Source: Halloween Costumes

We work in an elementary school. So if you’re like us, Halloween always makes it difficult for kids to focus, especially with a school-wide parade at the end of the day. Our attitude toward keeping their attention is to use Halloween content to design lessons that tap the spirit of the day.

This year we found two new infographics to use with our learners. The first is The Evolution Of Halloween In North America. The timeline begins before 700 in three separate periods in history; from the 1900s to present, the timeline is arranged by decade.

Source: Halloween Costumes

The two-column layout of this infographic provides a visual connection between the history of the holiday and the literature and popular cultural aspects of the time. It’s perfect for scavenger hunts on the evolution of costumes, candy, and traditions.

Source: The Shelf

The other infographic that we thought educators would find useful is Trick Or Treat Your Way Into Halloween Sales Like A Pirate. The creator also designed \”min-fographics,\” perfect for educators to put into any presentation software. The whimsical and colorful display to illustrate the economics behind the holiday is sure to enhance any math lesson.




The different sections of this infographic also provide ideal opportunities for data analysis of charts and graphs. They are just the right mix of visually appealing graphics with real numbers to engage students in making comparisons regarding sales, percentages, popularity, and more.

Source: The Shelf

We firmly believe a little deviation away from the routine to keep students focused pays off in the long run. Using infographics reinforces graphicacy skills, incorporates a little media literacy using Halloween hype, and celebrates learning with a little fun.

Creating videos and motion graphics nudges both students and teachers to blend a host of proficiencies. It involves visual design in colors and templates, just as it requires language skills of narration and storytelling. It supports key technological skills in manipulating online media, and it reinforces the importance of publishing in sharing child creations with peers and parents. Kids teaching kids is the purest model of learning. It is the model of the student-centered classroom, because they become the educators of their peers.

Video production allows students to stitch together a narrative and storyboard each moment in the process that combines logical reasoning, cause-and-effect, and content mastery. They also must employ their graphicacy skills to fashion compelling and appealing visual displays. These quick-cut movies and short animations combine icons and text to communicate a message. Explainer videos, for example, are perfect for the classroom. They blend voice, image, and language into compelling presentations for students to learn. Content created using app editors or motion graphics provides a way for the brain to receive information through both the eyes and ears. Learning tools that can tap into both modalities have greater effectiveness in fostering understanding. They add layers of meaning for nuanced, standards-based education.

It is important to employ interactive ways to engage and share student work that builds alternative ways for students to design content, collect feedback, and reflect on the creative process. This requires using resources that engage learners in the classroom much the way they are outside of it. The gradual spread of technology tasks is invariably shifting classroom education toward a more student-directed model. As we move more and more into the blended, flipped, and social world of learning, we need to encourage creative interactions and self-directed investigations with the knowledge that our students can be active participants in the education process.

Source: NYSCATE

The theme for the 2016 annual conference of the New York State Association For Computers And Technologies In Education (NYSCATE) was \”Unleash The Superhero In You.\” This effective branding throughout the conference hall — and the colorful capes given to every attendee — spoke volumes to the notion of teachers as heroes in seizing opportunities and embracing technology, and often struggling against the curmudgeonly villains standing in their ways.

Source: NYSCATE

After three days of sessions and keynotes, kiosks and meet-ups, it was more clear than ever that educators are feeling they have the necessary tools to invigorate the learning potential of their students. Every teacher we met was excited to try a new web app or a backchannel to decentralize daily instruction. As Chromebooks catch up to (or surpass) iOS devices, the Google Apps For Education (GAFE) suite of tools is clearly permeating state-wide districts. As videos and online media put information squarely in the hands of learners, both children and teachers feel more empowered than ever to chart their own courses in meeting the various standards.

For our part, we are grateful to the 60+ participants who sat on the floor and stood against the walls for our presentation on Sunday, November 20, 2016, about “Student Videos & Animations Empower Creativity.” We apologize to those who were turned away for space reasons, and we have put all of our resources and slides online to share with any interested parties. Thank you to all of the attendees for the insightful questions and terrific recommendations about lessons and tools related to student projects and videos.

In hearing from the other experts in the terrific workshops during the conference, highlights that stood out included the tips on formative assessments from Steve Garton (@sgarton121) and Jeff Mao (@jmao121) of Common Sense Education, as well as the annual App Smackdown from Rich Colosi (@richardcolosi), Ryan Orilio (@ryanorilio), Mike Amante (@mamante), and Monica Burns (@classtechtips).

Other eye-opening sessions were engaging the writing process using Google Apps, WeVideo, and Recap with Megan Hugg (@Megan Hugg) and Lindsey Peet (@LindsMariePeet); liberating students from paper using ePortfolios with Betsy Hardy; and tapping the lesser-known features of Google with Carol LaRow (@larowc). Student coding, blended writing, and shared collaboration also emerged as recurring themes within the high-quality professional development. Perhaps the keynote comment by Adam Bellow (@adambellow) summed it up best, \”Technology does not drive change; it just enables it.\”

Source: ASIDE 2016

The lake-effect snowstorm that blanketed downtown may have kept some New Yorkers homebound, but it made for a tight-knit group in the warm confines of the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center. It also meant that Dinosaur BBQ was blissfully quiet on Sunday night, as we savored our favorite fried green tomatoes and spicy pulled pork. Pane Vino on North Water Street continued to rank as one of the best restaurants anywhere in the nation. And we also recommend Starry Nites Cafe in the arts district as a short hop away for a quick latte and chicken chili after perusing handmade jewelry at Craft Company No. 6.

Finally, we want once again to give a big shout out of thanks to the NYSCATE conference organizers for all they did in staging this seamless annual get-together. The smoothy run sessions and the high-quality breakfast / lunch / dinner included in the overall fee, as well as the warm welcomes and conversations throughout the event, confirmed once again why this is the best confab of the year. See you in 2017.

Source: ASIDE 2016

Interactive mapping techniques invite students to connect with content to visualize information beyond mere location. Mapping challenges learners to think, develop literacy skills, and understand the complexity of global issues. It enables learners to seek new ways to look at information through a lens of inquiry-based analysis.

Fresh perspectives on traditional maps can help students classify the images they encounter and can assist them in developing their own visualizations of places and events. This finely-tuned practice reinforces the notion of relational meaning. It taps the core skills of graphicacy through the synchronicity of visual literacy and visual thinking.

As a result, our students become better geographers and designers by interpreting existing maps, by drawing their own maps with a cartographer’s eye, or by creating visualizations with a keen sense of space. Students must decode the augmented reality (AR) by \”reading\” images and internalizing pictorial stimuli. These precise, learned techniques foster confidence both in deciphering and in creating pictorial representations, as well as developing critical thinking skills to better understand the world.

Maps Vs. Mapping: Visualizing History & Geography from The ASIDE Blog

Source: In A Nutshell

It seems a fitting close to the year to think about humanity. As a nation about to embark on a new era in governmental politics, the likes of which we have not seen, it is important to take a moment and reflect on change and how it affects all of us. We’ve used the video called the History Of The World In Seven Minutes for years with our students to demonstrate not only how improvements in technology changed the course of civilizations but also how progress moved at an exponential speed as it advanced.

Source: In A Nutshell

Every December 31, we celebrate the start of a new year, and we generally think in terms of the last 2016 years. But what if we rethink when the human era began? The video animation from In a Nutshell, entitled A New History For Humanity – The Human Era, does just that by marking the history of the human era according to the Holocene calendar. It could change the way we think about history; we would not be forgetting 10,000 years of human progress. A year zero could apply to all humanity and all cultures.

So as we approach the year 12, 017 HE, let us kick off a new year by building peacemakers and peacekeepers for all of humanity.

Source: TED

In the aftermath of one of the most divisive elections in our history, and in light of the possible presidential immigration ban barring people from entering the United States, we’re left with trying to explain to our learners what it all means. Their study of human rights along with a diverse classroom population adds further importance to our role as educators in a global world.

Learners need to know that refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants fall under the category of immigration, but there is a difference. They need to understand the enormity of the refugee crisis. This includes not only where they come from but also who makes up the majority of the refugee population.

The following resources proved invaluable in helping our students put the refugee crisis in perspective. It helped them realize the massive humanitarian needs refugees face around the world.

What Does It Mean To Be A Refugee?

This animation from TED Education helps students understand what the term refugee means and how it is different from asylum seeker and migrant. The video provides the perfect introduction to the topic and can easily be used with elementary students.

The UN Refugee Agency: Our Story

This is the story of how the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) was established to help those whose lives were uprooted by conflict or natural disaster. The video explains the historic role of the UNHCR from 1950 to the present.

  

The Refugee Project

The interactive map plots the migration of refugees around the world along a timeline that begins in the year 1975. The project uses United Nations data to tell the story of the millions of registered refugees under UN protection. The circles around each country adjust in size to show the flow of refugees as they expand and contract from a particular location. The lines that branch out indicate where the refugees sought asylum.

Source: The Refugee Project

9 Maps and Charts That Explain The Global Refugee Crisis

With the number of displaced people reaching the highest levels since post World War II, these maps and charts provide students with a visual look at the statistical information regarding the spike in the number of refugees around the globe.

Source: Vox

Rescue Facts: Refugee Facts

Historically, the United States has never shut the door on refugees; yet, the political rhetoric and misinformation over the last several weeks regarding the immigration ban has confused some of our learners. This video from the The International Rescue Committee seeks to present the real facts about refugees seeking asylum in the United States and the vetting process.

UNHRC Global Trends Data 2015

The magnitude of the current global refugee crisis is highlighted in this UNHCR video. The forced displacement rose significantly in 2015, and it is the first time in history that the number of displaced persons surpassed 60 million. We believe students need to recognize this crisis beyond media blasts to ban immigration; this is about real people, and sadly many of them are the same ages as those we teach.

One of the projects our students complete each year is the study of immigration from the early nineteenth century to modern day. They learn that people leave their homelands because of political, economic, and social reasons. It’s not unusual for a student to discover or report on how their own ancestors were forced to flee their homelands. They, too, were refugees.

Source: TED

As middle school advisors, we constantly deal with the trials and tribulations resulting from miscommunication. One thing we try to convey to the middle school mind is that in order to fully understand a message, they need to recognize that key factors play into how information is received.

The relationship between communication and interaction goes hand in hand with perception. The more we can develop their acuity in reading verbal and written cues, the more we can decrease the problems of misreading messages. Without a doubt, our job becomes increasingly more difficult due to electronic media pushing response times to lightning speed.

Since communication is central to design and relies heavily on how media connects with people, it stands to reason that we need to help our students identify where things can get misconstrued. We see it as “social literacy.” Like other literacies, they need to learn the skills in how to respond in order to avoid any misinterpretations that might arise.

While it isn’t always easy, we found that using the video entitled \”How To Recognize Misinformation\” with our advisees helps. It promotes healthy discussions as well as practical techniques for students to role-play.

The animation visually communicates how people get the wrong idea by failing to recognize their own personal responses to gestures, tone, and body language. These missed social cues can lead to confusion, animosity, and uncertainty.

We often tell students to use their words to explain their feelings, but if we don’t give them the skills to understand perceptual misunderstandings, our advice falls on deaf ears.

For this reason, the four key skills for good communication provide a great place to start.

If we can reinforce these skills with continued practice with our learners, as well as model them as adults, we can come to a common understanding of what we mean together.

Design is communication. If we dissect the word, it is after all “de + SIGN” and is the backbone of logos, icons, brands, media, and more.