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Mixbook: Yearbook/Storybook/Calendar/Card creator

What it is:  Mixbook saved us this year in a BIG way.  Being our first year as a school, we didn’t want to use a big yearbook publishing company to create our first yearbook.  We wanted to be able to get as much of the year in as possible (most yearbook companies have mid-year deadlines), we were only having 60 made (small potatoes for big yearbook companies), and we wanted to be able to print one-offs if we needed to.  We started creating in Shutterfly, it was a familiar program, most of our helpers had used it for personal books so the learning curve was small.  And then the world came crashing down. It was the day before the deadline to get our order in so that it would make it before the school year ended. Two of us logged in at the same time and apparently properly confused the system and lost the whole thing.  All 30 pages of it. After throwing a pity party, trying to get in touch with Shutterfly (unsuccessfully), and declaring that there would be no yearbook, I did what anyone would do- I took my pity party to Twitter. I never did hear from Shutterfly.  You know who did come to the rescue? Mixbook.  They saw my pity party tweet, apologized for our bad fortune, offered their assistance and let us know that they would be happy to help in any way they could.  I was familiar with Mixbook but hadn’t used it before. I hopped onto the Mixbook site and immediately liked what I saw: The interface is incredibly easy to use. It allows collaborative working and tells you when someone else is editing the book so you don’t override each other. It has great templates. It has great customization options. The customer service is unmatched.  Honestly, any time we had a question/comment/problem they helped within minutes.  During business hours they have  a dynamite online chat support system.  When it wasn’t normal business hours their Twitter genius would get back to me. Emails were answered within hours. Finished books can be viewed and shared for free online. They were incredibly helpful in keeping the price of each book reasonable for us.  They extended coupon codes, gave us bulk purchase discounts, and rushed our order so that it would get to us with plenty of time to spare. The books are GORGEOUS.  They look better than they do on screen (this hasn’t been my experience with other book companies). Mixbook is a free online scrapbook/calendar/card creator.  With Mixbook, you aren’t limited to pre made templates, everything is fully customizable. The online design software is extremely easy to use and works the way you would expect it to (no unwelcome surprises). Mixbook is integrated with many popular photo sites including Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, etc.  You can also easily batch upload from your computer. How to integrate Mixbook into the classroom:  As we experienced, Mixbook is a fantastic place to make school or classroom yearbooks.  Despite the short timeline, we enjoyed creating our yearbooks and are glad to have our first year commemorated so beautifully.  At the bottom of each page, we created a running timeline of everything that happened in our first year as a school. Because it is so easy to customize each page, students could use Mixbook to create “published” portfolios or writing.  Take pictures of student work throughout the year, keep a folder for each student.  At the end of the year, students can create a Mixbook of their work.  They can include the pictures of their work and add text boxes where they reflect on their learning or explain the project.  For original writing, students can create digital or hand drawn illustrations that get scanned and uploaded to the Mixbook pages.  Students can type the story directly in Mixbook.  The finished book can be shared for free online, parents will have the option to purchase the book if they would like to. A photo calendar would be a great way to commemorate a school year and would make an awesome end of the year gift to your students.  Each month can include projects and snapshots of what you did throughout the year. Create specialized cards and thank you stationary for your classroom.  Any time you need it, it will be ready to go and more special for your students. Group projects are easy to create with Mixbook.  The collaboration ability is wonderful!  You could use Mixbook with colleagues to create custom learning guides that you can get printed. Tips: As an educator, you get an extra discount for any order of 10 items or more.  OUTSTANDING! Please leave a comment and share how you are using Mixbook in  your classroom!

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Dr. Seuss Inspired Classroom Theme

Posted by admin | Posted in inspiration, Primary Elementary, Secondary Elementary, Teacher Resources | Posted on 20-08-2010

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Since I don’t have a classroom of my own to set up this year, I dropped into a friends classroom to offer my bulletin board expertise (I LOVE decorating for the year and begged for her to let me help).  She is teaching first grade for the first time this year and wanted a fun theme.  Dr. Seuss is perfect!  I hunted down some good Dr. Seuss quotes that would tie in with what she wanted to display on the bulletin boards and we set to work pulling it all together.  I think it looks great!

This is right next to the clock, it says "How did it get late so soon?"

Above the door to the classroom it says: Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

This is the classroom jobs board and morning message board.

Over the jobs board it says: This mess is too big and too deep and too tall. But, we can clean it up! We can clean it up all!

Kings Kid is like a Star Student or VIP, they make a poster all about them to hang up for the week. This quote says: Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.

This is the reading corner, it turned out so cozy!

Another angle of the reading center with the Cat in the Hat on the back of a bookshelf.

On the closet door is Thing 2.

Horton is on the girls bathroom door.

Two fish is on the boys bathroom door.

The backside of two bookcases in the reading center.

This is where student work will be displayed. The quote above says: Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh the Thinks you can think up if only you try!

Front of the classroom with the Promethean board.

Back of the classroom.

Toward the reading center.

Teacher desk

The room turned out so cute!  Right now the calendar has purchased numbers on it, I suggested that she take pictures of all of the kids holding up their class number and using those as numbers on the calendar.  She only has 19 students this year so for the additional numbers she is going to have specialist teachers and admin hold up numbers.  To tie in with the Dr. Seuss theme, she is going to use Photo Booth’s green screen background to insert a Dr. Seuss background for the kids.  The kids will wear a Cat in the Hat hat for the pictures.  :)   It is going to be cute!

My favorite touches in the room are that each bulletin board is designed for student interaction or to display student work or accomplishments.  I can’t wait to see it when all of the student work is up!

Comments (29)

Ginger said on 20-08-2010

It looks awesome!
Melissa said on 20-08-2010

VERY cute pictures! LOVE the quotes used for the bulletin boards. The students will love them!~
Becky Goerend said on 20-08-2010

So you’re going to come to Iowa and decorate my room next year, right?

This classroom looks awesome!
Nedra Isenberg said on 20-08-2010

Thank you! This is perfect. I just bought some Cat in the Hat supplies today at Michaels Craft Store. I have a big welcome for outside the door, a simple rules poster which works great for the lab and borders. Now with your inspiration I’ll add some quotes. I hate to admit this but since I moved into the lab I don’t spend much time on decorating. The kids come in and out so quickly I don’t think they have much time to notice the details. However, I decided I needed to change things up a little bit this year.
You did a great job. How nice that she had a creative and willing helper.
Sandy said on 20-08-2010

This is a wonderful looking classroom! Nice job! The students will love walking into such a fun environment.
Susan Stephenson, the book Chook said on 20-08-2010

You should both be so proud of the room. It looks inviting, fun and like learning is about to happen there! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Di Di Ross said on 21-08-2010

I love it! Dr. Seuss is a favorite of mine, and I think the room turned out great!
Mrs. Yollis said on 21-08-2010

I want to be a student in this room!

The use of Dr. Seuss quotations throughout the room was a fantastic feature. I especially like the one over the VIP area: There is no one alive who is youer than you.

Thanks for sharing the fabulous ideas and especially the photos!

:-)

Bulletin Board Ideas said on 21-08-2010

[...] Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators – Bulletin Board Ideas and … Bee-autiful Bulletin Board IdeBulletin Board Ideas – CHILDREN LOVE TO THINK THAT THEY ARE GETTING BIGGER, AND THAT THEY WILL BE ABLE TO DO THINGS LIKE [...]
admin said on 21-08-2010

Isn’t it fun? We kept saying the same thing, the kids are going to love it! I’m glad you like the pictures!
admin said on 21-08-2010

Thanks, we were really happy with the finished product too!
admin said on 21-08-2010

Thank you! The goal was to make it a fun and encouraging place to be.
admin said on 21-08-2010

Nedra, have you seen my Oh the Places You Will Go on the Internet Super Highway bulletin board from my computer lab? It was a fun one that listed a lot of the websites we visited regularly. Here is the link: http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=1126
admin said on 21-08-2010

Becky I would love to! Classroom decoration is one of my favorite parts of a new school year. I was glad that she was looking for help!
admin said on 21-08-2010

Thanks Melissa, I think they will too!
David Cox said on 21-08-2010

Awesome room decorations! Your kids should love it and other kids will want to be in your room. However, if that Promethean board is covered to hold student work instead of being in direct student use, you will certainly garner some negative criticism.
admin said on 21-08-2010

:) The Promethean board has to be covered because the room is shared space on the weekends. The goal is to keep it covered when school is out so that it doesn’t get marked up by others that use the room.
Nedra Isenberg said on 21-08-2010

Thanks for the additional link.
Nedra Isenberg said on 22-08-2010

I have these photos from the Dr. Seuss Memorial Garden in Springfield, MA- http://www.flickr.com/photos/nedrai/sets/72157608156407280/ I think I’ll use them along with some quotes for posters.
Jamie (AKA @fiteach) said on 22-08-2010

What an absolutely FABULOUS classroom! Thanks so much for sharing!
admin said on 23-08-2010

Great idea Nedra! You’ll have to post pictures of your classroom when you are finished!
admin said on 23-08-2010

You are so welcome!
Judith said on 29-08-2010

What a fantastic room and what a dedicated teacher! Those students sure are lucky kids.
Stats, hats and starting back | The Splog | Sparky Teaching said on 31-08-2010

[...] how to get the best from not only your classroom, but the areas outside it too. Take a look at this creative post from the iLearn Technology which shows how Dr Seuss can be used as the basis for your classroom [...]
Linda Hartley said on 19-09-2010

This is superb and will look even better once the work is added. I wonder if you use flickr at all? It would be great to have these in the Classroom Displays flickr group
admin said on 21-09-2010

I do use flickr! I’ll see about adding them to the Classroom Displays group.
Classroom Jobs Mini Bulletin said on 21-10-2010

[...] iLearn Technology » Blog Archive » Dr. Seuss Inspired Classroom Theme I don't always have time to sit down and give mini lessons, having these cheat sheets on hand could be a big help for those times. Tips: Even though the Mac Custom Guides are a bit outdated, the guides they do have are very handy. When you sign up for a free account, Since I don't have a classroom of my own to set up this year, I dropped into a friends classroom to offer my bulletin board expertise (I LOVE decorating for the year and begged for her to let me help). [...]
Cara said on 10-01-2011

When it comes to classroom decoration, there is nothing better than decorating with book characters. I also really like the book corner. Very cozy!
admin said on 11-01-2011

Thanks Cara!

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