Slides Are My Favorite

They are at it again. Learning some of the underutilized tools of Google Slides to create a beautiful avatar of themself.

Students explored tools and features including special shapes tools like polyline, curve, and line. They also explored gradient tool to add some color or make a cool tie dye. With all these shapes they had to learn how to use the arrange tool to move layers forward and backward as sometimes an object seems lost when it is only covered by another layer. I'm sure that has happened to you from time to time. Ask you child for some tech support!

 Some of their creations had over 100 layers. I can't wait to see what they do next but before I get ahead of my self take a look at these gems below. 

Check back often as new avatars will be added in the coming days.

So proud of my students for their hard work and creativity. Everything was made by the students using Google Slides. From the tacos to the ripped jeans!

You can do great things!

Hoag	Chaffee	Weeks

LeFebvre	Osterholtz

Future YouTubers Unite!

Before vacation students spent some time installing and using the Screencastify extension so they could record video of the work they are doing on their Chromebooks. On the first day they explored the recording features before editing a how to video creation of mine for making new folders in Google Drive. Students were tasked with cropping out the extra details like the background edges, their docking station, and more. Next they trimmed out my intentional sneeze and any parts that I purposely repeated to get the 1:14 video down to under 45 seconds. Another tool they were asked to incorporate was the zoom tool. This tool was used to zoom in on important elements, like clicking on a button, viewing a pop up window, or naming the folder. They also needed to add a title and export it as an .mp4 file so it can be used with multiple video player platforms. Some students went above and beyond with the title tool adding "closed captions" to expand their viewing audience and be inclusive of those with hearing challenges. This was an option but so nice to see. They are so awesome! See the examples below. 

How to Video to Make	a Google Drive Folder

We will utilize this tool again for future projects, like more how to videos for the tools we are using in class, prerecording a presentation for those who are nervous presenting on the fly, and more. Stay tuned! 

Currently classes are working on building digital avatars of themselves which will be used in upcoming projects. Fifth and sixth graders will use their avatars in other projects during our time together. Each term we further explore these tools with another focus, i.e. presidents. This term we will focus on famous people of color for Black History Month. I'm so excited to see what they create and can't wait to share their awesomeness again you. :)

Welcome Q3 Students & Families

We are off and running on an epic technology adventure. Last week students used a variety of tools to brainstorm, develop, vote and publish our FAB Constitution. An example is posted below. Students First worked together to brainstorm ideas using a Google app called Jamboard with color coded sticky notes. A great resource for other collaborative thinking and creating activities. Take a look at an example Jamboard brainstorm here.  After group work they shared their most valued idea using a Google form. We used these responses to collect their main ideas in a word cloud before exploring other ways that data is collected, represented and analyzed. An example is below. Not only was this data was used to write their FAB Constitution but also as part of a larger discussion on data in general. We used a tool called Pear Deck to review and discuss how data is collected, represented and analyzed. 

Their FAB Constitution with preamble, 3 articles, and signatures. 

Some Word Clouds