Ed. note: App of the Week picks are now being curated by the editors of Common Sense Education [1], which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. Click here [2] to read the full app review.
Anti-Defamation League [2]
What’s It Like?
Teachers can turn to ADL to both get training on, and resources for teaching about, sensitive issues around bias, prejudice, and diversity, such as anti-Muslim bigotry, athletes and activism, or ableism. The site’s search tool will bring up diversity-related resources on many trending topics. A quick search on “sports” yields an impressive library of sports-related diversity issues. Even something more current (as of this review) like “#metoo” already returns several resources. If lessons are flexible, ask students a few days in advance for topics they are hearing about in the news. Do a quick search, and plug in the resource or lesson according to class time available.
Price: Free
Grades: PreK-12
Rating: 4/5
Pros: You can use this in class tomorrow. Legwork is done and it’s ready to run.
Cons: Some resources take potentially divisive stands on political issues like BDS.
Bottom line: This site fuses meaningful curricular connections between challenging current events and class content, and is a helpful go-to for teaching tough issues.