Create Infographics with Photovisi

I'm a big fan of Infographics. I think infographics are a good way for students to learn, review, and share what they know. Creating infographics is not busy work, its work that requires thinking and planning, not to mention writing and reading. An infographic is simply a product that has information and graphics. Some might call this a collage, but a collage is more of a "picture only" type of thing. I by no means invented the idea of Infographics or any of the infographic creating tools. However, I do like to search for infographic creating tools other than paper/pencil. Unless a student is an awesome drawer, computer infographics are way more effective. Photovisi is a great tech tool that students can use to make an infographic. 
Great things about Photovisi: it's free. Students do not need to log in. Students can easily save their project. Students can pick from a wide variety of templates and options. Students can use pictures off the internet. Students can add typing/captions. Students pick up on how to use photovisi quickly, so instruction time is minimal and creation time is optimal. So, find a computer lab and give Photovisi a try. Students will enjoy using it and get something out of it. Photovisi's can be as in-depth as you want to make it. General overview of a topic or a dynamic, in-depth project. 
Application for Education:
-students research a new topic and create a photovisi
-students create a photovisi as a review tool
-students share their photovisi with their classmates to learn about new topics through their peers
-teacher creates a photovisi to present information/new topic

Examples:

Tackk.com: great teacher tool

I was talking about technology in education with a colleague the other day and we were discussing tech tools that allow students to create. We both agreed that technology in the hands of the students is a must because we want them to discover, create, and explore. We were talking about having students make websites but it's such a time commitment with a lot of explanation so it gets to be a daunting task. I told him that I have a website making tool that the students can learn how to use and make a website in just one class period. He didn't believe, so I said, "Do you triple dare me to show you?" and he said, "No, I quadruple dare you to show me." So I did. I showed him Tackk.com and it blew him away. 
Tackk.com is a dynamic web 2.0 tool that allows you to create webpages quickly and easily (and without knowing any coding). Along with blogger and remind101, Tackk.com is right up there with my favorite tech tools. It is an especially good tool in trying to implement CCSS in your curriculum, no matter what the content. Tackk.com offers you and the students the ability to create permanent websites. This seemingly monumental task is actually quite simple. Tackk.com provides you with only the basic/necessary tools to create your website so you don't feel overwhelmed with too many options. There is no code writing. You do not have to be a tech wizard to use Tackk.com. As with every tech tool, there are two options: you use it or have your students use it. In my opinion, it is always best if the students can get their hands on these tech tools and use them. Tackk.com. 
Application to Education: Create a tackk on a topic that you are studying. Post an article or write the article yourself, then make it available for students to read. With this angle, you can implement Reading Informational text. 
Having students create tackks provides them the opportunity to work on the writing portion of the CCSS. Have the students create a tackk to go along with a short research project, compare/contrast, write opinions, or any number of writing standards.
The great thing about Tackk is that the websites are easy to share, so all can benefit from the projects being created. 

 Example of Tackk.com

Sharing Student Work: The Photo Journal

Photo Journal Example

Students love to have their work put on display. Think about it-a kid goes through 3 hours making something awesome, only for one person (the teacher) to see it. That doesn't seem right! Have students share their work with their class in real life--that's easy. But I also think it's a powerful thing to share their work online. Students think it's cool to be able to see their work on a class website. They can show their parents. They can see other classmates' work, etc. The question is, "How do we do this?" With technology, we can do this in a very fast, efficient way. I have done this many ways in the past, always looking for the fastest possible way to share student work online. One of the fastest ways I have discovered is to use Google Drive. Here's how:
Create a folder in your Google Drive. Label it "Photo Journal 15-16"
"Share" the folder to get the link for view only. 
Post/share the link on a website or some place students can easily access it. 
The efficient part is how to get the images into the folder. 
Get the Google Drive app on your smartphone. Take a picture of their work or whatever you want to add to the photo journal. With the Google Drive app, open the folder you created for the photo journal, and simply upload the image(s) from the camera roll. Once this is done, the images are instantly in the folder and instantly available for viewing.  

Students constantly asked me when I was going to update the Photo journal. It was a good motivator because they would ask if a certain project or task was going into the photo journal and if specifically their project was. 

Fake Text Message Generator

Sick of students always texting? Annoyed how the english language has deteriorated since cell phones and texting were created? Want your students to do school work instead of text? Well, instead of fighting against the machine, embrace it and use it to your advantage! Classtools.net provides a simple to use text message generator in which you can have a text message conversation between anybody you want! Type in each side of the conversation, save, and share! To share your fake text message, you can use the Link, QR code, or embed it like I have done here. You do not need to register for an account, but can provide a password to your creation so you can edit it later if you want.  Don't be strict with proper language for this activity. Allow the kids to use "text" slang and lingo (appropriate, though). Doing this will give them the feel of actually texting which is okay because they are still using the content you want them to learn/review. 

Application for Education: This tool can easily be integrated into any classroom and any content. Since it is so easy to use, your students could make a quality product in just one class period. Some research might have to be done ahead of time, though. As always, you can make a fake text conversation or have your students make one to share. Have a conversation between any two important people in your class. Wouldn't it be cool to see Abe Lincoln talk to JFK?? What would they talk about? With this, you can make it happen. Don't limit yourself to just people. Have objects or places talk to each other as well. Have Bob Ross talk to his painting. Or a math wizard to a math dunce. The ideas and opportunities are endless! Check out my brief example below and give it a try for yourself. 

Coggle: Mind-Mapping tool (with example)

There are many idea maps, mind maps, concepts maps out there. One that I found recently that I really like is Coggle. This mind map allows you to create a sharp, focused mind map and also share it with others. "Sharing" it with others doesn't just mean allowing them to see it. You can "share" with others to allow them to work on the mind map as well. This is a great way to work on collaboration because students are working together but have their own computer. They can work on the same Coggle project on two different computers. Once your project is done, you can download your coggle in PDF or PNG (image). You can also generate a link to your Coggle project. One thing that Coggle doesn't do that other mind maps do is allow the user to insert pictures. Be aware of that if you plan on using Coggle with your students (which I hope you do!)
Applications for Education: Create a Coggle about any topic, unit, question. The collaboration that Coggle offers is a great way for students to work together to produce something worthwhile and meaningful. Like anything with technology tools in our school district, there are hurdles with Coggle. In order to "share" with others, they need to have a Coggle account, which is free but requires an email address for sign-up. So until our students have that, which they will eventually, you may have to use the Coggle as a project done individually or pairs at the same computer. 

Click for Example of Coggle

Get Pinterest-ed in Education

Pinterest is NOT just for females. Pinterest is a great resource for teachers because it's essentially a huge sharing virtual world of ideas. If you are not familiar with Pinterest, here's how it works: You sign up for an account. Once you have an account, you are given a "virtual board" that you can "pin" things that you find interesting and/or want to use in the future. It's kind of like a "to-do list" only virtually. Pinning things on your board helps you not forget what you want to do in the future. You can also "follow" other people's boards. This feature is what makes Pinterest a good teaching resource. There are tons of education boards on Pinterest. You can search for education-content related boards and see what other people are doing out there. You can find activity ideas, projects, technology tools, etc. You can also "pin" your own ideas and share with other users. I signed up for an account last night and realized two things: it's a great place for teacher resource sharing/ideas and its a huge "time drain." I browsed around for a while and just kept hopping from board to board, searching for good stuff and soon I realized I had spent an hour looking at Pinterest. Sign up for Pinterest and do some browsing. What can it hurt? If it's not for you, than just delete your account. However, I am confident you will find something worthwhile that could help your teaching.  

Source: teachgennow.com.au via Heidi on Pinterest

Second Look: Animaps-Bringing maps to life

I posted about Animaps last week and it was posted during a no school day, so I thought I would repost it in case you missed it. This is a great, powerful tool that I think you should check out!
Animaps is a website that allows you to make animated, interactive maps. This is NOT just a geography tool, it can be used in any content area. With animaps, you design your route/path and can show points of interest along the way. Animaps uses google maps, so you are able to use real streets, towns, countries, etc.  It is a great tool for showing a path or route and what happens along the way. I used it to show my students the Silk Road path and things that happen along the way. It would be a cool tool to use to show a character's journey in a book or the spread of a disease. Animaps does take some time to figure out how to use it and make your product, but it is worth the time. Let me know if you would like me to show you how to use it. Once you get the hang of it, it is a lot of fun.

Common Core and Social Studies

View Interactive Common Core-Social Studies Tech Tools

Sharing Student Work with Picasa

Picasa allows you to share student work quick and easy. On my website, I have a"showcase" page which I use to share student work. I use Picasa because it is synced with my Google account and I like how you can post a slideshow right on your blog/website. Students constantly ask me when I'm going to add more stuff to the showcase page. They like to have their work shared. They take pride in their work and try harder knowing other might see it. Since I started showcasing student work on my website, I have seen an overall increase in effort of my students. With my iPhone, I take pictures of student work and easily upload them to my picasa web album. Having an iPhone makes this easier, but if you don't have an iPhone, you can still share. You could scan the student work with a scanner and upload the images that way. Whether you share student work online or hang it on a wall, I think its a great thing to do to get the student excited and proud of their work. 

Sharing with Blogs!

Blogs are a great way to share. As a teacher, there are a lot of things that we can share. We can share things we make, things students make or things that we find on the internet. Maybe you have an awesome powerpoint that you want your students to be able to see outside of class? Post it on your blog. Maybe a student made a really awesome project and you want to share that? Take a picture and share it on your blog. Maybe you want your students to collaboratively work on a Prezi? Well, create the prezi and share it on your blog. Students are wired for computers and the internet. Let's use that! They want to be able toTo  see materials outside of school. Parents want to be able to see things outside of school. It helps engage. It helps students be involved and get connected.
Sharing:
To share a powerpoint: upload your powerpoint into google docs, which will give you the embed code.
To share a prezi, click "share" and use the embed code.
To embed your powerpoint/prezi on your blog, click the "html" tab when you are composing a new blog post.

Three Headed Monster: Think, Write, Read

I like to refer to blogging as a Three Headed Monster. When a student sits down to my blog, each time they must do three things. First, they must THINK about what they are going to say. Next, they WRITE what they want to say, what the answers are, their opinion, etc. Finally, they go back and READ what their classmates have shared as well. When you can come up with a tool that forces the student to think, write, and read and have it be something they WANT to do, then why wouldn't you use it? If you could go to Target and buy such a tool, you would. But you don't have to because blogging is free! All you need is a google account and an imagination. There is a wide variety of ways you can have students interact with your blog. Posting comments is something we do a lot in my class. A few examples of comments my students post:
1. Vague post: At the beginning of a unit, I often tell my students to "just tell me something" about the world we are about to start. I provide them with appropriate websites and they browse at their own leisure and share with me and their classmates what they want. Good way to get them in the "mood" for that ancient world. 
2. Imaginary Conversation: Students love to imagine, especially middle schoolers. So let them! To show me what they know, I like to have my students post a comment in which they have a "conversation" with an imaginary friend about a certain topic (pyramids, Nile River, Greek Mythology, etc). Students really get into this because its fun for them to choose their imaginary friend and pretend to talk to them. This is a really good example of the Three Headed Monster because students really enjoy looking through the comments and seeing what their classmates did and who they talked to. 
3. The Great Debate: Middle school students struggle with opinions. One thing that prevents them from sharing their opinion in class is they are afraid they are "wrong" or don't know what to say. Help foster their opinion forming by giving them a way to think about it first instead of on the spot sharing in class. I pose a question and have the students post a comment about what they think and WHY. This is a good way to have all students share what they think instead of waiting for their turn. Again, students then read through their classmates opinions and continue to discuss. 

There are many, many different ways you can have students post comments but they can't do anything unless you have a blog! 
I recommend using blogger.com.  Though there are other options such as wordpress and edublogs.

Tagxedo: A Word Cloud better than Wordle

We are probably all familiar with word clouds. They can help a student understand a theme, help a student show understanding, or provide an image describing a topic. A popular word cloud is wordle. This world cloud option allows the user to customize the wordle but only provides one option for presentation: a group of words. So perhaps you want more flexibility and creativity in your world cloud? Well, the answer is Tagxedo. This word cloud option allows the user to customize the words to be used, either by typing them in or entering a URL. The cool part about tagxedo is that the user has a ton of options on how the Tagxedo looks. Tagxedo is a useful, visually pleasing creation tool.
Examples of Use: I have attached an interactive tagxedo to this post from my Stone Age unit, you could provide the student with a link (example here), or post it as an static image only.
Application to Education: student can create a tagxedo about a certain topic and have the overall shape of the word cloud be a central theme. Teachers can create a tagxedo and post it on their website to convey an idea/topic to their students.

Infographics: Great tool to create and learn

This is an Infographic I made about Otzi the Iceman using Easel.ly

Infographics are a great way for teachers to present information to students, but also a great thing for students to create to show learning and understanding. Infographics are great to share, allowing students to teach each other in a way that doesn't require long, boring presentations or by using a dull speech nobody listens to. Infographics give the student (and teacher) a creative way to learn and share. Infographics are pictures and text designed and arranged in a way that provide information. Infographics can be created with a multitude of ways. To make an infographics, all you need is a topic and a way to put pictures together with words. You also have to use something that allows you or the student to share the infographic. One tool that I have been using, which I really like, is the website:  Easel.ly.  This website gives me templates I can customize to fit my topic or the option of starting from scratch. You can add pictures, text, shapes, and graphics. These can be time consuming to make, but it's worth it if the students can learn more. Infographics with Easel.ly: Creating, organizing, thinking, writing, reading and sharing...sounds good to me.