Images

This week's information about the use of images, namely photographs, was very interesting.  Much of the information presented will be simple to incorporate personally and professionally to create products that look more professional.

The first image that I chose to use is an oak tree sapling.  It effectively represents my feelings as I am learning technology skills and information that I can use later to become a more proficient teacher.  Growth is not always easy!

Creator Unknown (2013) Pixabay.com. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/p-55325/ CC0
 Newell, S. (2015). Growth [photo poster]. http://bighugelabs.com/. CC By-NC

As noted above, Big Huge Labs was used to create a motivational poster. 
In the classroom, students could use this to create a page displaying their understanding of a concept they had learned.  For example, students could take pictures of various playground activities and label them as the type of motion that is being shown.   

Next, I used a photo frame that was on Image Chef.  This site allowed me to add, crop, and tint a photo and personalize the headline to "The Daily News".

Creator Unknown (2014) Pixabay.com. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/children-nature-development-516342/ CC0
 Newell, S. (2015). Daily News [photo poster]. http://imagechef.com/t/5er2/Daily-News. CC By-NC

Students could use Image Chef to create a poster with a picture and headline showing something their group had created.

Since we are all juggling many roles and responsibilities, I decided to include a photograph of a juggler.  This is definitely not a photo of highest quality but it was fun to use as I experimented with Tuxpi. I cropped the photo, then used Tuxpi to experiment with editing the edges, border, color, and tone. A swirl effect for the edges and color change was used to create the final product.

Royan, J. (2013) Two Clown Musicians and a Pretty Juggler [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMunich

 Newell, S. (2015). Tuxpi Photo Editor[photo]. CC By-NC

Students would enjoy using this to enhance their presentations. 

Foldplay could be used by students to create books which contain their stories or various other concepts such as patterns, fractions, parts of a plant, famous Americans, etc...

Puzzles created in Foldplay could be used for first-day introductions or team building activities.

I'm looking forward to utilizing some of these great tools to enhance my teaching and provide opportunities for students to create products to showcase their knowledge and understanding.

Back to School-Up Hill

Hello! My name is Susan.

I'm sure it is extremely evident that this is my first attempt at blogging! It has been quite an adventure.

I began working on this project much later than I had hoped as our moving escapade this weekend was quite eventful.  Please forgive me for not putting to use the many wonderful design suggestions that were included in this week's readings.  At this point, I feel I must concentrate on getting this assignment completed. I tend to be a perfectionist so this is really difficult for me to accept the fact that I am just going to have to move on.

The most rewarding part of my job as a first grade teacher is teaching students to read. My passion for helping to create strong readers is driven by my commitment to help children obtain the necessary tools to have a successful academic career and stimulate their love for learning through literature. Although I love teaching first grade, it is time for me to acknowledge my aspirations of becoming a librarian.  My experience as a classroom teacher has enhanced my desire to work with students of many different ages and reading levels in the role of reading motivator and encourager while working with teachers to support their endeavors. I'm excited about taking my first steps to becoming a school librarian.

I used Tagxedo with a blog post that contained many of the words that come to mind when I think of the word, endeavor.  Looking at my journey ahead and all that I will endeavor to do, Every Day Can Be A Starting Point: Make a new Beginning written by Mark Hermann seemed to be a likely source for words for my Tagxedo.

 

After experimenting with several available fonts, I chose Helvetica due to its simplicity.  I agree with Gary Reynolds as he refers to this font, "...may be neutral". (Reynolds, 2014, p. 42) I am so overwhelmed after working with two computers with limited capabilities today, that I really did feel like being neutral rather than choosing a font as a personal reflection.

 

M. Hermann.  Every Day Can Be A Starting Point: Make A New Beginning [Web log comment]. Retrieved May 23, 2015, from
     http://tinybuddha.com/blog/every-day-can-be-a-starting-point-make-a-new-beginning/

Reynolds, G. (2014). Presentation Zen Design: A simple visual approach to presenting in today's world  (2d ed.) United States of America:New Riders.