Before I begin my reflection on the MACUL Conference, I can’t
help but express how it was a much needed change of pace for me – a bit of
fresh air to be quite honest. The last few weeks have been difficult for me. I’ve
suffered from an extreme lack of motivation. It’s not that I don’t want this; I
just feel so overwhelmed. Sadly, I feel as though I do the bare minimum at best
to get by with almost everything. But, I stretch back with every bit of perseverance
left in the tank to put forth my best effort into my lessons. Occasionally, I
find success. The trial and error aspect of teaching can be difficult. It’s not
easy to learn from discomfort. And because of this, I think many of us are
struggling through the program at this point. Maybe, I’m wrong. I’m certain there
are a few super humans among us. With that all said, enough with all my
feelings and cries for sympathy. It was extremely beneficial to see the fresh
ideas presented at the conference. I needed a bit of hope.
I would like to highlight one event in particular from the
conference– Ideas for Creative Projects by Justin Cowen. It was an onslaught of
amazing ideas, fascinating technology, and worthwhile experiences. A heavy dose
of creativity was just what I’ve needed lately. What I loved most about his
presentation was the practical use of many of the applications for educational
usage. In particular, Canva and Ease.ly were fantastic for creating online
posters. I am teaching an elective, Hollywood History. For each movie, I
planned for students to create their own version of a poster along with a
critical review. I intended for students simply use crayons, markers, or
whatever to make these posters. Now, I can mix it up and have students make
posters using this program, which then can be easily shared since they connect
with Google. I love Google. Google knows all and sees all. Perhaps, one day
Google will become Big Brother, but not today. Google is my friend. Getting off
track, I’ll leave the links to the applications along with Justin’s Trello,
which has everything as well.
But wait…there’s more. Cube Creator is an online app that
allows students to create their own stories. I haven’t had the chance to play
around with it myself. But, it looks very promising. Along with this app, Flip
Book allows for a similar means of storytelling. These apps are easily
transferable to humanities. I’m sure they’d fit with STEM as well. Yet another
thing he shared was Thing Link, which allows the user to basically link
anything and use awesome graphics to well… link stuff. He used this in
conjunction with Sound Cloud, which is very similar to Audacity. It was online
though and a bit more simplistic.
Now, the greatest thing ever was Chromville. I literally
screamed, “I want that,” during the presentation. So, I basically embarrassed Jimmy
and Derek. But, everyone knew it was super cool. So, how does this amazing,
fun-filled, magic work? You’re probably thinking…what is it first? This
application makes 2D paper come alive by somehow making it 3D and animated. I
just couldn’t believe it. It was like seeing a 3D printer for the first time make
plastic chains at a PD session at HFA. I felt like a child again. With that childhood
wonder, I watched as he took a cartoon figure and used the iPad to make it 3D
and move! You just have to print off the paper from their downloadable site,
which I have provided below. Then use the Chromville app on the iPad and follow
the directions. It’s so simple. My sole complaint is that it is only available
for Apple products. I think this is extra fun, but I’m not sure how exactly I’d
incorporate it into my classroom. It seems best suited for elementary or middle
school. Even so, I think just showing this off at the high school level would
be nice break from the mundane.
I really enjoyed the conference and was thankful to be a
part of it. On a final note, I’d like to thank Jeff and Rory for such a
fantastic course throughout the program. It’s been special to say the least.
Please use the links below for some of the applications:
Stephen, you are not alone with the motivation thing. I'm sure this is similar to your story, but I'm used to being good at things. Teaching is hard and it takes a lot of practice to get right, and even then, we can still strive to be better. It was a good break to go to this conference to get pumped up again. Maybe that is the reason teachers go. To remind themselves why they are teachers and how what they do does a great thing for our society.
ReplyDeleteI actually laughed out loud when you wrote that you screamed "I want that!" during the presentation! That's so awesome you found something you like and have thought of ways to use it in your classroom. Although I don't have the same problem with the Apple app, I do have the problem that I do not have access to any laptops, cell phones, or tablets during my school day. All these apps for teaching are great, but I always wonder how I can incorporate this stuff into my own teaching as I don't have access to the tools I need. However, I just looked at the Chomville website and OH MY GOD THIS IS AWESOME!!! This would be awesome for students to draw organic molecules to see them in a 3-D way. Maybe in the future, students will be able to draw what they want rather than just color the pages. We can only hope!
Grace! That is a perfect idea for Chromville! I hope you can use it. This app is insane!
ReplyDeleteStephen, I can totally see you screaming during the conference.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I took a look at Easel.ly and it looks like SO MUCH FUN. My kids have to make posters all the time in class and this would be awesome. Many of my students don't mind taking out their artistic side on their poster projects (we had a few draw entire food chains in Yellowstone from scratch), but for the less artistically inclined, Easel.ly looks like it would give great results and be fun to use. I can see how it would be multipurpose as well; you being a history teacher could definitely use it in your class, and my students could use it to make infographics about human impact on the environment. Thanks for sharing!!
Stephen,
ReplyDeleteI am happy you enjoyed the change of scenery and that MACUL restored some of your motivation!
I did not have the pleasure of attending any of the same presentations as you, but I enjoyed learning about the tools from your blog post. I will certainly be looking into Canva and Ease.ly! I do not have a Hollywood History class (so jealous of this!), but I do have some very creative 6th graders! I try to assign a variety of project-based assessments and I think these two tools will add some extra flair to these projects! Additionally, this 3D printer you speak of blows my mind. I am almost scared to check out the website because I do not think I could ever pull myself away. I would have an apartment full of tiny, 3D gnomes! I might risk it and check it out anyway, though (you will know what happened if you don't see me in class). Anyway, thanks for the ideas and the list of links!!
Stephen, I feel your pain on the motivation front; but have faith! There is light at the end of the MAC tunnel! I had the same feeling as you at the conference, it was awesome to be around other teachers and talk to other people in our profession. Thanks for sharing these great resources. I think your idea for the Hollywood posters is great, and I am definitely checking out Cube Creator because of its story telling features. I wish I knew about this sooner! My students are currently working on memoir/short stories, and we've given them the option to present the story through different mediums. I'm going to do some research and see if I can incorporate this as another option for my students. If not, then this will be something I will certainly be using for future writing projects. One of my goals is to make my classroom a creative haven, and these tools will help with that. Also, thank you for the links to everything!
ReplyDeleteHang in there!
Awesome post, Stephen! I completely agree that the change of pace was much-needed and refreshing, reminding me of the first couple of days of the program when we were meeting everybody (you are one of the first people's names I remembered--Stephen the mortician teacher person). Anyway, the basic thought at the beginning of the program: these are my people! Even though we get exhausted and push through failures to learn how to be better, at our base we are real people who have a lot of energy, passion and creativity, something that was a breath air after undergrad at Michigan. That feeling was back at the MACUL conference, with many of us and thousands of other teachers excited again about not only new ideas and how we might implement them, but also the profession, our passions, and our goals.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, love the excitement around Chromville! (Derek and Jimmy can do with a bit of embarrassment in their lives:). It seems super cool; I know my students would love it if we had access to Chromebooks...must look into this. It almost sounds like magic! Cubecreator also sounds like it warrants some looking into...Thank you also for all the resources you have linked above; I cannot wait to discover more technological craziness!
Also I wanted to say--we've made it through most University classes! Woooooo!
DeleteHi Stephan,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more. This conference inspired me and reminded me of why I want to go into teaching. This is something that we need to keep in mind as we continue on in the teaching world that it is important to get away and refresh our minds. Having students create things in my opinion is one of the best ways for them to learn and with this tool it seems as though students can really use their imaginations. I am so excited to look around at all the websites you have included and see what I can use in my German classroom. If you have any ideas please pass them along.
Stephen,
ReplyDeleteIf you didn't feel overwhelmed, something would be wrong. In my humble opinion, this is the time that separates the people who are committed to becoming teachers from those who like the idea of being a teacher. No doubt, you in the former group.
Hey, I'm doing a unit on film as rhetoric and I would love to see what you're doing in your Hollywood History class. You mind sending over your syllabus?
Great working with you this year; glad you got something out of the course.