This year, James and I were thinking about how he could welcome his new class with a “wow” factor this year. So, I came up with the idea of him using technology. We recently have been introduced to the app “Nearpod”. It is an interactive presentation allowing an instructor to insert live quizzes, polls, writing responses, videos, and images. Students can watch and interact with the questions and media by picking choices, watching, and even replaying videos, drawing responses, and typing responses. Another amazing feature includes a report of student responses and quiz data emailed to you after the session ends! I was hooked right away with all the possibilities.
So, this year, James is going to send home a Nearpod Welcome Back to School assignment!!! Students will be introduced to their new teacher. He will tell them a little about himself and his partner teacher, Ms. Homan. They will get a sneak peak of both classes they will be attending. Then, students will write about themselves, draw pictures and answer polls and quizzes.
To accomplish this, James needed all the student email addresses. So he called all the students in both his class and his partners’ class to introduce himself to the parent, request an email address, and let them know an email will be sent in the next day or two. Calling all 50 families took approx. 1.5 hours…James loves to chat!
As he was calling parents, I had a great idea for the theme of the presentation. Mrs. Homan’s classroom theme this year is SuperHeros. As a result, I thought it would be cute to draw them as teaching heroes and introduce them as “The Incredible Dynamic Duo”. I got right to work on their cartoons, images, backgrounds, etc.
I used the superhero front free from:
http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/sf-slapstick-comic
The background image can change colors by simply clicking the background. Then, click format picture. Under ‘adjust’, click recolor. Chose from the colors available.
So, this year, James is going to send home a Nearpod Welcome Back to School assignment!!! Students will be introduced to their new teacher. He will tell them a little about himself and his partner teacher, Ms. Homan. They will get a sneak peak of both classes they will be attending. Then, students will write about themselves, draw pictures and answer polls and quizzes.
To accomplish this, James needed all the student email addresses. So he called all the students in both his class and his partners’ class to introduce himself to the parent, request an email address, and let them know an email will be sent in the next day or two. Calling all 50 families took approx. 1.5 hours…James loves to chat!
As he was calling parents, I had a great idea for the theme of the presentation. Mrs. Homan’s classroom theme this year is SuperHeros. As a result, I thought it would be cute to draw them as teaching heroes and introduce them as “The Incredible Dynamic Duo”. I got right to work on their cartoons, images, backgrounds, etc.
I used the superhero front free from:
http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/sf-slapstick-comic
The background image can change colors by simply clicking the background. Then, click format picture. Under ‘adjust’, click recolor. Chose from the colors available.
If you would like a customized set with your own custom cartoon, contact me. A set like this would cost approx. $25 and I would need an image of you since I draw the cartoons to resemble the teacher. All images have the background removed. Now, James and Mrs. Homan can use these in any presentation, poster or room décor they create this year. Its simple. Just open the presentation I created, and open a new presentation. Then, simply click on the image or background, and then paste into your new presentation. If things overlap, it is easy to rearrange the order. Add text boxes with the new font! BAM! KAPOW! Customized stationary, powerpoint presentations, worksheets, newsletters, posters, anchor charts, labels, binder covers, thank you cards, and signs. The possibilities are endless.
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Simply Teach this year,
Jill Dockins
Simply Teach this year,
Jill Dockins