Think Like a Teacher

I poke through well over 100 web sites a week as part of my job with TeachersFirst, so it takes a lot to impress or excite me. I am grateful this final Friday of November for the discovery of Fun Favs. Here is a list of a dozen that have left impressions on me recently.  All have been or will be reviewed on TeachersFirst with loads of classroom ideas. Enjoy some creative play or lasting learning.

3D Photo Cube  What a great idea to make photos display interactively. I love the idea of sharing multi-faceted impressions of an event or person. Think of the pictures you could upload of just one person to show all aspects of his/her personality. It’s just plain visual fun.

LiveTyping  This one looks pretty dumb. Watch someone type as a “recording.” Now think about all the stories you could tell this way. Remember the Google searches during the Superbowl commercial a few years ago? Show what a character is thinking as he/she types a letter  or job application or creates a resume. Record Charlie Brown applying for a job as a football kicker. Record an imagined breakup email. Record an imagined memo being written by your most hated politician. Record a letter to the principal explaining why you had a live pig in your classroom (I once did!). Have fun!

Windmap I actually used  this one during Superstorm Sandy. Apparently a lot of other people did, too. It was quite sluggish. Make weather come to life far more than those static maps or “predictors” on your local TV forecast.  I wonder what other real-time viewers we could invent: see the paths of the grease smells wafting from fast food joints? No one has invented the smellavision, but I am sure there will be an app for that eventually.

Symphony of Science I love experiencing the arts in connection with academics. As an analogous thinker/connector, I always imagine concepts through analogies in visual or artistic form. I “see” poems and words as images. I even experience  numbers via a personal, visual number sense.  So why not experience science as music? This one intrigues me. I want to spend more time with it. Do you ever wonder whether your students personally experience concepts in some unusual way (and are afraid to talk about it for fear of being “weird”)?

Overlap Maps (Do you sense a visual theme here?) This one is simply cool. See maps as overlays so you can compare geographic spaces. I need to see a map when I travel, and I remember directions via the map in my head. But now I can compare places to give them context. How does my planned vacation location compare in size to my city? How does the setting of this novel compare to my childhood hometown? Make geography a toy.

Sodaplay  Yes, you play with straws. Create animated figures that move. Gotta love the web for mess-free “crafts” and animations. Wonderful time waster/creative challenge, depending on how you look at it. How could your students use it to explain something?

Phrasr  A word (or sentence) is worth a thousand pictures. Make words and sentences into a sequence of images. Poetry makes images out of a sequence of words, so Phrasr is another way to engage your visual-verbal mind.  Or simply make a creative sign for your door.

Spectra Visual Newsreader  Arrange your news visually. As a news junky, this one grabs me. My iPad is loaded with visual representations of news and feeds: Flipboard, apps from the networks, Newsstand. This one is online and customizable. I love the idea of hooking kids on current events through the visuals.

Infographics Archive  See the latest and greatest of infographics. Learn (and critique) as you browse this very popular medium. The more I see good and bad examples, the more I respect this way of communicating. I also come to fear it as teh Viewers Digest of information, showing stats and facts

YouTube Time Machine  See times past in the videos from that era. Get lost in the past, perhaps even waxing nostalgic for a favorite TV show from childhood. But you can also build a sense of a time past the same way Madmen rebuilds the sixties. Wouldn’t it be fun to show a few clips and challenge viewers to guess the year?

The final two are for my fellow political junkies:

AllSides As much as we all like to think our opinions are correct, we know there are others who do not agree. This tool lets you see issues from many points of view. Think of it as a 3D scanner for political thought. For those unable to make up their minds, this one is a politikaleidoscope.  During en election cycle — or the approach to the fiscal cliff, you can entertain yourself predicting the next set of soundbytes.

People’s Pie Speaking of the fiscal cliff, what would YOU do about it? Here is your chance to try to solve it without filibuster of news cycle bluster. Decide the priorities for the federal budget using this simulator. P.S. If you do, please sent tips to the folks in Washington.

This has been a grate(ful)  month. Thanks for letting me share it.