Puzzlemaker

This is a great site, I've seen it before, but have forgotten about it. I added it to my Linkin' Log so that I won't soon forget it.

It is a Discovery Channel site, and a good one too!

You can use the Puzzlemaker to make your own crossword puzzles, word searches, cryptograms, even math squares and other math puzzles - all of those things that many of us spend hours trying to make on our own.

On the left side of the page, there is a tab called "Brain Boosters". This is a huge list of word problems that really make you think. It's a big list, there are enough to use a different one every day.

Comic Life - Part II

I went to the second session of my "Comic Life" class the other day. It was a fun time because we all had pretty much figured out the program and had experimented with new ways to use it instructionally, so we spent some time sharing ideas. I realized how much potential this program really has.

Here are the ideas that were given in class...

Use Comic Life to make "social stories" - include real pictures to help kids that have a hard time understanding different perspectives. One of the people in the class was an SLP. She said she has been working with a student with some serious social problems, because she doesn't understand the impact of her actions or how she is perceived by others around her - but with this program, real pictures and thought bubbles to illustrate the interactions, it might eventually make sense. This might be a good tool in working with kids who are bullying as well - often, I don't think they realize how they are making other kids feel. Send them out with a camera and have them recreate and photograph their incident, type in a word bubble with what they said and what they were thinking, and then let them see the other side. Who knows? A lot of work, but it might pay off in the end.

Another idea was to use Comic Life to create a template that you give to students to help them create a project or to demonstrate their learning - one specific example of this was that the teacher created a template with three picture panes. It was titled "Healthy Choices" The students were all given this template and a folder full of pictures that included healthy and unhealthy choices. They had to choose three and insert captions about why they were healthy choices. Along with this idea, it would be great to set up a template that students could use to illustrate or include pictures to sequence a story or an event - beginning, middle and end.

One of the teachers had moved into a portable while her room is being remodeled. She took photos of the room and students wrote captions comparing their old classroom to the new one. This program is great for making comparisons.

Animal reports - one of the teachers had the students find a photo of the animal they had researched, and they used word bubbles to have the animal "tell" different facts about itself. Quite clever - I think the kids would have a great time with this!

Introductions - A parent of a special needs student had a hard time figuring out all of the people who worked with her child. The little girl had a hard time with names, so they created a sheet with all of the teachers who worked with this student and their names, and in what capacity they usually worked with her. It was a nice tool to help the parents stay involved and have a conversation with their child about her day at school. I thought that this would be a great tool to have available for parents at open house before school starts, to introduce them to classroom teachers, other teachers on the team, administrators and specialists.

The possibilities just seem endless.

This program will be part of the new "image" that will be on our computers after January 6th. So, we will all have access to it. I'm looking forward to seeing how we use it.

One thought that I had was that a drawback might be the potential for creating a lot of color printing jobs. However, I noticed how many output options are available through Comic Life - it can be used as a web page, as a powerpoint slide, pdf file, etc. The projects could be displayed through one of these modes for class presentation, or through a slide show displayed on a computer at conferences, making it unnecessary to print them.

Linkin' Logs are up!

Happy New Year!

Brian got our Linkin' Logs up and running just in time for us to save all of our bookmarks before our computers are reimaged on the 6th.

This is going to take a little work, but it will be well worth it in the long run!

Brian said that you all should receive a confirmation e-mail with some directions about how to get started on your linkin' log. I would suggest that you first take a look at all of the sites you have stored and jot down some categories that many of them would fit under - this will help as you set up your new bookmark site.

Here's what you do...

Log on to the district site - just click the link through the title of my blog (above).

In the search field, type in "links"

Type in your username and click "login"

Insert your password.

You will notice the Direct URL address to your Linkin' Log - after the reimaging is done, all you really need to do is open up a browser (safari or firefox) and add this address to your bookmarks, then it will always take you to your bookmark collection housed through the district website and you can find them from any computer any time anywhere!

The next thing you will get to is "Add a Category".

I would spend some time putting in all of the category names you jotted down earlier - some of mine are (online storybooks, reference, interventions, printables, reading...).

So let's say for example that I inserted all of my category names.

The next step is to go to the right side of the screen where you will see "Add an Address"

Under "site name" I would type in one of my favorites- Starfall

The next line is for the specific address (URL) I would type http://starfall.com

Next, I would type in a description of the site, then you will notice in the next section that all of the categories you put in earlier are listed as checkboxes - I would just go down through my categories and click all that would apply to this website - probably "online storybooks" and "reading".

Then you just click "submit".

Following that, you can insert your personal info. and decide if you want your page to be listed as one the "collections" on the district site. I can show you more about that when we get back to school.

There you have it - a secure place to keep your bookmarks, which is a good thing, since this will probably not be the last district re-image for a while - I would imagine that they might do it again over the summer.

I will stay in the building on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons until about 3:30 to provide some support. You could stop into my room (122) anytime during the day on Wednesday or Thursday, Kim and I can have a computer set up and ready to show you where you will find the linkin' log, in case you're having trouble.

Obviously, most of the work will have to be done on your own computer, since you will need to copy and paste your bookmarks over to the linkin' log. SO, I will be available after my kindergartners leave (12:30) to come and give you some pointers on your own computer. The only glitch is that K-Wrap meets in my room during that time, so sometimes it is difficult to find me - so, I'll have my cell phone on and you can find me that way for sure #560-1085.

We'll get this all buttoned up before they wipe us out on Friday!!!

Comic Life

I went to a great class the other day - Comic Life! It is pretty much just what it sounds like. It's a program that allows you to make your own comic book page! It accesses all of the pictures you have stored in iPhoto and allows you to drag them into the panes they have set up, or you can make your own template. You can also scan pictures that you have drawn or use clip art to fill the panes. After you have all of the pictures in the places you want them, there are lots of different sizes and shapes of word bubbles to include. There are titles and captions, and they all come available in that great comic book font!!

I had the most fun playing with it and I think kids would have a blast! It would be an amazing tool for helping kids make a story sketch - they could outline it using the program and then write the story later, or do it the other way around, make a comic to illustrate a story they have already written - which would help them to determine the main events in their story.

This would be great for social stories as well - with real pictures of the kids involved!

It's an amazing tool with a lot of potential!

The link above will take you to LPS's ulocker. Type in your username and password and then click on the "teacher info." folder. Inside that folder, there is a "software" link - choose your platform and find it in alphabetical order "Comic Life". There is a class for it in the district, but it is pretty easy to figure out on your own, and of course, if you had questions, you could ask me.

Try it - you'll like it!