Crooked Buildings Cityscapes Using the work of James Rizzi, our local architect, Frank Gehry, and of course, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, as inspiration, 5th graders created a fanciful, foam core cityscape. This idea was born last Spring when I was given what seemed like A MOUNTAIN of foam core scraps and wanted to find a way to use them. I was also enchanted with the work of Rizzi and Gehry, so this project seemed like a natural. Students began with one large, one medium and one small foam core building and a background of illustration board. Then, switching to small brushes, they painted line or dot designs on their background.On Day #2, this week, using small brushes and straws as stamps, students added details to their work using flourescent and gold paint. The layers of foam core were glued on top of each other, giving each piece a lot of depth. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED watching the kids create these whimsical cityscapes and overheard one little guy saying, "I just love my city!!"
How to Make Great Charts for Infographics - Piktochart Infographics This is part of the Infographic Design Series and we’re delightfully at the last post of this series. Before getting into the nitty gritty details about charts, here’s a quick recap of what we have covered on infographic design so far. Data is an essential part of infographics, without data, we’ll just have ‘graphics’ and no ‘info’. The challenge however is to present these facts and numbers which can be rather dry into something that is more aesthetically pleasing – without taking away the quality of data being presented. However, in attempt to make data fit into an infographic, our users are sometimes guilty of ‘over-designing’ making the data presented look cluttered and difficult to understand Don’t fret, we will show you some simple tricks (really!) ‘Dress up’ your charts to complement the subject matter In the example below, you can see how adding some elements of the subject matter into the chart design makes the information stand out and easier to understand.
Inside the classroom, outside the box! Pass It On! These Are My Kind of Classroom Rules Download Here: Reminder: To download from Flickr, click on the poster you’d like, then click the little magnifying glass in the top right. Next, click “View All Sizes” in top right. Then select the size you want to save and download. For best print quality, go for the largest size. :) District office building art display Each month, the art teachers rotate hanging artwork at our Green Bay school district office building. This sure makes the building look great for the staff that works there as well as visitors! It also gives great recognition to the students and their amazing work!
A Student's Guide to Getting Started with Piktochart This post is a part of our guide to using infographics in education. For more information, check out the guide here. So here we are. Maybe you’ve been assigned a project where you need to make some kind of visual. Maybe your teacher or professor has asked you to try out Piktochart for making infographics. Maybe you’re looking for a way to impress your classmates with a new tool. Either way, prepare your noggins for some knowledge. With Piktochart’s interface, tools, and features, you’ll be a visual storytelling genius in no time. First things first… You’ll need a Piktochart account. See? The first thing you see when you log into Piktochart is the your dashboard. Pick a template Here are all the templates to help you get started. Try scrolling through the hundreds of templates. Start Designing and Creating Once you’ve decided on a template, click “create” to load it. Insert graphics Just click or drag-and-drop the graphics you need from the menu to your canvas. Visualize your data
Cool Cat Teacher Blog What Makes Education So Pinteresting? String the words “social” and “media” together in a sentence when talking with most educators and the conversation inevitably turns to the Big Three: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. As teachers weigh the value of social networking in classrooms, several emerging tools have also begun to pique educators’ interest — or, dare I say, Pinterest? By now, you’ve no doubt heard about the online bulletin board that lets people post and share notes, pictures, infographics and other media with the network’s base of more than 10 million users. A recent report on technology news site TechCrunch says the majority of those users are women, many in the coveted 18–34 age bracket, which could explain the massive valuations pinned to the company’s rising fortunes — Forbes recently estimated Pinterest’s value at more than $7 billion. The Teacher’s Quick Guide to Pinterest 16 Ways Educators Can Use Pinterest Got the basics down? 25 Great Educators to Follow on Pinterest Still looking for ideas?
It's Not How Your Classroom Looks, It's About How It Feels Last week, before the arrival of Ida and Oskar, I was able to sneak in some work time in my new room. As I stood there trying to envision what the room would look like, I realized that it didn’t much matter for two reasons. One; what it looks like empty is vastly different from when it is filled with 20+ 5th graders. Two; more importantly the emphasis should not be on what it looks like but what it FEELS like. So some questions I pondered as I set it up: Which way does your desk face? What is on your bulletin boards? I used to be the master of fancy bulletin boards and I was very obsessive over my border and letter placement. How much space does your teacher stuff take up? Is every space yours or is it open for student use? What do people see from the hallway? When people walk by what do they see? What is the movement flow like? Can students move or will they constantly have to ask someone else to push their chair out of the way? Do they need permission?