PPS Instructional Technology

With only 8 and a half days left in the school year, we are all looking for ways to keep out students engaged in the learning process while we wrap up the remainder of the curriculum for the year.  I may have found just the tool to help you with that very goal! Adobe Spark  allows you to "turn your ideas into impactful social graphics, web stories and animated videos—in minutes."  This free tool is super simple to use, works on Chromebooks, iOS devices, desktops, or laptops, and allows even our youngest users to create a professional looking project in minutes. There are three tools in Spark.  The first, Post, allows users to create a graphic, like a twitter banner or poster, to share a message.  I had my second and third graders create their own faux twitter banners.  They loved trying to share a message with simply a picture and a quote.  Here is a project created by Teah.  She chose this quote because it is what her family says every n...

Big Huge Labs offers TONS of free things you can do with your photos, and best of all you do not need to sign up or join anything in order to use the site!  Great for our upper elementary and middle school students who are often left out from using certain online sites because of the "must be over 13 years of age to get an account" rule.  On this site, you can create great projects, like: Trading Cards Motivational Posters Magazine Covers Movie Posers Name Badges Jigsaw puzzles AND MUCH MORE! So, I am sure you are wondering...How can I use this in my classroom? Well here are a few ideas I came up with... Create a movie poster for a book or historical event.  Have students choose who would play important roles. Create a motivational poster based on the main theme of a story Create a magazine cover for a research report. Create trading cards for story characters or important science or historical figures.