World Wildlife Fund | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘World Wildlife Fund’

Celebrating Gifts

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Gratitude, Photography, Writing, tagged MudLove, World Wildlife Fund on February 20, 2016| 12 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

It’s not even my birthday, but I received three “Just Because I Love You” gifts in the mail this week. A bracelet from “MudLove” that inspires me and helps provide a week of clean water to someone in need.

Word bracelets from MudLove.

A hand-knitted scarf. I took a quick selfie.

A bouquet of roses from my daughter and her fiancé.

roses from Kat

These gifts were thoughtful and made me feel special. Two of these friends have come to me from this blogging community. I am so grateful for the friendships I am forging through writing.

My students received some gifts this week as well. An artist who visited our class before Christmas sent tiny journals, just the right size for collecting small Slice of Life moments. They started decorating them on Friday.

Nikki Loftin will be Skyping with my class for World Read Aloud Day. She sent bookmarks.

My students raised money for the World Wildlife Fund by holding a bake sale. They raised $250. This week we received two buckets of animals. Now each student has a tiny stuffed companion.

I celebrate gifts of the spirit, too. Across from our house on the bayou is wooded property. In reality, it’s marshy land that would be difficult to develop, but years ago we bought it with our neighbors in order to keep it wild. In the early morning light, reflections are vivid. Beauty in nature is a gift every day.

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PowToon has Power

Posted in Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Teaching, tagged lemurs, PowToon, World Wildlife Fund on November 2, 2014| 5 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Last week I read Holly Mueller’s Digital Literacy post about her students’ social justice PSA’s. Some of her students used an app called PowToon. I introduced it to my students on Monday while discussing presentation options. I wanted them to further research an area of interest sparked by our field trip to a science museum. After they watched the short PowToon introduction video, I could hear an echo in the classroom, “I’m using PowToon!”

My students are familiar with PowerPoint. PowToon uses a similar interface with an add slide button and graphics that are easily added with a drag and drop motion. My students were able to use this app independently. I watched over their heads as they created fun animated slides. Tyler ran into trouble when he tried to add music. He lost the whole presentation he had created, so we started the mantra of “Hit Save” after every added slide. Tyler was able to quickly recreate what he had done and even enjoyed trying new things, so it was not a huge loss.

After I viewed Tyler’s PowToon, I discussed ways he could raise money for lemurs. We found the World Wildlife Fund that has a lemur adoption kit. The cost is $55. I told him if he presents his PowToon to all the 5th and 6th grade classes and asks them to donate $1 for the cause, he is likely to raise the money. He agreed. I’m excited to watch this 6th grader move from an interest sparked to a social action.

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