Images

                              Owens, J. (2017). 269245. Retrieved from: http://unsplash.com.  CC0.

The jealousy that I feel for this pig is indescribable.  With three and a half days of school left (who's counting?), I'm so ready for summer vacation.  Part of the reason that I selected this photo was because, seriously, that's where my head is at right now.  However, I also loved the vibrant blue juxtaposed with the pale pink of the floating pig.

When I began setting up my blog last week, one of the challenges that I experienced was finding a source of photographs that looked professional and were also free to use.  I highly recommend checking out unsplash.com.  All photos are free to use however you'd like (personal or commercial use), and there are some incredibly beautiful images available.  None of the images have titles, so that posed a challenge with regard to giving credit - but each image does have an author.  Unsplash.com also provides a link to projects that people have created using images from the site.  There are some "remixes" on there that are truly awe-inspiring.  Seriously, if you have a minute, check them out here:
Made With Unsplash.

After finding Unsplash, I was excited to get started on this week's project.  My first attempt at manipulating images using the sandbox tools was a bit disappointing.  I tried to access PicMonkey, but was prompted to enable Flash.  No matter how many times I tried, I was unable to get anything to work (probably user error).  So, keeping in mind advice from the first lecture, I moved on before I started tearing my hair out.

I've used BigHugeLabs before, though only for assignments.  I decided to take a bit of time to really explore the platform, and was pretty impressed by what I found.  I love that BigHugeLabs is a free resource and, as a current English teacher, I could see so many different ways that my students could utilize this resource.  Students could use the Magazine Cover tool to introduce themselves in the beginning of the school year.  They could also use the Motivator tool to create Six Word Memoirs (a student favorite).  Students could use many of the tools to create promotional items for books that they enjoyed that could be displayed in the library.  I decided to use the BigHugeLabs Framer Tool to add a Polaroid frame to a photo that I took of my dog the other day.

                                   Davis, Z. (2017). Hazel. Modified by BigHugeLabs.  CC0.

Next, I checked out FoldPlay.  Of all of the websites, I found this one to be the most exciting.  The tools on FoldPlay could be used in a variety of educational settings, including science (creating foldable diagrams of different organs or ecosystems), math (maybe geometry with all the folding and shapes) and English classes (to create the foldable books).  I could really see students getting in to a MakerSpace project utilizing FoldPlay.

Finally, I tried Tuxpi.  This had many of the same applications as BigHugeLabs, and was just as easy to use.  I had a lot of fun with the different Recolor, Tone and FX tools.  Students could definitely use these tools in art, web design, and certainly photography classes to manipulate images.

I had a lot of fun messing around with different image editing tools this week, and a little less fun trying to figure out how to give credit to sources.

Updated Background Image:
Quinn, M. (2017).  Untitled. Retrieved from: https://unsplash.com. CC0.

Answer Garden

Who is your favorite author?

Welcome

It's been a wild week, and I'm sure many of you can relate.  I coached girls JV soccer for the first time this year, and our season wrapped up on Thursday of this week.  There's two weeks left of school in my district and the faculty, students and staff - myself included - are all beginning to lose it (or have been for months already).  And, because nothing is ever simple, I had a gaggle of girls staying at my house this weekend for a wedding.  

Luckily for me, one of my girl friends creates digital newsletters for a living and is super familiar with blogging and digital design.  Thank goodness, because I won't lie, I was struggling.

I started with Wordpress, and could not figure out how to get the images to go where they were supposed to.  I think I still have an account there, and maybe some day I'll figure out how to delete it.  Aside from struggling with the platform, I was overwhelmed by the layout options and didn't find it particularly intuitive.

So, my friend, Jessica, helped me set up an account on blogger.  She advised me on the type of image to choose, as well as the layout and gave me constructive feedback as I tried different options.  As I looked through the text, it was interesting to read the same advice that I was getting in person.

One of the things that my friend, and Garr Reynolds stressed was the need to keep things simple.  As I was looking at images for the background of the blog and at the options for color layout I had to constantly remind myself to simplify.  I tried numerous combinations before selecting a layout and image that I didn't find distracting.  I also had to continually remind myself that this is a work in progress.  As the class progresses and my comfort level with this platform grows, I can go back and apply new ideas and concepts. 

The complexity of choosing a font blew my mind.  As I read chapter two, I reflected on font choices that I've made in the past.  Honestly, I never paid much attention to font, or considered how it might affect the presentation of material.  I decided to go with Helvetica because I found it to be the most readable and neutral option on Blogger, though who knows, maybe that'll change as well.

I think what I took away most from this week was the point that Garr Reynolds (2014) makes in the opening lines of the text, "presentation and design lessons are all around us" (5).  I found myself thinking about design in a way that I never had before. 

Reynolds, G. (2014) Presentation zen design: A simple visual approach to presenting in today's world (2nd ed.).  San Francisco, CA: New Riders.