I have had such fun playing with all of the websites in this week's module! I am already looking forward to next school year (did I just say that!?!).
In addition to using the ideas I shared in my previous blog post, I am really excited about using Picmonkey along with introducing graphic novels to my high readers. I got so excited watching one of the tutorials, that I called our school librarian to tell her all about it! She just won a grant to purchase tons of graphic novels for our school. I could totally see some of the older kids creating their own graphic novels using the Comic Heroes theme and their own photos. They could be the hero of their own book! That would be so awesome!
I really loved the Foldbooks on Foldplay's website. The kids could retell stories and make their own little foldable book. I could be used for fiction, especially my Fairy Tales unit. I could also see them writing their own little non-fiction books about pretty much anything we are doing in science or social studies. In math, they could start off with a story problem, and on each page do one step of the problem until the problem is solved at the end of the book.
In the past, I have had students draw WANTED posters for villainous characters in stories we have read. I was so excited to see Wanted Posters as one of the options on tuxpi.com. I know the kids would love to make these with information about the character and their favorite part is always the reward!
I am sure there will be many other great applications for things in the websites that were listed. I can't wait to do even more exploration!
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Inching Along
...through the sandbox this week. Sending me to these sites to "play" is not really good for me. POOF! There goes 2 hours! (and yes, I am bookmarking them ALL so I can go back a play one day when I have even more time to waste!)
Here's one of my creations. I used Big Huge Labs to create a motivational poster of some flowers that my current school librarian (and friend) gave me when she found out that I had joined this cohort. They were so colorful and happy little daisies.
Here's one of my creations. I used Big Huge Labs to create a motivational poster of some flowers that my current school librarian (and friend) gave me when she found out that I had joined this cohort. They were so colorful and happy little daisies.
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| Freeman, D. (2015). Beauty [photo poster]. http://bighugelabs.com/. CC BY-NC |
Finding Larvae
After reading and watching Dr. Kimmel's video, I decided to find a picture of a caterpillar. Since I feel like I just wandered out of my egg (and have little to no idea what I am doing) and I woke up particularly hungry this morning...
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| Hectonichus (2009). Danaus plexippus Caterpillar [photo]. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nymphalidae_-_Danaus_plexippus_Caterpillar.JPG. CC SA |
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| Tael (2009). Une chenille noire [photo]. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caterpillar_black2.jpg. CC SA |
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Text and Fonts, who knew?
Hello, my name is Donna, and I am a "font-aholic". I love fonts. All kinds of fonts. The funkier, the better. On the Mac I had for school, I had downloaded over a hundred of fun and useful fonts. Last summer, our Macs were ripped away and we were handed new Dells. One of my least favorite things about the new Dell, is that we are not allowed to download any fonts. This was heartbreaking to me. My son bought me a new HP laptop for Christmas and I am back in the downloading business! I just can't use them for school, which is a bummer.
Until I read chapter 2, I had no idea that choosing type was such a "science". I usually just choose what I like. I take into consideration what I am trying to convey and who my audience will be, and possibly, how I am feeling at the time.
When creating this blog, prior to reading chapter 2, I chose the background theme because I liked it. It looks whimsical, and it's very seasonal - for the season of the year as well as this season of my life. I chose the complimentary colors of blues, greens, browns and whites because they are easily read in the context of the chosen theme. My type or font choices were purely personal. I tried different ones and stuck with the ones that I liked the most and thought looked the best. I chose Trebuchet for my text and posts. I like the roundness of the letters. I chose the more traditional Georgia for the date. I guess that was the most formal part of my blog at the time. My title is done with Coming Soon. I like the childlike whimsy of it and thought it looked appropriate with the dandelion on the banner.
I knew this class would be challenging for me, but I was pretty sure I would be okay with the chapter about fonts. After all, I am a "font-aholic". Who knew there was so much to know?
Until I read chapter 2, I had no idea that choosing type was such a "science". I usually just choose what I like. I take into consideration what I am trying to convey and who my audience will be, and possibly, how I am feeling at the time.
When creating this blog, prior to reading chapter 2, I chose the background theme because I liked it. It looks whimsical, and it's very seasonal - for the season of the year as well as this season of my life. I chose the complimentary colors of blues, greens, browns and whites because they are easily read in the context of the chosen theme. My type or font choices were purely personal. I tried different ones and stuck with the ones that I liked the most and thought looked the best. I chose Trebuchet for my text and posts. I like the roundness of the letters. I chose the more traditional Georgia for the date. I guess that was the most formal part of my blog at the time. My title is done with Coming Soon. I like the childlike whimsy of it and thought it looked appropriate with the dandelion on the banner.
I knew this class would be challenging for me, but I was pretty sure I would be okay with the chapter about fonts. After all, I am a "font-aholic". Who knew there was so much to know?
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
AnswerGarden: How do you feel when people are mean to you?...
AnswerGarden: How do you feel when people are mean to you?...: AnswerGarden: How do you feel when people are mean to you?...
Monday, May 18, 2015
Playing around with Tagxedo
My kids love to used Tagxedo to create word pictures. We use it when we do animal research. They have a blast creating a shape picture to tell about what they have been learning.
I took text from the first few pages of my favorite book from childhood The Story of Ferdinand to create this shape of a "cork" tree.
The Journey Begins
Today is day one of a year long (a little bit more) journey to transform myself from a classroom teacher of 26 years, into a school librarian.
Just about one year ago, my son informed me that he was joining the Army. Which was an answer to a prayer, just not the answer I had planned. I had been praying that he would have some direction and purpose in life. He was, after all, 20 years old. I was thinking it would be nice for God to answer this prayer with Tim getting a full time job, or to start taking classes at the local community college, or some such convention. Three weeks after I began praying about this, he informed me that he was going to see a recruiter. Helloooo God, THIS was not what I had in mind. Fast forward to the end of the summer of 2014 and I am dropping my one and only son off at the recruiter's office so he can be shipped halfway across the country (no, he has never flown, thank you) to go to Army Basic Training in Oklahoma. So this single mom of one fresh Army recruit drives to school for the first day of teacher week, crying my eyes out.
Now here I am some nine and a half months later starting a library cohort, so that in just over a year, I too can be a school librarian. I felt the pull to make a change, I just wasn't sure what that was. A good friend of mine joined a cohort last spring/summer. Now she is almost finished and has accepted a job as a librarian for the next school year. After talking with her, much prayer and consideration, I find myself here, on the first day of school. Again!
This next year will go by, whether I am in school, or not. Whether I am making a change or not. But I am making a change, and I for one, am excited (and nervous). But excited nonetheless. If you try to reach me this next year and I am slow returning your emails, Facebook messages, texts, or phone calls it will be because I am in my chrysalis. Changing is hard work. Especially for an old caterpillar like me!
Just about one year ago, my son informed me that he was joining the Army. Which was an answer to a prayer, just not the answer I had planned. I had been praying that he would have some direction and purpose in life. He was, after all, 20 years old. I was thinking it would be nice for God to answer this prayer with Tim getting a full time job, or to start taking classes at the local community college, or some such convention. Three weeks after I began praying about this, he informed me that he was going to see a recruiter. Helloooo God, THIS was not what I had in mind. Fast forward to the end of the summer of 2014 and I am dropping my one and only son off at the recruiter's office so he can be shipped halfway across the country (no, he has never flown, thank you) to go to Army Basic Training in Oklahoma. So this single mom of one fresh Army recruit drives to school for the first day of teacher week, crying my eyes out.
Now here I am some nine and a half months later starting a library cohort, so that in just over a year, I too can be a school librarian. I felt the pull to make a change, I just wasn't sure what that was. A good friend of mine joined a cohort last spring/summer. Now she is almost finished and has accepted a job as a librarian for the next school year. After talking with her, much prayer and consideration, I find myself here, on the first day of school. Again!
This next year will go by, whether I am in school, or not. Whether I am making a change or not. But I am making a change, and I for one, am excited (and nervous). But excited nonetheless. If you try to reach me this next year and I am slow returning your emails, Facebook messages, texts, or phone calls it will be because I am in my chrysalis. Changing is hard work. Especially for an old caterpillar like me!
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