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| A
computer screen saver using classroom pictures |
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| Type
of Submission: |
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This
idea is a submission for:
__A curriculum idea
X Cool things
to do
__A special issue
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| Age
group for whom this activity is appropriate:
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This
is for teachers
| Brief
description of activity: |
I
turned a digital picture of my class into the screen saver
on the computer, so the kids see themselves whenever the
computer is not being used.
| What
I did to set this up and how I followed through: |
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First,
I took a digital picture of my group of kids, my whole
class. Then I saved it on my computer. I made a folder
on the desktop called "group photo" and
put the picture in there.
I went to the Internet and found a free screen saver
program at http://www.dcatsoftware.net/mswind/dss/main.htm
When I clicked on DOWNLOAD to get the little program
called Dcat Screen Saver that lets me make my own screensaver.
Save the Program to your hard disk. Once it is saved,
open the program and follow the directions. The program
will start with images from the company, but you can
remove those and load the images from your "group
photo" folder. There is a help button if you
get stuck.
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| Materials
used: |
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A
Digital Camera, The Internet to find the software,
and the Screen Saver program
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| What
the children had to do and what I wanted them to learn: |
This is
a not real learning activity.
| Background:
How I got the idea: |
| I
saw this at a friend’s house. He’s a computer
person. He explained to me about screen savers and how
new computers don’t really need them anymore, but
he had a picture of his family on there just for fun.
So I asked him if he thought I could do it too. He explained
to me about compressed files, so I wasn’t confused
when the Dcat Screen Saver file said my browser couldn’t read
it. |
| Analysis:
How the kids and/or parents responded: |
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This is for the kids. They love it. They love showing
it off to their parents. But it was for me too. I really
liked being able to do that, to customize the computer.
I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it, so I didn’t
tell my kids about it until it was done. When I did it
by myself (I did have to call my friend twice on the phone
while I was doing it, but he only reassured me that I
was doing the right thing – I had already done the
steps I was asking him about), I felt really proud and
much more confident about the computer. It was challenging,
but it was worth it! |
| Extension |
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You
could use any pictures of your class room activities,
field trips or even kids picture from home.
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| CLICK
HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN PROMISING PRACTICE |
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