Bad News for Me

I am sorry that I have not posted the report and pictures as yet but I have had a crappy couple of days. My external hard drive which is only a year old has decided to give up the ghost. Now this would normally mean I would loose a few films and a few books but I had recently moved all my artwork, including the pieces that I am working on recently and it looks like I have lost the blooming lot, which is two and a half years worth of work. To say I am pissed off is a little bit of an understatement and I am hope that I can recovery at least the artwork and research that is on there. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow and get to posting again. Again I am sorry for not getting the reports done.

"Sing A Song", Slide By Slide

.

On May 17th Larry Ferlazzo posted on his blog, Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day..., about a new free web 2.0 application for creating slideshows.  For registration  Slide.ly  requires you are 18 years of age or older, (or) have your parent's or guardian's permission to enter into this agreement.  To register enter in your first and last name, email address and a password.  A confirmation email is sent immediately.

When you click the link in the confirmation email, a new working screen appears in Slide.ly.  Across the top you can enter a term in a search box, click on Create one now!, view most popular slidelys, view recently created slidelys, view slidelys within categories (art & design, entertainment, kids, other, wedding & events, birthdays, family, music and sports) or access your account information, your slidelys or logout.

On the left of the screen is a list of sites from which to obtain images, Facebook, Google Images, Flickr, Instagram, Picplz, Picasa and your computer.  As you toggle through each the access options appear on the screen.  For example, if you choose to bring pictures from Facebook, it asks you to connect.  Then you are asked who on Facebook can see your slidelys (privacy) and whether you allow Slide.ly to access your basic information, email address, profile information, your stories, friends' birthdays and photos shared with you.  I tend to err on the side of caution; uploading images from my computer.

You are allowed a maximum of ninety images.  When the upload is complete scroll down to the overview.  When mousing over each image it can be switched to the cover photograph, a caption can be added or it can be deleted.  Images can be dragged and dropped, randomly arranged or the entire array can be deleted.

To continue move down the page to choose the music.  Selections can be taken from YouTube or Soundcloud under the categories of popular music, movies & TV, all time classics, beautiful or thanks.  Suggestions are shown or a search can be conducted.  When you mouse over a selection you can play it or add it to your slidely.

When your music is determined another screen overlays allowing you to add an effect (normal, spots, orange glow, colors, dots, dust, a birthday clipart, seventies or old film) to your slideshow as well as play it to figure out the timing with your images and the music.  You can adjust the slideshow speed which for me was a tad bit tricky.

Tags can be entered into a text box and you can decide to make your slidely public or not by unchecking the checkmark.  To see how any captions appear it is a good idea to enlarge your preview to full screen.  Be sure to click the blue button at the bottom right of the preview screen to save and publish your work.

Your finished slidely can always be edited by selecting My Slidelys beneath your name.  Off to the left of your completed slidely it can be liked on Facebook, tweeted on Twitter, made public on Google +, pinned on Pinterest or submitted to StumbleUpon.  Beneath are more options:  share on Facebook, send an email, copy a URL or embed the HTML (four sizes are offered) code in a website or blog.

Slide.ly offers many options for getting images, a variety of music choices and special effects.  The ease of use and seamless results make it a good application to use for creating slideshows. My slidely is shown below.

Living the Ice Cream Dream and a FREEBIE

We are down to the last 6 days in second grade and I don’t know about you, but I like to squeeze in as much learning as possible. Not only for the kiddos…but for my sanity as well! There is just something about a schedule that makes the day go by so much faster! If you are in survival mode, this sweet treat may be just for you!!!!

To keep things light and fluffy this week {while getting in lots of review…shhh don’t tell the kids} we are getting into all things ice cream! Check out a few of the things that we will be doing this week while living the ice cream dream and scroll on down for a tasty freebie!

     

     

And a little math (a little idea adapted from my sweet friend, Amanda Nickerson!)

You can snag a little freebie from this unit by clicking on the picture below!

Or…you can snag the unit HERE!

Included:

• Parts of Speech Word Sort and Writing Activity
• What's the Scoop on Similes Writing and Craftivity
• Cherry Stack Craftivity (Can be used with a variety of skills)
• Astronaut Ice Cream Craftivity and Writing Activities (Compare/Contrast)
• Design a Flavor Writing and Craftivity
• Ice Cream in a Bag Experiment and How To Writing
• Scooping Up Math (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division Practice)
• Popsicle Meltdown Science Experiment
• Ice Cream Acrostic
• ABC Order

What are your plans for the final week(s) of school?