with just a couple dozen lessons has now grown to include 82 lessons. The "real life" context in these lessons isn't things like "how calculating percentages helps you be a frugal shopper." The "real life" context found in the videos in the Math in Real Life series is broad in nature. For example, you will find lessons about how math is used to guide ships and why airlines often sell more seats than they have on an airplane. "

"I recently discovered Boclips for Teachers, a portal hosting more than 2 million short-form educational videos from more than 100 of the educational video producers you already know and love. Familiar sites like TED-Ed, LearnZillion, Associated Press, PBS, Crash Course, Reuters, Bozeman Science and Smithsonian have offered permission for the site to curate their excellent content in a distraction-free, ad-free environment. Content is selected by teachers for teachers. Boclips for Teachers spans age/grade levels and disciplines. Content includes instructional video, animations, mini-documentaries, historical footage, breaking news and virtual reality. Teachers may use the platform to share, edit, and store videos or they might easily copy BoClips links to share on their own websites and learning management systems. Unfortunately, the search does not yet allow users to filter for subject, age level, curriculum standards, etc"

"As the new school year gets going there will be plenty of students and teachers who are adjusting to a new sleeping schedule. It can be tempting to stay up late to get "just one more thing" done. We're actually better off going to bed and getting up early than we are if stay up late trying to get something done. The Benefits of a Good Night's Sleep is a TED-Ed lesson that teaches us about the importance of sleeping on a steady schedule."

"What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? As the director of 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life."

"The Writer's Workshop is a playlist of twenty-two TED-Ed lessons. The The Writer's Workshop contains lessons on basic topics like how to use punctuation and videos on more complex topics like how to make your writing humorous."

"n the rush to cover standards and ensure students have learned the concepts they will need in the future, it's easy to lose sight of how fun math can be. These three TED-Ed videos offer fun, challenging riddles that can also be explicitly connected to mathematical concepts. The "Prisoner Box" problem is essentially a loop and could be a high-interest way to dive into this topic."

"Have you ever sat down to take a math test and immediately felt your heart beat faster and your palms start to sweat? This is called math anxiety, and if it happens to you, you're not alone: Researchers think about 20 percent of the population suffers from it. So what's going on? And can it be fixed? Orly Rubinsten explores the current research and suggests ways to increase math performance."