Literary Elements Analysis Animoto

Used to stimulate conversation, discussion about literary elements. Could be arranged to talk about the elements in general or those tied to a particular piece title, or even genre. This was used in a 9th English class as a review generator.

Texas: An Introductory Animoto

Created by Librarian to introduce state symbols to bilingual elementary students. Images came from Facts on File and Britannica Online.

Bill of Rights Animoto

Tied to 8th grade TAKS Objective 4, TEK 8.20 B. Images came from Flickr Creative Commons.

Do the Bird Walk? Animoto

Teacher-made showing various types of bird feet for the 2nd grade bird unit. The images came from Flickr Creative Commons

A World Geography / Current Events Animoto

A high school teacher created this to use in a discussion about the country of Tibet and the Olympic protests that were held regarding its status with China.

Students could create one as a product on the their research of a country or a state. They could include visuals representing the location or news surrounding it.

Another Science Animoto Example - Magnets

Use this in a class introduction to magnets and magnetism.
This was used as a TEASe (Technology Enhanced Anticipatory Set) in an 8th grade science class.

An Animoto could be created to show the process of an experiment as well. Students could use it as part of their end product.

Simple Machines: A Science Animoto

A basic science concept. Used as an introduction in an 8th grade class. Real-world connections.

Fractions Animoto

Example of a math idea. Pictures taken from Microsoft Clipart.

Animoto Issues: a Health Fitness Sample

Have been having issues with Animoto on my possessed computers (yes, I have 2, well, actually 3) and I have had terrible trouble getting Animotos to play. I need to be able to demo this Animoto first thing in the morning so I'm trying this as a way of being able to see it! It is for a Health Fitness group teachers to see what a self-made video can be used for! It represents healthy habits! Can you list all the habits?

Virtual Photos in Flickr

As a part of the 23 Things, we all have visited Flickr to see all kinds of photos...educational and personal interests.

Go here to see some information for virtual photos in Flickr, i.e. photos of Jokaydia Island in Second Life. If you are at school, you can see the flickr collection, but not the gallery views on the island...blocked in district.

Use the tag jokaydiaphotocomp08 to see what's been posted. Look for the one with the butterfly overlay...can't post it here...rights reserved! And one of the the upper portion of the lighthouse...you feel like you are flying!

Thing #19 2.0 Winners, What Fun!

I really took advantage of the directions on this one and looked at SWOmoz choices for award-winning tools that interested me.
I didn't necessarily think about finding things what would be "useful"....I just played!

But as with many things fun (and potato chips), I couldn't stop with just one. So here are the ones that bubbled to the top for me.

I love cute little widgets (almost as much as image generators) so I went looking at that category. And found a source called SpringWidgets. I added one to my other blog counting down the days until TLA conference, but don't bother looking at it in district. Same song, forgotten what verse...it's blocked! I clicked on the Widget Gallery and selected the one called Countdown to Summer...but what is cool is you can change the text to say what you what the countdown to be about...it is "posted" on a little yellow sticky note complete with push pins! I added a couple pf widgets from the "currently popular" on the home page...take a look towards the bottom of the side bar if you have a "light bulb moment" or need a "fortune." Treat yourself at home...of course!

Another award choice for me is Guess-the-google. TH first brought this fun little guessing game to my attention so I was glad to find it on the award list, play it some more, and get to write about it a bit. From the web site:

Guess-the-google reverses this process by picking
the keywords for you, the player must then guess what keyword made up the image - it's surprisingly addictive.

BTW...I do see some educational value in this particular little game...vocabulary building, drawing conclusions...ok, you can think up the reasons for using. I just want to play!

CAUTION: This fun little game is out on the WWW. That means it is available to anyone and everyone. The game is NOT the problem...some of the players are. Especially if they are high scorers. Their inappropriate screen names will appear to the right of the game screen...you can click into the game to get rid of the list. Do try the game for the game's sake and if you think it is useful in class, work you magic for figuring a workaround to the list of names should it hold some less than appropriate examples. I WISH there was a way to close that part...I wish the creator would realize his game would get more "press" if that element wasn't so in-your-face so to speak.

Update late Thursday night...the list of high scorers looks better than it did yesterday!

O, yes...it also takes Flash 8 to work, but that can be downloaded from the site should you need it.

When I found DonorsChoose.org on the awards list, it triggered something I had participated in earlier this year. I have a friend who applied for some financial assistance through this organization and was able to get some resources for her class...materials that had long-ago gone out of date and the school/district was not able to replace with updated versions. So she wrote the "grant" and after about 6 weeks, she was awarded her money, purchased her materials, received a digital camera to record the learning and has been busy sharing her "wealth" with her students. She will turn in a results report later this year.

As a contributor, it was easy for me. I wrote a check, but donations can be made online...partial or full. You can see a complete breakdown of the proposed expenses and how the request is to be used. I did a search for projects for here in Houston...there are pages and pages ranging from batches of spiral notebooks to a copier/printer!

Maybe this the way to go for something you need?
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Can't wait to see the new list of web winners when it comes out in May!

Hopping towards the finish line...good night!

Froggy Wart

Thing #10 Playing Around with Image Generators

I have been playing around so much with these things that I have neglected the necessary post! In looking thru all the other blogs that have gotten this far, I see so many clever ideas that can be incorporated for various things in a library or classroom. And i have palyed and played and sprinkled a few throughout the blog.


The idea that I will zero in on is signage...this previous post in my other blog will give you a better idea WHY signage is a hot button issue for me.


In so many libraries (including the ones I used to manage!), lots and lots of signs are needed to assist patrons in finding their way around and in finding just the right book or resource. All of these image generators can make solving that problem F-U-N. You can select a theme or style or color scheme to tie everything together...whatever meshes with your personality. (huuummm..is THAT a mashup of sorts?)


The sign above is from Image Chef in the Sign-Banner section. The one over on the sidebar is Image Chef's License Plate generator. Image Chef animated below, too!

I have and will use others throughout the blog...and will try to remember to tell you where they came from.

Later,

FG

Comic Relief

Too many cute & funny examples floating around the 23 Things Players' blogs. I had to "experience" one as well!

Yes...for all those inquiring minds (and I know there are 1 or 2 out there), I TRIED to find a frog cartoon, but there were SOOOOOOOO many choices and it was/is late!

"Banking" it at the edge... of the pond!
Froggy

A "Tree" of the Pad!

The Lily Pad Playground looks like this if you go here.

And here is all the background and some other examples!

and it is also another activity for Flickr... websitesasgraphs is the search term.

A Little More Mashup Playing

I am not totally comfortable with Flickr yet, but I haven't had time to load very many pictures and that will come in time. I am still unsure about the parameters of how things can be used. I know many pictures are copyrighted and others (including mine) are marked with the Creative Common use. I am assuming that means they can be used for non-profit use...at least I think that is how mine are set up...I hope!

I wanted to try some more mashup stuff so I went in and created a name tag! Fun, fun, fun! I can see all kinds of uses...student assistants, school club members...family reunions, high school reunions...anything where you might want some kind of visual representation!

I also took advantage of the service that allows PD Lab creations to be uploaded to Flickr for storage so maybe I won't continue to chase myself around looking for my "samples!"

I like these fun mashups. I can get my head around them and understand them...if I go into it too deep, I get lost...so I'm just going to have fun and not think about the mashup process too much!

Ok...on to Google things!

See ya!
Froggy Wart

Thing #6 Mashing Stuff

I am still struggling with all the aspects of Flickr...it is a much more complex site than I realized and you can do so much with it...I just wish I understood it all better, but I know, in time, it will come and I will have a light bulb moment or two.

I do like the texture & color feature of Flickr that allows you to select a color and various photos representing it will pop up. I picked a really deep green and you can see the results. I can see how this would help an art teacher demonstrate color and textures with regard to paint and color, but also it would be a fun way to teach color vocabulary to youngsters (or ESL students) as well.

I have been using a mash up called Animoto for some time now, but I do like the trading card program that was included for us to play with! I can see all kinds of uses in school for this little program and for lots of ages...I think I might have to make some fun "business" cards for myself. Here is a sample card I created to learn the program.

I have had fun...maybe too much today...I gotta leave this for awhile and get back to my New Year's resolution of getting my little casa clean and straight again...I can almost see my dining room table!

Until later, Froggy Wart

Thing #5 Flickr

Why do I insist on making something hard?!?

I have been in Flickr about a half dozen times looking at pictures and reading all the stuff about it. Just join and upload and quit worrying about it so much.


I really want to use Flickr to store pictures so I don't always have to remember which computer I have put some picture files on. I do want to be careful because most of the pictures I take are of people who I don't want to share with just anyone. So I really had to read the privacy portions more than once. So I have set it up to have public and private pictures.


So I go to join...and low & behold I had already done so...way back in 2004! Completely forgot that! When the other pictures popped up, I was surprised.

Here is a photo I took and I have added to my Flickr collection. I wanted to include a picture of my favorite place on earth, but none of the ones I saw in Flickr looked like they were "free" to use. So I have emailed the owners and if they grant peremisssion, I will come back here and include one of those!

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In the meantime, you get to see the friendly squirrel that comes down the tree to get pecans out my sister's hand! I wish I could show you the turtles that come "running" for the canned dog food, but they are hibernating right now! I could have shown you a picture of my Mr. C, but I have to figure out which computer he is on first!

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Anyway, there is SO much to learn about the Flickr stuff...and I want to learn to use it correctly!

There are SO many great photos...especially when you put in tags!

More later!

Froggy Wart