Category: Student Products

soccer ball bouncing
3-12, Creative Thinking, Student Products, Teaching Tools

Create a Custom Animation in Canva

Terri Eichholz

Along with a number of other new features, Canva just released a new custom animation tool which I think is going to be really useful to teachers — especially when creating presentations and videos. For awhile, Canva has given us the option to animate text and elements with the standard choices you will find in many other programs, such as to have them “pop” or “drift” into the canvas. But now once you choose an element and select, “Animate” from the top menu, you will see a new button that allows you to “Create an Animation” by dragging your element around to design your own path.

If you want to see how useful this can be for education, take a look at the Tweet I’ve embedded below that demonstrates using this feature in a presentation about digestion.

Canva even offers the template to this exact presentation if you’d like to customize it for yourself here.

I believe that you can also do something similar in Powerpoint and Keynote, but not yet in Google Slides (Google for Edu is rolling out a bunch of new upgrades, though, so you should watch for those.) However, Canva’s is the most user-friendly method that I’ve seen so far. Plus, you’ve gotta love those magic keyboard shortcuts you can use when you present!

In case you missed them, here are some of my other articles on unique ways to use Canva, which is FREE for teachers:

  1. Leveraging AI for Learning with ChatGPT or Canva
  2. Canva — Those Three Dots Aren’t Just Decoration
  3. Make a Manifesto with Canva
  4. Presenting with Canva
  5. Bulk Create Valentines with Canva
  6. Create Even More in the Classroom with Canva
Student Products

Join Me at #TCEA23 for Digital Differentiation!

Terri Eichholz

My colleague, Amy Chandler, and I will be presenting for TAGT, Digital Differentiation:10 Tools That Will Help Your Gifted Learners at TCEA in San Antonio next week. You can see us on Monday, January 30th, at 1 PM in Room 225C, in the Convention Center.

Here is the summary of our session: “Learn about a myriad of digital tools, most of them free, that will allow you to create lessons in your classroom that will empower gifted learners to leverage their own interests and abilities. Work smarter, not harder, to include every student in every lesson.”

As many of you know, I like to make sure that my presentations include tons of free resources teachers can access immediately, and this one is no exception to that rule. Additionally, Amy and I will share examples of these tools being used in the classroom and offer ideas that will hopefully be new to you. In fact, we just added a couple of last-minute “surprise” tools that should be fun! Of course, I also like to keep my presentations interactive so you will have the no-pressure opportunity to offer some of your own suggestions as well.

Are any of you planning to present and/or attend TCEA? Email me (engagetheirminds@gmail.com) or DM me on Twitter (@TerriEichholz) so we can try to meet up!

a young girl holding her toy microphone while singing
3-12, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Language Arts, Student Products

NPR Student Podcast Challenge

Terri Eichholz

Way back in the early 2000’s, I convinced my then-principal to purchase a MacBook for my classroom. Another teacher (shout out to Diane Cullen at Fox Run Elementary!) and I sponsored a media club after school designed for 5th graders who were struggling in their classes. Our goal was to get them excited about school by getting them excited by creating for authentic audiences. Our little group started playing around with Garage Band, and began producing podcasts for the school. Those, along with their iMovie commercials, not only entertained and energized all of us but also helped to build school community. It was probably one of my first experiences seeing how producing something to be heard, seen, or used by others (Design Thinking) can be a powerful motivator.

I had no idea back then how popular podcasts would become. We had no resource materials when we started, fumbling along as we learned on our own. But now there are plenty available, and the tools for production have expanded way past Garage Band. I detailed many of these resources in an article for NEO almost two years ago on “Podcast Pedagogy.” I also recently blogged about “International Podcast Day“, which occurs annually on September 30th of each year. I still think that Smash, Boom, Best is one of the best gateways to podcasting for younger students.

Now I’d like to bring your attention the NPR Student Podcast Challenge. And before you dismiss it because you don’t think your students are ready to enter a contest (submissions are being accepted until April 28, 2023, possibly March 24th according to the Podcast Guide for Students?) or they are not in the age range (grades 5-12), I would still like to recommend taking advantage of the educational resources provided. You can listen to past winners and even a podcast about student podcasting. There are free downloads for teachers and for students that are useful for helping students to prepare, plan for, and produce podcasts. Don’t worry if you’ve never done this before. In fact, according to the NPR Podcast Guide for Students:

“We don’t expect you to be experts. In fact, we expect that most of you are putting a podcast together for the first time.

And even though this is a contest, it’s also about learning new skills in a fun way. We want to make that learning easier — so we’ve put together a guide to help you along the way.”

NPR Podcast Guide for Students

It can be daunting as a teacher if you have no experience, but it’s a good opportunity to model a growth mindset and learning along with your students. You could start by giving the option to a small group of advanced students and expand from there, or do one all together with the caveat that I always used, “I have no idea how this is going to go, but I love to learn new things even if it’s from my mistakes, don’t you?” Even if students design podcasts just for practice to begin with, there are so many useful skills students will learn such as researching, summarizing, outlining, and writing for an audience. Podcasts are just one of many great choices to give students when differentiating products so they can demonstrate learning (which my colleague, Amy Chandler, and I will be presenting at TCEA this year), so I encourage you to give it a try!

Link to Downloadable Poster Can Be Found in Teaching Podcasting: A Curriculum Guide for Educators
boy in red sweater wring on notebook
K-12, Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Writing

10 Retrieval Activities + 1 Choice Board

Terri Eichholz

You may recall my mention of retrieval practice in my post about the +1 Visible Thinking Routine. To briefly recap, scientific studies show that retrieval practice done in intervals can help learners to retain more information. These activities are like short pop-quizzes in that you are asking students to recall as much as they can without referring to notes or texts. But, while a pop quiz is used for the teacher to assess, the purpose of retrieval practice activities are to help students learn, so they should not be attached to grades. Ideally, they are woven into your teaching day and can take the form of games, classroom warmups, and even exit tickets. The +1 Visible Thinking Routine is one way to do retrieval practice, but I recently discovered some more ideas on Twitter.

It started when I noticed a Tweet from Brendan O’Sullivan (@ImtaBrendan) where he shared a choice board of “settler” activities. Now, I don’t know about you, but the word, “settler” makes me think of dying of dysentery on the Oregon Trail or getting obliterated by my family when we play Catan. Once I found out from Brendan that these are a term for activities used “to get your class settled, to give them focus and moving towards learning,” the board made a lot more sense to me. (This is the fun thing about Twitter. Brendan is from Ireland, so I appreciate him helping us non-Europeans learn a new term!) Brendan’s choice board is a nice way to have students do some retrieval practice when class is getting started.

Settler Choice Board from Brendan O’Sullivan

I then noticed a Tweet from Liesl McConchie (@LieslMcConchie) where she shared a link to her mini-book of “10 Retrieval Activities to Boost Student Learning and Retention.” Although it is math-focused, you can easily do the activities in any classroom. For example, I could see using the “Quiz, Quiz, Switch” activity in any grade level or subject (possibly using pictures for students who are pre-readers).

Retrieval Practice example from Liesl McConchie in her mini-book, “10 Retrieval Activities to Boost Student Learning and Retention“

You can download more free mini-books from Liesl on her website.

By guiding students with retrieval practice activities, we will not only help them to retain more important information, but we are teaching them a valuable skill they can continue to use as lifelong learners.

illuminated gratitude quote on board
3-12, Creative Thinking, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Writing

Gratitude Zines

Terri Eichholz

Since this is the month of American Thanksgiving, November classroom activities often revolve around gratitude in the States. Austin Kleon, a Texan author famous for his Blackout Poetry among other things, has the perfect free download for you. He is a proponent of all things creative, and “zines” are excellent gateways to encourage imaginative writing and illustrations. If you have not run into “zines” before, here is a quick introduction from the University of Illinois, who basically describes a “zine” as “a small-scale, self-published publication, similar to a magazine, which can focus on a variety of topics.” Kleon has a page of examples and free downloads here.

I learned about Kleon’s Gratitude Zine on Twitter from Maria Galanis (@mariagalanis), when she shared a video tutorial of how to make the printed page into the tiny book.

You can get the free download by going to Kleon’s newsletter. (I highly recommend subscribing when the popup displays, but you don’t have to.)

Click here to go to the free download on Austin Kleon’s newsletter.

I’ll be adding this idea to my November collection of resources. If you are looking for some more creative and critical thinking activities related to the season, here is another post of free ideas.

Cartoon Students Presenting to Class
3-12, Creative Thinking, Fun Friday, Games, Independent Study, Research, Student Products

Host a Classroom PowerPoint Party

Terri Eichholz

My daughter began college in 2020 when the majority of her classes were still on-line and most extracurricular activities were still shut down. She lived in the dorm, but was definitely not experiencing the typical first year for obvious reasons. When she started talking about “PowerPoint Parties” that her close friends would host, I thought that was another amazing example of how creativity can be born from constraint. They couldn’t go out to many places, so they found a way to entertain themselves inside.

PowerPoint parties are when small groups of people meet and — you guessed it — show PowerPoint presentations. But these are not the “Here is what I learned about Abraham Lincoln” kind of presentations. Sometimes there is a theme for the the party, such as “The Best TV Show Ever” or sometimes participants are just invited to do one on whatever they’re passionate about. One of the favorites that my daughter’s friends have shared is when they pick which Disney character each of their friends would be. It seems that, usually, the purpose of the presentations are to persuade — and to entertain, of course. Sometimes they offer prizes at these parties, but not always. There are also parties where the presentations are timed (usually 3 minutes) or there is some kind dress code that goes with the theme.

I recently saw a TikTok from a teacher (Noelle Cheney) where she let her students have a PowerPoint Party in class (wouldn’t this be a fun class reward?) and here are some of the topics her high school students did: why you should give us a free day every other Friday, why baby trucks (aka compact trucks) are stupid, why the Shrek tetrology is a piece of cinematic brilliance, and why Miss Cheney should get a fish as a class pet.

I like the class pet idea if you work with younger kids. Some others could be: things you like that no one else does, the best board game, which fictional character would make the best president, the best super hero, where your class should go on its next field trip, or even a theme proposed by your students.

PowerPoint parties can be a fun class reward, interspersed as Brain Breaks, used on those chaotic class days right before a holiday, or an introduction to Genius Hour. You could also make them “semi” educational. For example, if your class has just finished a novel you could host a PowerPoint party where they argue which dog each character would be and why.

What are the benefits of PowerPoint Parties? Practicing persuasion, research, technology, and presenting skills, giving students the opportunity to use their creativity, learning more about each other, and bringing some laughter into your classroom!

Do any of you use PowerPoint parties in your classroom? Comment below!

@noellelovessloths This is a genius idea that you can use for several different lessons. 10/10 recommend #powerpointnight #teacherlife #highschool #noellelovessloths ♬ original sound – matt