Visual Learning
This Thing is all about resources for visually oriented learners. This includes graphic organizers, word clouds, and mind maps. Below are examples of these resources as well as a reflection.
Word Clouds
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Wow! Word clouds are really, really neat. I loved the ABCYA word cloud tool for making them. To get an idea of how the word cloud generator worked, I used some of the blog posts from my travel blog. Seeing which words stood out brought back memories, and made me realize things that were important to me in the post. In the classroom, this could be incredibly helpful! In fact, the website outlining 108 ways word clouds can be used is entirely accurate. In my example, I could write a short reflection (or story) based on my experiences and on the words that the generator chose to highlight. In this case, I could focus on the waterfall, on people I met, on hiking, on tropical settings, and on the canopy tour. These words stuck out the largest to me. I will definitely be using word clouds in my classroom from now on.
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Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is a great way for students to organize their thoughts. There are many mind mapping tools online, but I decided to use Popplet for my example. Above you can see an example Popplet I made. Popplet allows you to add text, links, videos, and pictures to different boxes. You can change the colors, resize the boxes, and organize them however you like on the page. For students this could be a great way for them to organize their thoughts. For my example Popplet I did a "mini" assignment. This would be to have students introduce themselves. They could add pictures, links, text, and more to share facts about themselves. Other assignment ideas would be to use story outlining or essay outlining for older students. This is a great resource, especially because multiple students can work together (by creating an account, they get to add their name to the 'your name' space.) This would be great for collaborative projects in the classroom.
QR Codes for the Classroom
QR codes are a great way to link to information students, colleagues or parents may need. A really good way to use QR codes is to have an 'audio library' in the classroom. Using the camera on an iPad, students could scan QR codes in the classroom library to link to YouTube videos of the story being read aloud. The QR code to the side links to a video of me reading Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Use the QR App on your phone or tablet to see!
(here's the link just in case you don't have access!) |
Info Graphics for the Classroom
Wow! What an awesome website. To learn about info graphics, I decided to use piktochart. This website is amazing, as it provides templates (such as the one above) as well as freedom to make your own designs. The website is easy to use and has a tutorial to walk you through all the steps. In the classroom, this could be used for organizing data with science experiments, and organizing information. A really neat assignment would be to make an "about" graphic for a historical figure! I will definitely be using this website in my classroom.