Computer Lab Word Wall

My lab has three very big, very gray, very blank walls.  I liven up two of the walls with sheets of fabric, but I have generally saved that third wall for large, border free bulletin boards.  In the past, I've changed it up each quarter.

This year I decided it will stay the same for the entire year.  I made a Word Wall.

It's not a fantastic photograph but you get the idea.

The most time consuming part was cutting out the letters.  I worked our school's registration from 11am to 7pm and I cut out letters when I wasn't busy.  I got it all done!
I made the letters in Word and changed it to outline.  I printed it on colored cardstock and sent it through the laminator.  To get the layout, I used masking tape to tape them to the wall, arrange them how I wanted, and then stapled.  I had to be careful pulling the tape off but it saved a ton of time and frustration.

One wall done.  Two more to go. 

Excel Activity

One of my most favorite things to teach is Excel.  Unfortunately, our curriculum has changed and I no longer have an entire month to spend on my favorite program.  I used to do an entire unit and the students were writing formulas at the end of it.  Unfortunately, Excel got the axe in our district.

The end of the year is coming up quick and the students are very antsy.  I decided to nix some of the typing practice we are doing and do a quick intro on Excel.

You will need a fun sized pack of Skittles (or M&Ms) for each student.  Because of allergies, I use Skittles.  The dollar store sells six packs for a buck.

I do a quick intro of Excel.  I explain the cell address, how to add borders, change fonts and fill the cells.  I also show them how to resize rows and columns.  I show where they can find graphs and charts and show them some of the very cool formulas you can write.  Then I pass out this sheet. (click link for printable page)

It's a very condensed version of the four weeks of Skittles I used to do.  This introduces the students to a spreadsheet and how to create one, then it sets them loose to explore the program.  I was so surprised at how many students figured out how to add a pie chart showing the percentage of colors they got.  I even had a handful that managed to write a formula to add all the Skittles together.

Next week we're back to typing but I may touch back on the Skittles again before the end of the year. 

Fourth Quarter Bulletin Boards

I have a few to share. . . .

The lighting is crummy.  My apologies.

This poster can be found a few posts down.  I made it in Word,  using the features in Word.  I thought it would be a nice reminder to the kids what exactly you can do in Word!

I'm not sure what I think of this one.  It's very. . . busy.

The words are recycled from a bulletin board I made last year.  I printed out the letters on to cardstock, cut them out while watching a NCIS marathon, then glued them to black construction paper.  I sent the whole thing through the laminator then cut around the letters.  This way I hang words, not individual letters.  That's a lot of letters to get straight and I knew I would never do it!

The different apps were printed out from Bing.  Originally they were apps on the gigantic iPod I made for the laptop lab but I trimmed them way down for this bulletin board.  I don't think I'm ever going to do a huge iPod again so it's not much of a loss.

This one will grow on me, I'm sure.

The one out in the hall is my personal favorite.  It's recycled from last year, but I think it turned out better.  The sand is spray painted poster board that I cut.  Did you know they make a sandpaper paint spray?  Don't buy the fine sand one. . . it will frustrate the crap out of you and doesn't cover very much.  Buy the big, cheap, thick can from Home Depot and you'll have so much sand you won't know what to do with it.

I used the blue butcher paper the school has and squirted three different colors of blue paint on to it.  I swirled it around with my brush, let dry, and free hand cutting the ocean out.

The tree is from the dollar store.  I used poster board and green paint to make a few more leaves so it wasn't so bare.  I also painted on to the decoration to add depth to the existing leaves.  I didn't have to, but I was in a matchy matchy mood so now you can't tell the leaves I made for the leaves that came with the tree.

The surf board is just cardboard, cut and painted.  I made those perfect red stripes with red electrical tape.  They cover up my imperfect paint job underneath.

And my tiki.  He's magnificent.  He was two bucks at the party store last year.  You need a decent stapler to staple him to the bulletin board. . . I use this one:

I have had to label it with my name because it's so amazing, everyone borrows it.  It staples right up to the edge with absolutely NO effort.  It's a bit pricy. . . about $22. . . but worth every penny.

The green boxes on the board are my safe internet surfing tips.

This one stayed up for only a month last year.  This year, it's staying up until summer vacation.  I am done with bulletin boards for the year!

Educator Discounts

It's the time of year that the money is tight and the supplies are running low!  Here's a list of retailers that offer discounts for educators purchasing items for their classrooms.

Note:  I live in the Kansas City area and have included only "local" businesses.  If you know of any more, leave it in the comments section!

Hobby Lobby:  One of my favorite places to shop!  Let them know your purchases are for your classroom and they'll give you 10% off when you checkout.

US Toys:  Sign up for their educator discount card and save 10%.  Bring your school ID to show the first time and get your card that day.

Half Price Books:  Not just for classroom purchases!  They give educators 10% off.  You need to sign up for their card and it expires every year on Halloween, so make sure to renew!

Office Max and Office Depot:  Depends on what you purchase for the discount you receive.  Ask at the checkout.  I think you need the "card" for the discount but its definitely worth the time it takes to sign up.

UPS Store:  This one depends on the owner of the store.  The store by me gives me 30% off copies and prints. 

FedEx/Kinkos:  If it's for your classroom, ask for the discount.  I believe it's 10%.

Joann Fabrics:  Gotta get their Teacher Rewards Discount Card but you save a lot!  You save 15% on your entire purchase and I believe you save 20% the first time you use it.

Party City:  You have to use your school credit card and you need your school ID, but you can save some money here.  The more you spend, the more you save.

Barnes and Noble:  The purchases must be for books to be used in the classroom, but you can save 20%.  Ask for your Educator's Discount Card.

Apple Store:  Bring your school ID when you shop. . . discount depends on what you buy.

Microsoft Store:  Depends on what you buy, but they give a great discount and I got loaded up with freebees the last time I went in!  Bring your school ID.

Hancock Fabrics:  Bring in your ID, save 15%.

I am aware that there are other retailers that love teachers and offer great discounts.  If you know of any, please add them to the comment section.  I didn't put any stores that offer discounts for personal purchases, partly because I feel weird about using my teacher status to buy clothing or shoes.  This is just my hang up, though, and I know it's a weird one!

This list is not all inclusive, nor am I guaranteeing its accuracy.  Retailers always have the right to change their policy, whether or not they choose to ask me first.   Let me know in the comment section if someone has changed their policy.  I don't shop as much as I would like to!

Another Technology Video

I plan on showing this one next week.

Technically, it's an ad for Samsung.  I think it's a pretty cool way to remind students that we are using technology to overcome barriers. 

This will take some intro. . . . in part because it IS an ad.  Our school does have hearing impaired students so it will be relevant in their world.

Don't forget to paste it into safeshare.tv!!!

Turn Clip Art into a Paint Color Sheet

Students love to use Paint.  Sometimes I have the perfect color sheet to go with a lesson, but it doesn't translate well as a color sheet in Paint.  Depending on the image, the colors don't fill in the space completely when you use the fill tool.

You can fix this and turn any clip art image into a Paint color sheet.

1.  Paste your image into Paint.  (You can put it in Word first and recolor it to be outline only.)
2.  Save your image as a monochromatic bitmap.

3.  Open the monochromatic bitmap image.  You will notice you have no colors!

4.  Save the image AGAIN as a PNG file.

5.  Use your fill bucket and color!  Just make sure to open the PNG file in Paint and you can do what you want to it, no weird white spaces.

My favorite way to use this lesson is when I teach an internet safety lesson to Kindergarten.  I've created a color sheet that goes with a book I read, Little Red Hoodie.  Fortunately, Little Red Hoodie has a karate chopping Granny who is a little more internet savvy than she is, and Little Red ends up just fine.    We read the book, discuss, then color our sheet in Paint.

iPad Tips Bulletin Board

The big bulletin board in the hallway. . .

I reused my snowman from last year.  He lost part of his arm somewhere so I printed out an iPad for his hand.

The snowflakes are different "tips" for iPad use.
 
1.  Double tap the home button to view open apps.
2.  Press and hold to save or copy.
3.  Press the home button and lock button at the same time to take a screenshot.
4.  Press and hold letters to type accents.
5.  Four finger swipe to alternate between apps.
6.  Double tap to highlight.
7.  Double tap shift to keep it pressed.
8.  Hide the keyboard (I put a pic of the button)

I still don't have the hang of the panoramic feature on the iPad camera but I'm going to get it right one of these days!

Updated Shortcuts Posters

I've had a lot of requests for the updated 2013 Office Shortcuts posters.

Shortcuts stayed the same.  Title of the posters changed.

Here they are:

Office Shortcuts Poster 1

Office Shortcuts Poster 2

A Few New Posters

Links to the PDFs of the posters are in blue above the posters. . .


TEXT FEATURES

And I have two posters for next year finished. . .

SUBWAY ART RULES
SUBWAY ART WHAT WE'RE LEARNING

My "Two Ways to Delete" poster for Delete and Backspace

DELETE/BACKSPACE

As always, please don't sell my work!  You are welcome to use it in your classroom.  Thanks!

Posting Photos Online Dangers

Every year I do lessons on internet safety.  A couple of years ago I saw this news report on my local channel and realized I needed to show this to my students.  It's pretty scary.

Don't forget to paste the link into safeshare.tv for your students to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vARzvWxwY

Plan on more than a few minute discussion.  I show this to third through fifth grade and talk about Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and the other "flavor of the month" apps that are going around.  This video easily generates a half hour conversation.  The really awesome thing is that I always get phone calls and emails from parents who thank me. . . their kids have gone home and shown them how to turn off location services on their camera and explained the dangers to them. . . they're grateful!  It's pretty gratifying.

Second Quarter Bulletin Boards

I am woefully behind in posting!  We're on the fourth (or fifth. . . I've lost track) week of our second quarter.  Here are my newest bulletin boards:

Big bulletin board on my back wall. . .

Poster explaining the different "drives" we have on our computer.

We just got Office 2013 so I redid the posters from the 2010 version.  I will post links to those soon. . ..

This one doesn't really have a big bubble in the middle.  I was playing around with the panoramic setting on the iPad camera.  I couldn't get it right. . . but this one was the best.  The iPads are poster board, silver wrapping paper and print out of apps.  The words were printed in Word as an outline on scrapbook paper, cut out and laminated to black construction paper before being cut out again.

I will post links to the posters soon. . . please send me an email if you would like them and I haven't gotten them up yet!

The Coolest Fonts for Bulletin Boards

I've had a few questions regarding my bulletin board letters and where I've purchased them.

I don't buy them.  I make them.

Here's my original posting on how I make them.  MAKE YOUR OWN BULLETIN BOARD LETTERS.

Please note that these directions are for Word 2010.

I get all of my very cool fonts from www.1001freefonts.com .  It's an awesome website that some very, very talented people have posted fonts that they have designed.  You download them and they just show up in your Office Fonts.  Super easy, super cool.

These fonts are all free for your use.  Here's the catch.  When you download them, you need to read the little note that is in a file, usually notepad, attached to the download.  Most owners of the font will ask for a small fee if you are going to use their font on anything you sell or if you use it on your blogs.  I've actually purchased a font for the purpose of blogging.  I liked it, thought it "represented" me well and I happily paid my five dollars to the artist for unlimited use of her font in my blog.  She sent me a really nice thank you note and wished me luck.

To make the bulletin board letters, download the font of your choice, follow the directions to change the text to outline without fill, then print out in the size you want.

Text without fill works best.  If you have some fun fill, like a chalk effect, that won't translate to outline very well.  You can always just print in color and cut out.

I store these in a three ring binder, tucked into a page protector.  I write the original message on a piece of paper and slip it in.

Doing my own bulletin board letters saves me money and I always have the letters I need!

Safe Share

Do you know about Safeshare.tv?

It’s an awesome tool to use.  You can find any YouTube video, cut the address from the address bar and paste it into the SafeShare site: www.safeshare.tv  It will show your video without ads or that annoying sidebar.

I try to find a good “technology” video to show in my classes at least once a quarter.  The SafeShare site makes it so I don’t worry what sort of videos they suggest for me!

I most recently showed a video about Derby the Dog.  He has prostheses made on a 3D printer.  It’s an awesome, feel good video.  

Here’s the YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRmoowIN8aY

Don’t forget to paste it into the SafeShare site if you are going to show it!

Big Board in the Hall

I forgot to share my big board in the hall!  This one is right outside my room. . .

I channeled Dr. Seuss for this one. 

 Made with tissue paper. 

 Half of a dollar store coconut bra.

 Bendy straws for the signs.

 Paper and markers. . .

Shapes on Word for the sign.  Loads of fun!

Welcome Back! Bulletin Board Share

I have reused some bulletin boards, but I have a few new ones to share.  Give me a few days to get the free links up. . . I'm crazy busy.

Diacritical marks. . . very important when we do our Spanish brochures! 

 

Doing a little something on plagiarism and citing your sources. . . super easy with Word or with easybib.com.

Rules. . . . 

.
 . . . and manners.

Did my tree again and put where things are in Microsoft Word.  For example, Clip Art is in the Insert Tab, Illustrations Group.

Good luck to everyone starting out the new year!  It's gonna be great!

Getting Your Letters On Straight

School starts in FIVE DAYS!!!  I'm a little crazy right now. . .

I've got the bulletin boards up.  One of the things I have the hardest time with is getting my bulletin board letters straight.  I will eyeball them and they'll go up, or they'll go down, or they'll be wavy. . . but they're never straight across.  Never.

I finally figured it out.

Tape.  Tape is my friend.

It's kind of hard to see on my photo, but that's masking tape right across the front of the letters.

Let me first say that you can only do this on blank walls or FABRIC backed bulletin boards.  I use fabric because it's fun, reusable and doesn't fade.

If you use paper backed bulletin boards, this will rip your paper.

First, line up the letters on something straight.  I use the edge of my desk.

Rip off a piece of masking tape to cover all your letters and lay it over the top.

You can now pick up the entire word and transfer it to your bulletin board.

Adjust.  Adjust again.  Adjust again.  And, if you're me, adjust one more time.

Staple one staple above, and one below the tape line.  Pull off the tape.

Done!  Straight letters!

Please Sharpen

Just a quick posting today!  I stole this idea from another teacher in the building. . .

The picture is very bad!  I need to take a look at the camera!

The idea behind this is that the pencils are returned to the Sharp Pencil bucket, unless they need to be sharpened.  Then they go in the Please Sharpen bucket and I will do it when I get time. 

The buckets are a dollar from the Dollar Store and I made the labels on Word. 

We're starting up in ten days!  I will post bulletin boards soon!

My Favorite Online Field Trips

I briefly touched on online field trips in the last post I did but, in rereading it, I decided I didn't do it justice.  It's one of my favorite things to do with my students at the end of the year.

Online field trips are a great way to explore and learn, all without leaving your seat!  When I do my lesson on online field trips, I show the kids my Tizmos site with all the links.  (Online Field Trips)  I give them a brief synopsis of all the online field trips that I have on the site and then I spend fifteen minutes showcasing two sites.  After that, I let the kids go for it and explore!

1.  San Diego Zoo.  This is my all time favorite field trip.  They have live animal cams in some of the animal habitats, informative and fun videos highlighting different animals, information on different zoo jobs, activities and games.  The kids would spend WEEKS on this site if I let them!  It's well done, easy to navigate and incredibly interactive.

2.  Smithsonian.  This site is a virtual tour of the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.  I show the kids how to move the camera, go from room to room and how to use the map.  As a class, we visit the Hope Diamond and look at the dinosaurs.  The students go from there.

3.  The U.S. Mint.  This isn't as interactive or as fun as the zoo, but it still has some great information and some good games that are educational.  The students really love making their own coins or looking back at the evolution of our money.

4.  The American Museum of Natural History - Ology.  This site has a great "ology" section where students can explore different areas of science.  The students can click on an area of study on the left of the screen.  It will take them to a new page with lots of activities, games and quirky information. 

5.  University of Colorado Science Experiments.  This site has TONS of science experiments and simulations for students to explore.  It's a fun, interactive site.

I have a lot more sites on my Tizmos site and you are welcome to use those links in your classroom.  These are my top five favorites. I always do the online field trips as the second to last class of the year.  By this time, students are ready for a break and this is a fun way to give them this break but to keep them learning. 

Enjoy!

Online Field Trips Bulletin Board

Each year I spend a week with the students taking online field trips.

There are some really great sites out there that are perfect for online field trips.  The sites are interactive and interesting and the students have fun exploring them.  My all time favorites are the San Diego Zoo and the virtual tour at the Smithsonian.

You can find all the sites I like to use HERE.

This site is a Tizmos site.  It's like an online library where I dump websites.  I put the link to my Tizmos site on to the students desk top at the beginning of the year.  I use this almost daily.

During free time, they can go to their grade level tab and play those games.  If they need to play a typing game, they click on that tab.  There is an online field trip tab and the home tab is where I put sites that I am using for just a week or two.

The site is easy to maintain.  I put in the link for the site I want to show on my tizmos page and it's available to the kids.  The kids don't even have to log in to use my site.

The way I have it set up, it costs $3 a month (I think. . . )  You can have a free tizmos site with no tabs and twenty links if you are interested in trying it out.

Here is the bulletin board I put up.  I will have a tutorial on how to make the flowers on my other site, www.creativethriftiness.com, within a week.  You can find that site by clicking the tab at the top of this page.

You can find a copy of the handout I put in the pocket here:  ONLINE FIELD TRIPS

It also has a copy of my tizmos page address.  You are welcome to use it!

Happy Summer!!!

The Rest of the Story

Actually, it's the rest of the bulletin boards.  I forgot to photograph the laptop lab.

Without further ado. . .

Same iPad.  Same images as from second quarter.  The font is from Word, printed and cut out, then pasted on to construction paper before being laminated.  The DIGITAL FOOTPRINT is a collage of social networking site logos that I found online.  I used it as fill for my letters.

The Cyberbullying poster on the left is from last year.  The hand one's link is in the post below this one.  The letters are hung up on twine, quite crookedly, I see.  It's a font that I printed and cut out.  I think it's called SQUARED or something.  It was by far the fastest cut out job I've done on letters!

There it is!  The rest of the story! 

I shall do one more bulletin board in the hallway this year but I'm going to wait until next week, or maybe the week after.  I have stuff going on and I'm tired of being creative.  And I have a cold.  Poor me!

Enjoy Easter!