As teachers, we are always looking to spice up our presentations or documents to capture the attention of the students, parents, or administrators who may be using them. As stated in the Education World article, Clip Art 101, "Visual images can illustrate concepts, clarify content, create and sustain interest, and increase understanding and memory. In addition, they just plain make you look good!"
One way to to get images that make your presentations stand out is to draw them yourself via a tool such as Microsoft Paint or Clarisworks. For those of you who are not as artistic, upload pictures of your student work with a digital camera, or a scanner. Take your camera out for a hike and get that perfect image to serve as a background for your geology presentation. There are many possibilities when working with your own digital camera.
If none of these appeal to you, clip art is a safe bet for gathering images for various presentations or documents. Most document software comes with clip art as a feature of the software, but there are also several free clip art sites you may visit to download other pictures. Something to be aware of: images on the internet are protected by copyright. So, no matter how applicable that Google image is for your presentation, it is copyrighted unless it came from one of the free clip art sites. If you are interested in someone else's picture, be sure to ask permission and always cite your source!
With Google images ruled out, I am sure that many of you are worried about where to get your images for your presentation. I had personally not looked to closely at clip art that came with my software because I thought it would be boring or useless. However, after reading this article, I took a closer look, and found that the clip art on my computer and the clip art on some of the free sites can easily be used to make a presentation feel fun and engaging.
If you would like to hear more tips about clip art, or need help searching for clip art read the article here: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech015.shtml
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Google Earth
During my student teaching placement, I was teaching about the five regions of Virginia. The regions of Virginia are an SOL for 4th grade. I began in the east and worked my way west. I was student teaching in the Valley and Ridge Region of Virginia. As I began teaching about the Coastal Plain region, a student raised his hand and said: "Ms. B, I have never seen the ocean." I was astounded and pondered this comment for the rest of the evening. The next day, I came prepared to give the students a full picture of being at the beach, without being able to take a field trip to the coast. As I presented pictures and videos many students remarked: "When I get home, I am going to tell my parents to take me there!" I then made a project out of this motivation during which students designed an "ad" for the Coastal Plain Region. The goal of the "ad" was to convince the students' parents to take them to the Coastal Plain Region.
It was during this time in my teaching career that I discovered Google Earth.
The Google Earth feature allows students to take a trip around the world without leaving their seat. For many students, this is all they will see of a beach, the mountains, or other natural wonders of the world. I used this feature especially to show the flowing of rivers, as I taught that many rivers start in the Blue Ridge Mountain Region of Virginia and flow through the other regions and on to the ocean. This interactive visual was much more useful to students than even the simple maps I placed on their desk.
Some students proceeded to go home and experiment with Google Earth a bit more. I had many students, and parents, approach me about their adventures on Google Earth. While the experience of Google Earth does not begin to approach real life exploration of natural wonders or cities, I believe that it is a good tool for students to gain a better understanding of the world.
While the resolution of images needs improvement, and 3D imagery is not available everywhere, Google Earth makes online resources available for particular areas of interest. Without leaving Google Earth, you can research all about a certain location using internet links as well as view maps of interest.
I found that Google Earth was informational and motivational for the students I was teaching at the time, and I would recommend trying it out in your classroom!
It was during this time in my teaching career that I discovered Google Earth.
The Google Earth feature allows students to take a trip around the world without leaving their seat. For many students, this is all they will see of a beach, the mountains, or other natural wonders of the world. I used this feature especially to show the flowing of rivers, as I taught that many rivers start in the Blue Ridge Mountain Region of Virginia and flow through the other regions and on to the ocean. This interactive visual was much more useful to students than even the simple maps I placed on their desk.
Some students proceeded to go home and experiment with Google Earth a bit more. I had many students, and parents, approach me about their adventures on Google Earth. While the experience of Google Earth does not begin to approach real life exploration of natural wonders or cities, I believe that it is a good tool for students to gain a better understanding of the world.
While the resolution of images needs improvement, and 3D imagery is not available everywhere, Google Earth makes online resources available for particular areas of interest. Without leaving Google Earth, you can research all about a certain location using internet links as well as view maps of interest.
I found that Google Earth was informational and motivational for the students I was teaching at the time, and I would recommend trying it out in your classroom!
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