“I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.” - "The Road not Taken" Robert Frost
Photo Credit: Thinglink.com
An anecdote
I was recently talking to a colleague who described this as the “hardest time for teaching in the history of education.” He cited as primary reasons for this assertion the students short attention span due to constant media bombardment, cell phones as a classroom destractor, and ease with which kids can manage to vape in school. I am glad that he did not have the opportunity to read the Common Sense Media Census Report that revealed that:
Photo Credit: Common Sense Media
I used to say any reading is good reading. I may need to rethink this.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
- Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities
Although teaching with some of these distractions can be frustrating at times, this is also an amazing time in education because of the wealth of free web-based software tools that are available for classroom (and home) use. Each of the sites below has a list of apps designated as “favorites" by the host.These are just a few of the lists generated from a quick Google search:
Larry Ferlazzo’sTHE BEST WEB 2.0 APPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION IN 2018 – SO FAR
Common Sense Media’s Best Web-Design Apps and Websites for Students
&
It was difficult to select one APP to feature on this blog, there were so mant to choose from! In the end, I selected one that would be a great way of augment an activity that I currently use in the classroom.
Allow me to introduce….Apagraph,com
My apologies to Robert Frost for calling him Whitman in the video!!! 😧
Hi Darren,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tutorial on apagraph.com. You made it look pretty simple and easy to use. I love your idea of using it to teach tone. What a cool idea! I think that would really help make the connection between what another says and how they demonstrate feeling in that quote. It would create a great visual. I could also see this being helpful in creating word wall images or vocabulary cards to relate words to an image or a representation of a feeling. There is a lot of potential here.
Thanks for sharing.
Darren,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all thank you for sharing this great resource, I have never heard of apagraph. Your presentation help me understand how to use this in the classroom with ease. As Katie said there is a lot of potential with this resource. I am thinking I can use this resource by having the students collaboratively writing the theme/moral/lesson of a story and publish it on my classroom website this way students can reference it later and remember the lesson. Another idea is with our Latino Unit in which students can write memorable quotes and choose a background that fits the mood and publish it on our class website or print it and hang it up on the class' walls. The same could be done for an African-American Unit. On a personal note, I can see myself using this resource to create my own computer wallpapers or cellphone wallpapers. Any suggestions/ideas on how we can use it for Math or Science lessons?
Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, guys...it is super simple, but creates a wonderful product. The only shortcomings I saw was a limited number of characters per page (I think it is 244) and what might be a limit of images. Still, you can't beat it for the $!!!
ReplyDeleteDarren -
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing apagraph to our attention, and also for the narrated demo of how to use it. I had never heard of this tool but I'm already thinking about how I could use it in inclusive groups so that one student's responsibility could be to select the image that matched the message, or even to design one and insert it. I also think it's a good way for different classes to help build out their list of class rules, or for individual students to make personalized response cards for needing a break or the like. Lots more than just giving a student a pass or not providing for a visual aspect, for sure. And as you indicated, free resources in schools are much appreciated!