LEGO-Inspired Minifig Portraits Using Google Draw Tools

I like to teach my students about Google Drawing tools because it's an often overlooked app in the suite of Google tools that I think has so many great uses! You've probably seen my Google Draw "Doodle Yourself" blog post in the past. That lesson is by far my favorite, but I have another lesson that I use with 6th grade students - not quite as advanced - but just as fun! We explore and practice using Google Draw tools to create custom LEGO-inspired minifig portraits.

It's a fun way to get to know a class, because they can customize their clothing and accessories to reflect their personal interests. These digital artworks look really cool printed out, and grouped together on a board, like these:

The minifig shape is iconic, easily recognizable, and universally loved. I have yet to come across a student who wasn't excited to create a project that involved LEGO in some way. I love that students can build their figures in a variety of ways, and get as detailed as they want. You can see the wide range of ideas in the photo above.

The way I teach this project is to use a Google Slides file that is shared by the entire class. Then, each student gets one slide with a minifig template as a background image. They can then build their figure by "coloring in" via layering shapes on top of the template. I like to use a Slides file because I can "lock" the background image down, and students can see what their classmates are doing and collaborate and share as needed. But you could also make these exclusively in Draw, too. Draw and Slides have the same tools, so by using the drawing tools on one, you are also learning the other.

Do you want to do this project with your class, too? Well, I'm sharing my Slides template with you today so that you can make your own copy and try it out in class!

Get your own copy of my minifig template HERE!

I've also made a YouTube video that introduces the project and goes over basic Google Draw functions and tools for getting started. You can check that out here:

If you do this lesson with your class (or even just on your own for fun), I'd love to see the results! Consider sharing with me or tagging me on Instagram or Twitter so I can check them out! 

- Mrs L.

The Invention and Design Cycle

It's parent-teacher conference season, so I get tiny pockets of free time here and there between meetings. I decided to finally try my hand at some sketching on the iPad in the style of sketchnoting/visual note-taking. I used the Autodesk Sketchbook app, which is free!

I'm very pleased with how it turned out! I'm excited to try something similar on my Chromebook next. (I own a personal Chromebook that has a touch screen, so I'm hoping to be able to use it in a similar manner as the iPad...)

Drawing this really got me thinking about the similarities between making art and making/inventing using technology. We all follow a similar thought process of concept - ideas / brainstorming / creating and execution / reflection and revision. Makers, artists, designers, inventors... we're all the same! I think this really helps to illustrate (pun intended, ugh) why I love to live and teach in both worlds: art and computers, and how they're related!

Have a great weekend!
- Mrs L.

p.s. Do you like my new logo? I made it using Google Draw with my 6th graders! 

Slider Images, and How to Use Them in Class

I recently discovered a really fun new (to me) tech tool, and typically when such a discovery happens, I like to brainstorm on HOW I can use this tool in the classroom. Well, this one is no different. I first saw slider images in action on Tony Vincent's blog when he talked about how he uses Adobe Illustrator to create his own clip art.  The original photo and his graphic version were layered on top of each other, and there was a vertical "slider" bar that could be dragged right or left to reveal either of the two images. It's a really good way to show a comparison between two images

Well, I do a very similar graphics project in my 8th grade classes, only using Google Draw (see here). I was showing these "slider" images to my husband (you all know he's a teacher too, right?) and he decided to investigate and figure out how to make them for ourselves! He came across the website Juxtapose, which allows you to create these image overlay "sliders," which I think are extra fun:

Left photo via / Right photo created via Google Draw

Having recently seen Guardians of the Galaxy 2, I had to make myself a little Baby Groot illustration using Google Draw. But besides the photo-vs-drawing comparison, what else could I do using this slider concept? And I started brainstorming:

 Left photo video still / Right background photo by Arno Smit

In Computer Literacy class, I could demonstrate how green screen technology works during our WeVideo project unit by overlaying an original video still over the same still with color keying added to it, in order to create a fun reveal.

But that benefits myself and my own class. I starting thinking about how OTHER classes and subject areas could also incorporate this into their lessons:

• You could use this technology in a Visual Arts class to reveal basic shapes in a still life, or reveal the path of movement that a viewer's eye travels within an artwork. You could overlay two color wheels: one "blank" version, and one labeled, for students to quiz themselves on color theory.
• You could use this technology in a Social Studies class to look at maps: either a blank vs labeled map for locations of geographic features, or two maps of the same area to show changes over time in borders and countries. You could also do a comparison of Presidential portraits showing the contrast between the beginning and ending of a term. Pretty interesting!
• In ELA classes, you can use sliders to show grammatical corrections of a sentence by using screen grabs or even just photos taken of a white board before vs after corrections. For early readers, you could use sliders as flash cards: a picture of an object could slide over to reveal the word name. 
• A flash card concept using sliders would also be fun for World Languages. Use the same technique as the early reader concept, only utilize basic vocabulary terms for students to learn!
• Science classes can use this concept for all kinds of curricular concepts, like cause/effect, before and after, inside/outside, and "virtually" peel away the outer layer of pretty much any object! Think about how fun this could be for biology and anatomy, or earth science!

The Juxtapose site is pretty easy to use:

You copy and paste the URLs of the images you want to use for your slider, adjust any settings as desired, and click "publish!" I like using Google Photos for making slider images, as I can right-click on an image, select "copy image address," and then paste into the URL field in Juxtapose. You can even instantly preview your slider before you click "Publish!"

Once you publish your post, you can either share the link to your slider image, which shows it in a really nice full-screen mode (like this), or you can use the provided embed codes to put it on your webpage.

You can see some examples of slider images embedded into a web page in a Chicago Tribune article here.

What other fun classroom ideas can you think of where teachers could utilize slider images?

- Mrs L. 

Awesome Avatars Using Google Draw!

My all-time favorite project in computer lit class is one that I call "Google Doodle Yourself" using Google Draw. You can use Google Draw to create your own illustrator-esque portraits, which are awesome for having students use as avatars. The best part is that this is actually quite simple to do! It doesn't need to be perfect in order to come out realistically. It's up to you how detailed you want to go with it.

I use this YouTube video in class to show students how it's done:

I love that you can take a picture right on the spot, but you can also upload existing photos, which lends itself to creating portraits of friends and family for gifts or other surprise things!

The trick to creating these images is the line drawing tool called "curve," which smoothes out any shapes that you make. It gives your shapes a cool cutout style for that all-around freehand-ish drawn look.

The only downside of Google Draw that I've discovered so far is that there isn't an iOS app for it. But I like to use it on Chrome (via Chromebook, Macbook, or PC laptop) using a mouse to help with the fine motor skills required if you wanna get the details looking good.

The other thing to keep in mind is that shapes work on layers, so it's important to work from largest shapes to smallest shapes when tracing, so that you can select the tiny shapes without the larger ones blocking access. Then, when filling in the shapes, you work backwards, smallest to biggest. If you mess up, no biggie, because there's an "Arrange --> Order" function that will allow you to move shapes forward or back as needed.

When you're all done, you can download your drawing as .pdf, .svg, .jpg, or .png - or you can just screen grab it, too! And from there, the possibilities are endless!

This is one of my favorite new computer tricks!
Enjoy!

-Mrs. L.

Google Draw Idea: Locker Laurels

At Sandburg, we have this tradition that was started last year called "locker laurels," where students attach small signs to their locker to represent various clubs/sports/groups/teams that they are members of here at school. Some students have quite a few on the front of their lockers!

Mr Walker and I thought it would be funny to create a series of locker laurels for random reasons and to covertly tape them to empty lockers around the school... to see if anyone noticed. A sort of art installation/performance art hybrid deal. After toying with a few ideas, the "Mr. Gail Fan Club" emerged:

I used an awesome simple graphic design website, called Canva, to design the laurels.  A funny thing happened though. As the students began to notice the laurels around the school, they began to take them to put on their own lockers! Others asked Mr. Gail how they, too, could join the Mr. Gail fan club. Awesome!

A few teachers were confused by them and took them down completely and threw them out. Whomp whomp. Well, it was fun while it lasted. 

The other side effect of this endeavor was that it was the inspiration for a Google Draw assignment for 7th graders. Students can design their OWN locker laurel, a personal logo, if you will, to display on their locker! Something like this, maybe:

I'd love to have the kids use Canva, but since the TOS lists 13+ as the age for users, I have to reconsider the tool for creation. Google Draw should do nicely in this case. I used it for my laurel pictured above. 

As an alternative to a personal design, students could choose a team or activity here at school and design a laurel for that group. Who knows, maybe it could actually be used in the future!

- Mrs. L.

Chromebooks and GAFE: Learning New Stuff Every Day...

Every day I learn something new about using Google Apps and Chromebooks. Sometimes it's big, and sometimes it's really small or obvious to others - but to me it's a "lightbulb" moment.

Last week it was keyboard shortcuts. Like, how to take a screenshot, or a partial screenshot. And the keyboard shortcut to move layers forward or back in a Google Drawing. So simple, but so efficient! 

Here are a couple of screencasts I created to illustrate some simple tasks that were new (to me) on a Chromebook this week:

- Mrs. L.