iPhoto Slideshows

We are getting closer and closer to the end of the school year -- a time for field days, awards assemblies, year books, and, of course, the end of year slideshow! My favorite tool for creating a quick and easy slideshow is iPhoto. I like it because it does most of the work for me. We all know how hectic the end of the year gets, so anything that is time-saving is very helpful.

So, how do you get started with your iPhoto slideshow? First, gather all the photos you want to have in your slideshow. This is the hardest part, especially if you are trying to gather photos from other people. ;) Add all of the photos you want in your slideshow to iPhoto by simply clicking and dragging them onto the iPhoto icon on your dock. Save time by selecting all of the photos and dragging them to the iPhoto icon all at once. iPhoto will open and take a few moments to load all the photos you just added. They will then show up in iPhoto as your last import.

Next you will need to select all of the photos you just imported. (The shortcut for selecting all is Command A.) iPhoto will highlight these photos in yellow.

With the photos selected, click on the + sign at the bottom of your screen and select Album, then New Album. Type the name you want to give the album, and type the return key.

The photos you have gathered for your slideshow are now stored as a group in iPhoto, making them easy to access later using the navigation on the left side bar. If you have other photos, either already in iPhoto or anywhere on your computer, that you want to add to your slideshow, simply click and drag them onto the name of your new album.

Now that all of your photos are gathered and in one place, it's time to make your slideshow! Go to your album by clicking on its name in the left side bar. Once again, select all of the photos in your album (Command A). When they are all yellow again, click on the plus sign at the bottom of your screen, and this time select Slideshow, then New Slideshow.

iPhoto will automatically create a new slideshow project for you in your left side bar. You will notice that all of the photos are shown across the top of your show. You can click and drag these photos to rearrange their order if you want to.

Using the tool bar across the bottom of your screen, you can instantly play your slideshow! As you watch, if you decide there are things you would like to change about the show, simply move your mouse and a tool bar will show up. Click on the settings icon, and you have access to all kinds of music, style, transition, and caption options.

Your slideshow is all set and ready to play. If you want to keep the slideshow to play later, you can click the Export button and send your show to your iTunes library where you can enjoy it again and again!

Easy Grading

Have you ever used a Rubric before? I know that when I first heard of them, i thought that it would make for a lot more work on my part as a teacher. Then I found out the truth!
Rubrics are a great way to grade assignments that you give your students. It does several things for you. First, it helps you grade every paper the same way because you are looking for different criteria that you have set up before you gave the assignment. Second, it lets the students know exactly what is expected of them and what they need to do to get the grade that they want. Third, parents know what is expected of the students and why they got the grade they did.
Rubrics can also be used in peer reviewing. They can be used as a check list of items that you want included in an assignment or they can be used as a self evaluation of a project.
There are several tools that you can use to create Rubrics. My 2 favorite tools are the Rubric tool from UEN (http://www.uen.org/tutorial/rubric/) and the Rubric tool located inside of Canvas (https://canyons.instructure.com/login).
I hope that you will enjoy using these and if you have never used a Rubric before, try it!

UEN's Rubric Tool

Using Piktochart to Create Infographics

Piktochart is a fabulous tool for creating infographics, fliers, and advertisements.  Piktochart offers free and paid subscription options with plenty of templates to help you create professional looking work.  Piktochart is fairly easy to use with its drag and drop style tools and familiar editing tools.  Piktochart offers hundreds of free icons and graphics for your use as you design your masterpiece!

Piktochart offers lots of free how to videos to help you get started in your quest for infographic perfection.
http://piktochart.com/resources/video/


This guide will walk you through the process of how to create an infographic  in just 5 minutes!
http://piktochart.com/how-to-create-infographic-in-5-minutes/


Need some ideas for teacher and student use?  Check out these ideas:

Student Use	Teacher Use
Get to know you activity Compare/contrast Research Report Book Report Resume Portfolios and so much more!	Disclosures Classroom Rules Presentation (i.e. historical event) Resume Instructions/Assignments Handouts and Posters Reporting Student Data and so much more!

The Road to Infographic - Piktochart Infographics

If you're not sure how or why you should use infographics in your classroom, watch this TED talk by Andreas Schleicher called Use Data to Build Better Schools.

Tellagami

Telegami is a fun app for anyone to create an avatar that will allow you to record up to 30 seconds of speech, or will "speak" text you type. It will also allow for the uploading of images into the background to personalize it before posting it to social media or emailing the link out for use in other locations. The avatar/ character you create is very easy to manipulate and will allow you to change everything from shoes to hair color to make it look more like the speaker (or like whomever you prefer). It is a very simple to use application that would work for most ages/ grades.

 In a high school English classroom this past week, I worked with 9th graders who used this app to do a book review as a character from the novels they'd read. As part of their assignment, the students created word-clouds of vocabulary terms from the book using Word Collage ($0.99) and then used those word-clouds as the background of their Telegami presentation. Then, they had their avatar/ character speak a summary of the novel itself before they uploaded the link to the class Canvas page.
The feedback from students was very positive because they were able to easily create their Telegami book report in class and upload the link with ease! Great app for beginners and younger students too!

Quizlet for Vocabulary Practice

Quizlet is a web-based program that allows students to practice vocabulary words in a variety of ways.  After creating a teacher account, students are able to practice vocabulary words using flashcards to learn the words, the test feature to be quizzed, and the games 'Scatter' and 'Space Race' to practice.  The flashcards are easy to make and allow for language choice if you are teaching a second language.  The 'Sets' of flashcards can be left public and shared amongst other teachers.  Your students can then go to Quizlet.com, search your username and find the 'Sets' of flashcards you created and practice.

Teachers' Guide to Quizlet from Quizlet

2 Quick Ways to Start Using QR Codes in Your Classroom

Today we see more and more teachers using QR codes in their classrooms. 

If you are not sure what a QR code is, take a look at the image on the left. A QR code is like a hyperlink for your iOS device.  To use a QR Code, you need to download a QR Code Scanner app onto your iOS device.  The QR Code reader app uses the built in camera to scan the code. Once the code is scanned it will redirect you to a designated website, just like when you click on a hyperlink it takes you to a specific website.

As an educator if you want to  QR codes in your classroom, your students have to have access to an iOS device. If you have iPads in your school, this could be a great use for them.  

QR codes in the classroom can can be used for many things. Students can use QR codes to aid in their research, as an answer key, or as a  technology center.  Here are two suggestions for how you can get started with QR codes in your classroom today:

Skills-Based Technology Center

You can use QR codes for differentiation in your technology center. If you have a group of students that need to work on a particular skill you can give them one QR code. If you have another group of students who need to work on a different skill you can give them another QR code that matches this skill. QR codes all look the same, so I would color code these based on the differing skills. 

Answer Key

Posted the answer key online and have your students check their working by using a QR code to access the answer key. This is a fun an innovative way to get students to learn from their own learning. 

If you want to start using QR codes in your classroom all your have to do is create one. How do you create QR code?  There are many free QR code generator sites out there. On these sites you can copy and paste the link you want to link to into a generator, and like magic the generator will create a code that you can print out and let the QR fun begin!!

Things I Have Learned this Year from Colleagues

I have learned a lot from my fabulous colleagues this year.  Here are some of the best pointers I've learned.

1. The accessibility features on a mac are very handy for zooming in and out during presentations.
To do this, make sure to have accessibility enabled and then you can zoom in with using the ctrl+track/mouse and presto! You're there. It is particularly helpful when you are trying to show a URL.

2. Not all headphones are alike. A good rule of thumb is that if they are cheap, they are cheap.

3. Chromebooks are actually a great alternative for college students and anyone wanting to collaborate.

4. iPhones are great tools for use in the classroom. Use them as clickers. Use them as cameras. Use them to record students reading to each other.

5. Sock Puppets app is great for DLI.  Have the students role play in the Dual Immersion language.

6. Use the clock app on the iPad and display using the Apple TV as a timer and also for stop watch.

7. When having students use the camera app on iPads, have them play for at least 30 minutes before you want something serious.

8. Relax and learn from your students. They can really teach you a lot.

9. If you can't figure something out, ask a fifth grader.

10. If the fifth grader doesn't know, ask a teenager. They DEFINITELY know.