Yet another word cloud maker appears on the scene. Wordsift allows slightly more flexibility than the others but I’ll be honest, it’s not that attractive looking. Wordle is still king in my opinion.
Another new slideshow creator is Flixtime. It is similar to Animoto in creating free 60 second video creations of your photos (and video). Unlike Animoto, the transitions are not synced but it does allow a bit more flexibility. No news yet on a free educator’s pass. I have compared slideshow sites before here (make sure to also check the following post on the link to view my verdict).
Something completely unrelated to education is TuneGlue. Simply type in a music artist, and a flow chart is made linking similar artists. It may be useful if you are searching for some new music ideas. It is somewhat like the “similar artists” area on Amazon. What would be neat is if they could create something like this for music history.
I was two weeks behind schedule but have managed to complete my “Hail, Hail Rock ‘n’ Roll” drawing project. I attempted one music personality a day with a lyric quote that influenced me whilst growing up. Most works are done in marker and are B4 (25cm x 35cm) in size. In total, there are 61 pieces (not bad for 6 weeks). Check the slideshow below or view via Flickr here if too slow. If interested, they are also on my sketchblog where I try to post an artwork a day. (I used ShapeCollage for the above photo, which is free)
Phew! It’s a busy time when my grade 6s, 7s and 8s all finish their units the same week and I’m stuck reading reflections, photographing their work, cropping photos and then uploading them to various sites. Here are some ceramics from my grade 8 unit where students created pots and plates in basically eight 40min lessons. It takes a lot of organisation with firing and glazing etc. Students needed to create various pieces using a handwheel and were evaluated on forming skills and decorative techniques. These techniques could have been done through texture, glaze or through clay. Feel free to comment here or via Flickr.
Here are some softoleum prints one group of my grade 7s made. They needed to create a well balanced print design with positive and negative space, patterns and motifs with coloured inks and paper. Their prints were then arranged. Feel free to comment here or via Flickr here. You may also view the 5 week project outline here if interested. More examples will be added over the next 10 weeks when the other two groups complete the project.
My first group of grade 6 students just finished their portrait paintings. The works did not have to be realistic. Instead, they are encouraged to explore colour and brushwork. Some took influence from art movements or artists and some simply experimented with the tempera paint. You can view the five week project outline here and the Flickr set here.
I am currently teaching painting with my grade 9 Art Foundation students. We’re doing landscapes. Some of them have never painted before so we are looking at colour and brushwork. For inspiration, I created this basic slideshare with various international examples and styles to hopefully, get their creative juices flowing. Feel free to use it if you wish or offer feedback etc. You can view the unit outline here.
Memonic allows you to capture, store, use and share online information. It “is a way to keep the essential information you come across every day and easily retrieve it again the moment you need it.”
They state:
A problem facing the regular Internet user today is how to keep track of information and bits of information found on the Internet. Current solutions such as (social) bookmarks do provide only partial and unsatisfactory solutions. Example: The bookmarked URL is no longer valid.
and,
In brief it’s a description of a system likened to a Rolodex of the Internet: Smallish cards holding bits and pieces of information for later use. Information becomes truly fluid.
I have mentioned Wordle and ABCya! for creating word clouds here on this blog before. Another newcomer is Word It Out. It offers a bit more flexibility, but also has less on layout features. For example, the largest text is always centered in the cloud. View my example pictured left from this very blog URL. (I never realised I used “don’t” that much).
