Using Glogster in the Classroom

Another GLOG Lesson Plan

Primary Subject - Social Studies 


Secondary Subjects – Art/Design, English                                     Grade Level - Middle School 


Objective:

•       To explore the concept of community through images and words. Students will become familiar with definitions of community and consider their roles in a chosen community.

Students will

•       Define community

•       Brainstorm different types of community

•       Explore photography as a means of depicting a community

•       Use writing to describe their roles in a chosen community

•       Create a digital poster, GLOG, of images and words that illustrate the chosen community

Materials:

•       Classroom digital camera(s)

•       Classroom computer(s) with printer and card reader/ Lab

•       Smartboad, whiteboard, or overhead projector

•       Interesting photographs or several photography books or magazines

•       Paper

•       Pencils

Procedure - Step A

•       Work with the students to create headings which define the basic types of communities.

Possible headings proposed by Finnegan (1994) are:

1.     Locality or place

2.     Common interests, not necessarily localized

3.     Localities or groups bound by close ties, such as family or neighborliness.

•       Discuss factors, which may influence the development of a sense of community within a social group.

1.     Possible factors include kinship and marriage, language, religion, nationality, ethnicity, culture, residential persistence, availability of community organizations, etc.

2.     Emphasize not only the cohesive quality of community, but also the potential for internal conflict. Mills (2004) points out that conflicts within communities can be more embittered than conflicts among strangers due to the high degree of knowledge conflicting parties possess concerning their opponents in the dispute.

•       As a group:

1.     Brainstorm to develop a list of communities familiar to the students.

2.     Place them under the appropriate headings on the board or with an overhead projector

•       As individuals:

1.     Have the students compose their own personal definitions of "community."

2.     Using classroom dictionaries, the students can then find a published definition.

Procedure: Step B

•       Introduce students to the camera as a tool for depicting a community.


•       Distribute the following worksheet to introduce terms used in analyzing and discussing photographs (Way, 2006).





Guide sheet:

1.     Subject (Who/What is in the picture?)

2.     Setting (Where was the picture taken?)

3.     Background (What is behind the subject?)

4.     Foreground (What is in front of the subject?)

5.     Focus (Is any part of the picture clear or blurry? Was this intentional?)

6.     Vantage Point/Point of View (Where was the photographer when he or she took the picture? Below the subject? Above the subject? Very close? Far away?)

7.     Composition (Describe the lines, shapes, patterns, and colors in the image.)

8.     Lighting (Quality: Is the lighting soft and diffused or hard and contrasty?

9.     Direction: Where is the light coming from in the picture?)

10.  Mood (How does the picture make you feel?)

11.  Meaning (What does this picture say to you?)





•       Divide the class into groups. Give each group a photocopied photograph (or they can choose one from a photography book or magazine) and ask them to write down ideas about what they can learn about the people depicted by studying the photo. Have each group present their photograph and ideas and encourage the class to comment and share additional ideas.


•       Distribute a quick guide to taking good photographs such as the one found at the following link http://www.ehow.com/how_4877017_good-photograph.html. Discuss the guide with the students. 


•       Provide a quick overview of the use of the classroom digital camera(s).

•       Tour the Glogster website & do a Q&A session to familiarize the class with the platform before they officially use it.

Procedure: Step C

•       Assign the students a writing exercise.

◦       Have them write a description of the community they have chosen for their final project.

▪       What characteristics distinguish this community?

▪       What factors connect the members? Think back to the 3 types of communities and the factors discussed in Step A.

▪       What role do they play in this community?

▪       Why have they selected this community to share with the class?

▪       What does it mean to them to be a part of this community?

•       Have the students make a list of possible photographs which they would like to take which would capture important elements of this community.


•       Assign the students the task of taking pictures of their community. Set a schedule and plan with students about the required number of photographs and the due date.


•       Groups can download and view their photographs on the classroom computer, for future reference they should be uploaded to a class Flckr page. Have the students take notes and critique their photographs, commenting on how they might improve the picture if they were to take the photograph again. 


•       The following exercise can help students prepare for writing captions for their photographs. Again students should be supplied with a number of photographs to study for the purpose of the exercise (Way, 2006).  Pretend you are a curator and need to write a caption that tells the viewers the essential information about the picture.  (This will eventually become the elements of their Glogs).

Guide sheet:

◦       Write a new caption for the picture.


◦       Start by writing what you see in the image. 

I see... 


◦       Expand to what you think the photograph is saying (the theme). 

This photography is saying that... 


◦       Revise your writing to create one sentence that tells the theme of the picture.


◦       Now revise that sentence to make sure your caption is concise and uses clear and specific language.

•       When students have taken their photographs, they can pair up to critique their photos and select the ones they wish to use in their final Glog project. If editing software is available, students can be allowed to prepare their photographs for inclusion in their Glog posters.

•       Once the photographs are finalized, students can write captions and arrange the final elements on their digital poster (Glog) to complete their project.  Other elements/features (video, audio, additional text, etc.) can be required for additional assessment. Posters can be printed displayed in the classroom or both can be used to create a virtual/real-world exhibition can be scheduled complete with refreshments and an opportunity for each student to present & discuss their work.

This is a great introductory lesson plan to begin a Service Learning Curriculum Unit.

References:

Inspired by “Exploring Community through Photography” 
By - Carol McRae

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/SSArtBeginSchoolExploringCommunityThroughPhotography68.htm

Finnegan (1994) as referenced in Mills, Dennis. (May 2004). Defining community: A critical review of ‘community’ in Family and Community History. Community History. 7(1). 


Mills, Dennis. (May 2004). Defining community: A critical review of ‘community’ in Family and Community History. Community History. 7(1).


Way, Cynthia. Focus on photography: A curriculum guide. International Center of Photography, 2006. Retrieved from http://www.icp.org/index.php?q=school/community-programs/teacher-resources

BP8-ETC Final Project

Here is an example of how we are using Glogster in a lesson...

Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario - Planning

  

1.              Target Audience – 5^th -12^th grade students

2.              Materials –

·      List of possible items to go into activity bag (separated by age range)

·      Computers w/printer (internet connected)

·      Smart board/Elmo projector

·      Journals (may be done online)

·      Phone books

3.              Objectives – Students will:

·      Discuss the benefits of the service-learning project.

·      Design posters to advertise, promote, & present.

·      Formulate informative speeches, business letters, & formal emails.

·      Analyze their feelings, thoughts, and actions through journaling.

4.              Procedure –

·      Informal discussion on the purpose of service-learning and giving back to their community as well as providing additional ideas, suggestions, and comments on how it or parts of the project can be improved.

·      Review mini-lessons on; how to use reference materials, writing informal paragraphs, presenting a speech, and to speak over the phone when asking for information. (Permission slip sent out to appear in media outlets & volunteer offers).

·      Students develop a finalized list for activity bags and formulate methods to acquire items within small groups. 

·      Reference phone book and local newspapers to help identify businesses and potential donors.

·      Write letters to businesses & donors.

·      Make an amateur informative “PSA” about our efforts to distribute.

·      Design posters and flyers using Glogster.*

·      Email  & distribute media assignments to TV stations & other social media outlets.

·      Organize donated items by age appropriateness, work on filling bags.

·      Distribute bags with supervision from teachers & parent volunteers.

·      Students will use Glogster and their journals to create final presentations.

5.              Web 2.0 Tool – Glogster.com will assist our students on provide us with a template and platform to promote our project.  The site will also be used to present the students’ final reflection on the project as a whole.

6.              Social Participation/Social Learning – Using Facebook, Twitter, Glogster.com, etc. students, volunteers, teacher, and parents will communicate, collaborate and promote the project.

Beginning with the initial announcement: “Middle/H.S. students (or parent of one)!!! Need your help in a community service project! Cyber and/or hands-on, as little or much time as you can offer! If you’d like to be a part of this effort, Inbox me!!!

7.              Making Connections – Through informal discussion students will be presented with the question(s); “how do they feel when you are forced to stay inside all day on rainy days? Or in bed with a cold or broken limb for days at a time? Now imagine if you had to stay there for months at a time, sometimes confined to a bed, small room and lobby at the most. Even with all this technology…would you get bored with the same old stuff? Do you think it would help knowing that others cared?”

8.              Create/Produce – As a group the students will create activity bags to be distributed.  For the classroom students will use Glogster.com to create a final poster with quotes (or the whole doc) from their journals for a final reflection on how they feel and the significance of giving back.

9.              Reflection – Students will use journaling throughout the process for reflections from the initial idea to the final product.  The journal will discuss how they feel the project is beneficial, their thoughts on soliciting donations, and how they felt during and after distribution.  Their final entry will be the foundation to create a Glogster poster on their final thoughts to be presented to the whole class.

*the video demonstrates this step in the lesson. A after school student & his mother demonstrate here & below:

"Glogster is helping us promote our cause to a higher degree; 

Students use school plus their virtual world to give back to the real world"

PE5_Glogster

A Practical Experience 5

So far...Loving Glogster!  It was not as complicated as it looks, thank goodness. :)  Even with the basic package there is still a lot of features to choose from.  I am using the basic account and I really enjoyed the variety of possibilities.  AND I am quite proud of my little poster, although it may not be as creative as I have seen many of the students come up with, I'm still pleased with what I got so far.  That reminds me...if you are not ready to publish you can save and go back; another great option.  

Overall I believe this tool will be a valuable asset to my CBR project personally because it will allow the students to custom promote involvement in the beginning, promote for donations throughout the process, and display the results of their efforts in print and media.  They could also use Glogster to present their final journal reflection and thoughts on service learning as a whole in the class.

I know you have been waiting, so here it is... :)

  

If you'd like to interact with it, just click here.  I hope you like it and look into Glogging too!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Comment, share, or follow - always appreciated!

PE4_Glogster

Practical Experience 4 

Blogging about Glogging

For the next couple blogs were going to dive a little deeper into the Web 2.0 tool, Glogster!

First…so glad I found this out ahead of time...but, I figured out that you definitely need to make sure your on the Educational Glogster website.   Seems there is another part of the site that is strictly a social network based setup using personal glogs – very “myspacey”.  So…official warning, the educational site always includes “edu.” within the url name.

Once I was on that site I decided to start working on my first glog.

This is the template they start you with…I have to admit all the controls off the bat are a little intimidating compared to what the student’s blogs are producing from just this, but we'll see how a semi-techy adult manages lol.  Wish me luck!

I’m off to continue meddling with the controls & features; I’ll be back with an update!

  

BP7 - One minute video

Welcome!

Enjoy my 1 minute commercial of the Web 2.0 tool - Glogster!

If you are having trouble viewing you can also see it at my viddler account.

Thank you, comment, suggest, follow or just come back and visit. :)

BP4_250 word review of a tool

EXPLORE with Me - "GLOGSTER"

This is a Web 2.0 tool Review….

Glog?

Have you ever heard of it? I haven’t, but I am so glad I found it!

To Glog: the art of expressing yourself creatively via a virtual poster.  :)

I know what you’re thinking…how exciting can a virtual poster be?

Well, it can be with GLOGSTER .  And many students are already claiming to be captivated which is always an advantage.

Let’s check it out.

edu.glogster.com

It’s basically a drag & drop interface that allows the user to design a virtual poster placed on a wall, which is it’s own website.  Even the wall and background are customizable.  Students can use the Glog’s library, their own, or the internet to pull; data, pictures, graphics, drawings, video, sound effects, animations, notes, and so on to their poster.  They can also use the skin generator for a wide array of background and wall designs.

First time I thought, neat… but how much can you really do with a poster (besides the average art/computer teacher)?  

After exploring the website I learned. It can help you create a student-centered environment by allowing them control of their project and how they present the information they are learning to you and their classmates.  Yet, the teacher controls presents you, as the facilitator, access to management tools so you can still guide the learning and keep an eye on progress.

Students will really love the fact that they can share it through various popular portals (with your permission of course), including the Glogster website.  Or it can be kept within the classroom.  They are also printer friendly as well!

Over a million users/educators are taking advantage of Glogster already! They’re using it for:

•     Science fairs (virtual & real-world)
•     Assessments
•     Informational story-boards
•     Project Promotions
•      And so on…just to name a few.

Which brings me to how I plan on implementing it for my CBR (challenge based research) project in the coming months. :)

My CBR’s big idea is Motivation.  The objective is to see how well a technology and art immersed service-learning project can increase motivation to learning while increasing parental involvement & provide an opportunity for mentorship.

Through project-based learning the students will do the research and present much of this project.  They will also have the opportunity to promote the service project to get the community informed and hopefully involved.

Briefly this is just one aspect in which they can apply Glogster but they’ll have many opportunities to use it again, for instance presenting, if they so choose.

I hope you enjoyed exploring Glogster with me and I encourage at least a peek.  :)

Or…come back for my one-minute informative commercial on how awesome it can truly be.

See you then!