Trading Cards

Constructing a biography is a fairly common school project. I know that, for instance, both the first and second graders at my school have to write a biography for their research project. The Trading Card function from Big Huge Labs might be a way to spice up that report!

The Trading Card function allows students to upload a picture of a person (or animal, I suppose... the website doesn't monitor what you upload), add a title, facts about that person or object, customize the color of the "trading card," and even add a couple of fun icons to the sides.

There are just enough options to keep things interesting, but not so many that it becomes an overwhelming project. 

One of the best parts is that students do NOT have to have an account or e-mail address in order to use this. Another great thing about the Trading Card project is that students can download their project as a .jpg (picture file). From there, you can incorporate it into a a FlipSnack book to share with parents or store in your Dropbox account for easy access later.

Here's an example I made. Mine is over Albert Einstein:

Try the Trading Card feature from Big Huge Labs for yourself by clicking here.

Map Maker

Big Huge Labs has a lot of cool {and free} tech tools. 

Logo from the Big Huge Labs website

 One of them is called Map Maker.

 

The idea is that you can display a map of the whole world or a specific part, and then you can place "pins" on the map. From there, you can embed the code on a website or, of course, take a screenshot of it. Here's an example of a map I made:

Places I've Visited

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Ideas for Use:

1. Mark places where students have visited as a "getting to know you" game.
2. Social studies students can mark a place they're researching. 
3. Elementary students who are participating in a Flat Stanley project can mark where Stanley has visited.
4. If your class is connecting to other classes or professionals -- pen pals? Skype chats? -- mark the places your class has reached on the map. 

I'm sure there are more ways to use it in class, but those are just a few to get you started. :) Click here to start making your map. 

Drop It To Me

If you don't have a way to receive and store students' files, a paperless classroom might be difficult. There are a variety of services you can use to store and organize documents, but if you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I am partial to Dropbox. Now there is a service called Drop It To Me that allows Dropbox users to set up a special link where others can upload files directly into your Dropbox folder.

Here's the explanation, as provided by the Drop It To Me website:

To register, just click here. {You'll need a Dropbox account in order to use this service, so if you don't already have one of those, click here to register for a free account.}

If you're curious about what it would look like for your students, click here. {This is my Drop It To Me box, and I have to give students the password in order to send things to me.}

It's nice because students don't need an e-mail address in order to send you things, and it goes straight to your Dropbox folder for easy storage and organization!