Padlet - A tool for Collaborative Sharing.

Padlet - A tool for Collaborative Sharing.

I was looking for a place where I could project the work of all students in my class. I wanted my students to benefit from the work of other students and also to post their feedback. Ms.Geetha gave me few options and at this point of the year when I am busy with too many things happening I was kind of hesitant to try anything. But to my surprise it did not take much of my time, but at the same time I could place all that I wanted in one wall.

·      Students work

·      Students in action in class

·      Feedback from students.

I am sure it will be good for parents also to see. This could be adapted for other purposes in my class.

Here is the link to our class work. Much more could be added to this!

http://padlet.com/vlakshmi/IVFDEBATE

Inform, Engage and Hook your Viewers with Infographics

3 ways to REDUCE information OVERLOAD with INFOGRAPHICS

Source: http://piktochart.com/blog/3-ways-reduce-information-overload-infographics/

1. Less Text, More Data

2. Layout Guides the Flow 

http://image.slidesharecdn.com/fas64keyrecipesforkillerinfographics-140325160557-phpapp02/95/friday-session-64-key-recipes-for-killer-infographics-58-638.jpg?cb=1395900363
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Resources for making the best out of Visual Arrangement:

• Guiding questions for the choice of layout of your Infographic
• Layout Cheat Sheet

3. Visual Appeal

Appeal to your audience by considering basic graphic design principles – color, icons, and white space – and using them to your advantage.   More on color, icons and white space

Final word....

An infographic’s main goal is to inform, but in order to do that, it needs to engage. 

• Get straight to the data in order to hook your viewers at first sight. A
• Arrange it into a logical flow reflected in your layout and an overarching visual metaphor.
• Reel the viewer’s gaze in with appropriately used graphic design principles.

The Takeaway: Clean up the Clutter

Technology integration in the Spanish classroom

I wanted to share what Middle School students are producing not only becoming fluent with the Spanish language, but also becoming fluent using a variety of tools and integrating technology.

Click PLAY  and enjoy!

Subject: Disregard That Last Email... OR Some Tips for Email Etiquette

I've done it and maybe you have to — sent an email that I immediately realized I didn't need to, that I shouldn't have or that I might have sent to the wrong recipient. Or, what I do too many times to recall, send it so quickly that I forget to attach the document that was the purpose of the email in the first place.

Photo Credit: midwest.communications via Compfight cc

Regardless of the types of etiquette faux pas we might have made, it helps to sometimes think about how we use our email to try to avoid mistakes and keep it professional, especially because email continues to be an essential part of our daily work. In fact, one study found that answering and replying to emails takes up about 25% of our work week.

Image from mckinsey.com

I recently found an article, "15 Email-etiquette Rules Every Business Professional Should Know," on the Business Insider website. It gives a few quick tips to help keep your email professional and some that might help you avoid making a mistake. I especially like the reminder about considering whether to "Reply All" and the tip to enter the addresses into the recipient field after composing the email.

This is worth the quick read, as both a reminder and maybe for a new tip or two.

Dance Along With Chemistry

This is what happens when you ask General Chemistry students to make a music video (or teaching with humor)!

Check out these creative youtube videos that are chocked full of learning.

Here is the playlist

Here is the rubric

What the students had to say

"I thought it was a good project with the right amount of time to complete it. The project allowed us to use more creativity as well as demonstrate our knowledge of chemistry."

"I think it was an interesting and helpful way to learn and understand content better, especially when you have to apply it."

"First, I was worried about if we could sing or not however, while we were doing, it was really fun and if I have chance to do it again, it will be pleasure."

"I think all of us worked together well as a group, and I really enjoyed it. I hope this goes on next year."

"It was an overall fun experience and I was able to learn and better remember the concepts we demonstrated in our video in a fun manner."

Gamify Learning in Your Classroom

What a great afternoon we had on Wednesday, sharing on different aspects of Inquiry in the Digital Age. I had a great time discussing principles and strategies for gamifying your classroom. If you were in a different session or want to revisit some of the information I shared, check out the resources below or schedule some time and I can help you work some of these concepts into your next unit or lesson sequence.

Paul Andersen, from bozemanscience.com, discusses how he turned his AP Biology class into a video game:

• Douglass Kiang — Using Gaming Principles to Engage Students
• Vicki Davis — A Guide to Game Based Learning
• Eduptopia's Game Based Learning Resource Roundup
• My slide deck from our recent PD session — Gamification - Principles and Strategies

And look for some more PD opportunities around AISC about particular aspects of gamifying learning in your classroom.

Play Hard and Level Up, Everyone.

12 Great Virtual Field Trip Ideas

Getting out of the classroom and into the world has never been easier, at least virtually. Technologies have improved rapidly to bring immersive imagery and live video into reach for schools. Whether you want to visit a city, a mountaintop, a watering hole, or a space station, there is a virtual field trip out there waiting for you to explore it. These days, getting there is the easy part, the challenging part is structuring the inquiry around it to make the experience powerful for your learners. Leave a comment if you have any great ideas for supporting inquiry with these experiences.

Check out these great sites for virtual experiences.

Virtual Field Trips

Structured Interactive Tours

• Google Street View 
  Google can take you almost anywhere, street or no street. These structured tours are great for open-ended explorations and are practically inexhaustible. 
• London Virtual Tour - visitlondon.com
  Visit key sites in London and learn about the importance of each to Britain's history.
• Discovery VR | A new way to see your world
  This site uses interactive video to tour different points of interest around the world.  As the video plays, click around the video to pan and zoom in a 360° view. The ads can be a little annoying, but you can skip through them.
  
• Thing Link - Train like an astronaut with Samantha Cristoforetti
  Thing link is not so "panoramic", but has other videos and links embedded in an image to learn more about what you are looking at, much like a museum display might have.
• India Virtual Reality Tours
  Uses anchors built into the 360° tour to illuminate key areas of important historical sites in India. Look for the little red pins to find the next point of interest.
  

Live Web Cams

• Your Zoo View | The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
  Great timing for India as Australia is 5 1/2 hours ahead.  Catch feeding times and other interactive moments if you plan ahead.  The cameras allow users to even pan and zoom in on a live zoo or aquarium installation. 
• Wild Animal and Zoo Live Webcams on LiveAnimals.tv
  This service shows animals in the wild through a variety of webcams. There is no guarantee of seeing anything on some of the cams, much like a real safari, but with persistence the rewards can be thrilling. Also,  keep time differences in mind when planning with your class. 

• Webcams - Dublin Zoo, Ireland.
  Elephants, wolves, penguins, and African savannah webcams at decent times for india and in English.
• Snow Monkeys Live 
  Though this site leads to a zoo in Edinborough where they feed the monkeys every day at 11:30 am, you could easily have your students find webcams of their favorite spots in their home countries.
  

Interactive Panoramas

• Mountainpanoramas - Home - Mountain Panoramas from Around the World
  Surreal 360° views from the top of many different mountains.  Think through the pros and cons of this kind of field trip!
• Google Maps - Photo Shpere
  Simpler than Google Street View, Photo sphere offers mildly interactive panoramas of almost anywhere. You can use Google images and maps to go anywhere!
• Best Panoramas | | 360° Aerial Panoramas, 3D Virtual Tours Around the World
  Some of the most amazing and striking panoramas on the web. Go stand on the rim of a volcanic  in Russia or visit the new 7 wonders of the world. These are not live, but they are impressive.