There is so much happening in the world at the moment that we simply cannot ignore. We all, in LA19, come to school and take our right to do so for granted, some even try to avoid it. But how much of a fight would we put up if it was taken away from us? Well, this is happening now, around the world. Read this and perhaps blog your thoughts. Remember, Malala is only 14 and was known by the Taliban because she wrote a blog!
Due to some very foreseen circumstances (my holidays in the UK) this blog will be a little quiet for the next 4 weeks. I am hoping to post a few things to keep it ticking along but there will be no new Blogging Tasks for this period. Feel free to keep looking in and check out the students’ blogs; they are not yet on holiday so they should hopefully have new posts to check out.
In the meantime I would like my students to take a few minutes to review your own blogging practice by reading this excellent and important post by Ronnie Burt on, of all things, salami. Actually, it’s not really about salami, but about an eleven year old blogger who failed to check whether the image he posted was free to use. If you wish to include media that’s free to use in your posts then another excellent resource is Wikimedia Commons.
Watch this inspirational video made by students.
Read this article and write your opinion on the debate. Do you agree with the school or not? Does the school have a valid argument for what it did? Let me know. Write a post on your own blog giving your opinion.
Julian Opie was an artist who came to fame following his creation of the iconic Blur album cover in 2000. I recently came across a website called ArtisanCam (courtesy ICTmagic) that lets you create a portrait in the Opie style. However, I had to chuckle as my students have already ‘been there – done that’, and all by themselves! Check out their examples on the Class News page through the link on the right and I’m sure you’ll agree they’re very cool. The art was created using the Brushes app on the iPads, using layers over an original photo (uploaded via Dropbox). Give it a go yourself as, like they said to Steve Austin, The Six Million Dollar Man, “We have the technology…”
If you’re a little bit musical and have a leaning towards the beat box sound, perhaps mixed with a little acapella or even barbershop, then this fun site will certainly be of interest. Incredibox offers all of the above in a wonderful and quite addictive bundle. Check it out here, but be warned, you may eventually look up and wonder where the day went!
Well, this one’s a little bit different. This time I want you to do a review (yes, again), but this time an oral review. Think of a product you currently use, one very relevant for your age group that other people may be thinking about using. It could be a hair product, hygiene product, make-up or hair product, technology application, that you are currently using or have just begun to use. You then need to produce an oral review, lasting 60 seconds or less, that includes a description of the product and a score out of 10. I expect you to give reasons for your rating, be them positive or negative. Think of this as a public service infomercial, the type of which you can find easily on You-tube. I have posted two videos on Edmodo, the “Homework Help” page, for you to watch. Both are from people describing, testing and rating a product.
When you have written your review you will need to record it and present it via Voki before posting it on your blog. If you feel you are a natural, then you can try and record it in one go, without the writing; this is a genuine oral activity. I am looking for useful information, a good description, an honest rating and, above all, a relaxed, friendly and natural style of speaking, NOT a formal style. Have fun.
The last blogging task completed by the students (to explain which app was one of their favourites) brought some interesting responses. The following is a list, in no particular order, of the apps the students are using at the moment.
I came across this great poem from one of the students at Penbank, a school I’ve linked to on this blog (see links below). Have a read and leave a comment if you wish – it’s very descriptive. A Dog’s Life.
