Thing 9

Hey, You!--Tube. 


The cultural revolution that sucks hours and hours of our time away thanks to 'replay' and a sidebar of 'similar videos'. For me, it's kind of like a bag of Lays potato chips: I can't watch just one video! 


It is kind of amazing to think of a time when people didn't send out youtube videos as jokes, or post them to their Facebook walls. Or, when I would have to actually explain something I saw on TV or in a movie to other people rather than pull it up on YouTube and just show them. 


It is also amazing to me what you can find on YouTube. The really cool, the really informative, the really bizarre, and the really, well, dumb. It, like many things web-based, can be a bit overwhelming for an educator to utilize in the classroom. Many times, I just bring up things I think of in the moment. I find 'researching' on sites like YouTube becomes too cumbersome--I get sucked into wormholes of derailment and end up forgetting what I was originally searching for! 


That said, though, I do enjoy using video clips in my lessons and to illustrate point to my students. I am beginning to feel a bit like a broken record, but anyway, my students rely heavily on visuals and so this is a very good resource for me to use for lesson planning, etc. 


YouTube also ends up being one of my biggest motivators. It is not blocked in our district, so the students are able to search for some of their most favorite videos on their earned free times. This has to be done with direct adult supervision, though. Let's just say, it's ridiculous what some people will dub over cartoons! :o

Thing 8

I've been spelling with Flickr...



And mashing with Big Huge Labs (images from my trip to South Africa in 2007)...

And generating with http://www.bodyswitcher.com/  (in honor of my love for Jimmy Fallon and his bit, Head Swap)...

And now I am tired!!! That's a lot of work!! But, it was a lot of fun too. I really enjoyed Big Huge Labs, and I must say, it's because the site itself looked better. What a snob I am. 


But, I had a hard time navigating ImageGenerator.org and the links it took me to because of the layouts--a lot of ads, not really obvious directions, a lot of code I am not familiar with, etc. So, while it just seems snobby of me to like the more aesthetic of the sites, I think it might also indicate that students who aren't as familiar with the Internet might have similar difficulty. At least, that is how I justify myself! ;) 


I could see this being a BLAST for students of all sorts. My students, specifically, each have their own special interests and they would be totally wigged out to see their faces on characters of their favorite movies, tv shows, etc. HAH!! The idea of it makes me want to do it with them tomorrow--err, Monday. 


It is quite time consuming, though. So, if allowing students to work on these types of assignments in class, set aside a lot of time! Also, the students need to have images either on the computer they are using, or uploaded to Flickr (...when using Big Huge Labs--which was another plus for that site--you can access your flickr images for their toys, games, utilities!!). So keep in mind, there is some work to be done pre-playing around and it might suck large quantities of your class time.


But, it's worth it. Totally.  

Thing 7

My Friend Flickr! 


I have been a Flickr user for a couple years now: A paying patron playing picture posting pleasure! 


I uploaded some photos I recently have snapped while making my way through Detroit. I tagged them RESA23, and included them in the set named, "Detroit Shots."


Thanks to the last "thing," I am really excited to use flickr to help my students learn about the world around them by seeing real pictures. I can't wait to get searching--and have them search too! My school district used to have flickr blocked, but they recently allowed us access, which I am really excited about. I think the tech department is acknowledging the numerous advantages flickr offers to the classroom. 


I also could see sharing photos with my students' families via flickr. It could work in reverse, too: families could share photos from home with us at school to help make further, deeper connections to what we are learning at school.


The possibilities are endless, and truly, I feel a bit short-sighted right now--like I am not even scratching the surface of what I could do with flickr! I am excited to see what ends up coming together! 

Thing 6

Yikes + Oops = Yoops! 

Life has been on overdrive lately and I haven't had a chance to move onto the next 'things' in a while. 


So, to make up for my procrastination, here is a picture riddle based off my flickr searchings. Try to guess the terms that I searched for! 


Ready?!

Pets and water? Nope. 

Cats and plants? Nope. 

Happy and Easter? YES!! 

For my first search, I was curious as to what kinds of pictures other people would tag with an ambiguous term like "Happy"--and sure enough, there were a lot of really interesting pictures! I work with students who find the job of defining emotions VERY difficult, so I thought that would be a good place to start. (I actually can feel a social studies lesson emerging... ;) )

But, BUT, but!!! I found I couldn't save many of them. So, I had to do the Advanced Search with the "Creative Commons" option to get an image to post to my own blog. (Sidenote: my first choices were these: Happy and Easter.)

For the second term, I am so excited about Spring Break which is HOURS away, that I couldn't pass up "Easter." I was kind of hoping for an image that would be really obscure...not the typical bunnies and eggs and religious themes. There were a lot of Easter Island statue shots which were cool (and one was my first pick linked above), but I loved these raindrops too. So, there we have it! 

I really enjoyed this "thing." I personally use flickr to gather and organize my own photos, but I haven't spent much time searching through "Everybody's" images. I have contacts who I like to keep taps on there, too. But, putting in a term and searching the whole site really shows just how vast this visual resource is! My students learn best through visual examples and I can see using flickr regularly to help them see the world in new ways.