A friend, Catherine Worthington shared with me the wonders of freezer paper and I now have four rolls of the stuff in my studio. Try cutting some shapes and making some gelatin prints. Put the shiny slippery side down on the ink. I am also having fun with my new Canon powershot s100. Watch this video review by http://www.technobuffalo.com and you will want one too.
How to make a gelatin Plate for printmaking - the video
Quick video on the basics of gelatin printmaking
Gelatin printing artist trading cards - a short video
48 second slideshow of gelatin prints by linda germain and why she loves it.
Print, cut out and magnet to your fridge. You've earned it, faithful blog reader!
The Hollywood awards season may have come to a close with the presentation of the Oscars, but it's not too late to do some award presenting of your own. As a matter of fact, this may be the perfect time to recognize outstanding achievement in our classrooms. I know what you're thinking--isn't this a topic for the end of the year? Isn't that when we're supposed to award achievement, attendance, effort, etc.? Sure, sure . . . there are plenty of awards to be given at the end of a successful school year. But at the end of February when we're all getting tired of the every day routine, and the dreary weather, and the standardized testing, and . . . well, just about everything . . . this may be the perfect time to give someone (student, colleague, administrator, . . . blog reader) an unexpected, probably much-needed shot in the arm.
If you're a creative sort, you can certainly make your own custom award certificates in your favorite word processing or graphics program. If that would require far more time than you can spare on any given day, though, there are lots of quick and easy online alternatives. One of the quickest is at: http://www.senteacher.org/Worksheet/3/FreeCertificates.xhtml (It's actually called the Quick Certificate Printer!) This one really is quick and easy, without having to settle for images or wording that are not quite right, or not editable. Worth bookmarking for the times you need to capitalize on an unexpected moment of brilliance.
Have a little more time to prepare? Try http://www.schoolexpress.com/awards/index.php or http://www.certificatestreet.com/templates.html. Both are loaded with options for making some fun and interesting awards. My favorites, though, are http://www.123certificates.com, where you can customize countless certificates as well as trophies and award ribbons, and http://www.printwithmypic.com/certificates/ where you can, you guessed it, add pictures to personalize awards.
So go ahead. Take a moment to thank all the "little people" who contribute to your success, and let them know how successful they are as well. No need for a golden statue on the mantle when you can have a certificate from the teacher to proudly display in the place of highest honor in every home--the front of the fridge.Listen to this post, or download mp3
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Whether you love 'em, hate 'em, or fall somewhere in between, PowerPoint presentations have become something of a staple in every teacher's bag of technology tricks. Some of us create our own PowerPoints to present curriculum content, some of us have our students create them to show they've learned the curriculum content, and some of us do a little of each.
Now, conventional Powerpoint wisdom tells us that as a general rule, less is more. PowerPoint slides are, essentially, visual aids, and should not contain every word you intend to convey to your audience. Most of your presentation should come from the presenter--as spoken word. (If you've never seen it, take a minute to watch the "Life after Death by PowerPoint" video below. It's definitely good for a giggle or two.)
Well, for seasoned professionals like us, that shouldn't be too much of a challenge. Teachers are, after all, paid to speak extemporaneously in front of an audience on a daily basis. But for our students, on the other hand, not reading directly from the presentation can be quite a challenge. Fortunately for all of us, there are web resources available to improve the presentations of the shy, shyer, and shyest of students.
Present.me is a web tool that allows you to add a video narration to your PowerPoints, creating a presentation that is the next best thing to (sometimes even better than) a live address. Your slides and narration appear side by side and are easy to synch perfectly for a flawless presentation. Not only is this a good solution for eliminating the nervousness many students experience at the prospect of speaking in front of their classmates, it's also perfect for the teacher who wants to be sure every point of context is delivered, even in his or her absence. (Wouldn't every teacher want him or herself as their own substitute?!) Recorded presentations can also be posted online so that even the students who missed class can hear every word that was delivered while they were gone.
Students too shy to appear on video? MyBrainshark.com is the perfect solution for the shyer set. Audio narration can be added through this website, as well as some nice background music for effect. (Read lots more about MyBrainshark, and see a sample presentation in the January 29th post of this blog.)
Now what about those students who tremble at the mere thought of speaking into a microphone? Yes, there's even a solution for the shyest of your students: HelloSlide.com. Using the Hello Slide website allows students to add narration to their presentations by simply typing what they want to say. Sure, you can tell it's computer-speak, but it is far more natural than many computer-voices I've heard. This website will even allow you to choose the language the narrator will speak, and the accent, to my untrained ear, actually sounds pretty realistic.
So there you have it--something for everyone. Never again will you have to stare at the back of a student reading word-for-word from the text-laden PowerPoint presentation proudly projected on the wall of your classroom. Now, if we could just as easily address the rest of these egregious talk taboos.
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On a beautiful day like today (80º and sunny in Chicago, mid-March) I'm reminded of the expression, "the best things in life are free." Although usually the things to which this statement refers are in the realm of the philosophical, on the rare occasion, some of life's freebies can be quite tangible. Such is the case with the gems from Triptico. If you are lucky enough to have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom, be sure to seek out the treasure available free for the taking at http://triptico.co.uk. With a single multi-platform download, you will get a collection of more than 20 interactive resources that are versatile, customizable, inspirational . . . invaluable! (What?! No IWB in your room? All you really need to take advantage of many of the Triptico resources is your computer and a projector. Honest.) Upload a class list and make use of the Student Selector, Student Order and Student Group applications. Use the same class list to create Class Magnets for taking attendance or organizing teams for games or projects. Ready to play a review game with your class? Be sure to start the Flip Timer or the Hourglass, and one of the Team Scoreboard apps. Have a little extra time to prepare? Create some custom activities for your class using the Text and Image Spinners, a Random Task Generator, quiz generators, matching games and so much more. Like any real treasure, this resource may require a little more digging than your average search, but once uncovered will have definitely been worth the extra effort. And, best of all, this is one chest that will still be full no matter how many treasure-seekers claim it as their own.Listen to this post, or download mp3
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Yes, I know it's too soon to think about making your seating charts for the next school year. After all, it will probably be weeks before many of us see our class lists. But, it's not too soon to think about how you'll make your seating charts for next year, is it?
Invariably, the beginning of every school year brings with it many time consuming chores, one of which is designing and completing seating charts. Now while the average Joe may think this is not such a big deal, those of us who face the task several times each year know all too well that it requires a lot more thought and effort than seems evident. Many a pencil eraser has given its life trying to get the right student in the right seat, and while a lot of us have taken to seeking digital assistance, the perfect seating chart maker is still difficult to locate. I have found one that works well for me, though, and while I immediately see that it's not going to be the perfect choice for every teacher, I'd like to share some info with you in case you'd like to give it a try as well.
Pin • Front • Back Close to • Away from • Erase
Happy Class (http://happyclassapp.com/) is a website that will allow you to quickly and easily create and edit seating charts for your classroom(s). The process is quite easy. Create a room by clicking to add as many seats as you need. Add student names by typing or pasting (I haven't found a way to upload a list--don't think you can at this point), and the program will randomly place students in seats. Here's where it gets fun. Click on any student's name and see a diagram like the one to the right. This will allow you to: • pin the student in place • move to the front of the room • move to the back of the room • position closely to a good partner • position away from a potential problem partner or • erase a previous partnership. Don't have it quite right? Use the refresh button to generate a new arrangement based on your selection for each student. The site will even generate a "happy factor" so you can see how close you are to having a workable arrangement.
Refresh!
One of the reasons this program works well for me is that my classroom (computer lab) has a fairly standard seating arrangement that really doesn't change. Seats are in straight rows, facing the front of the room--easy to set up at the Happy Class site. There doesn't seem to be a way to create any other arrangement at the site yet, but since it is still in beta, that may be a feature that's still in the works. And, again because it's in beta, you will need to request an invite in order to create your account and get to work.
What do you think? Does this sound like a winner for you? Do you know of a better, free seating chart generator? There are certainly other options (superteachertools.com comes to mind). Do you have a favorite? Please let me know. Wouldn't it be nice to provide seating chart resources to teachers as soon as they get a look at those new class lists?Listen to this post, or download mp3
Listen to this post, or download mp3
If you are lucky enough to have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom, be sure to seek out the treasure available free for the taking at http://triptico.co.uk. With a single multi-platform download, you will get a collection of more than 20 interactive resources that are versatile, customizable, inspirational . . . invaluable! (What?! No IWB in your room? All you really need to take advantage of many of the Triptico resources is your computer and a projector. Honest.)
Like any real treasure, this resource may require a little more digging than your average search, but once uncovered will have definitely been worth the extra effort. And, best of all, this is one chest that will still be full no matter how many treasure-seekers claim it as their own.
