Using Big Huge Labs In The Classroom

     I was very excited at trying Big Huge Labs for this post. I have heard about it from other educators but never found the time to experiment with it. So, with a little time on my hands, it was OFF to http://bighugelabs.com/ I went ! I am guilty of always thinking about things to do with my kiddos in the future. With this school year coming to an end and my eyes beginning to focus on the 2014 ~ 2015 year, I began to brainstorm ways to use this in my third grade classroom. The first week of school we do some team building, sharing and get to know you activities. With summer still fresh in our minds, I thought why not create a magazine cover to use as a conversation starter. So, here is mine ~

     It was really quite easy, at Big Huge Labs, I registered (all you need is an email--which was great as I do not use Face book and so many programs require Face book accounts.) I selected the option to make a magazine cover and began creating. Knowing that I was going to use this at the beginning of the school year, I wanted a WOW moment from my image. I headed over to http://pixabay.com/ which I like because you can use the images here freely without attribution. I grabbed this Gorgeous sunflower image because it made me feel "HAPPY, HAPPY,  HAPPY." I then played around with my magazine lines and fonts. You can edit, change or redo anything during the process that you are not happy with ( I did this quite a bit)

     I think I will be using this program not only for this application but using the jigsaw application for word study activities, the movie poster and billboard are next on my list to explore. I am a Coach for our school and am working on Positive Behavior Intervention Plans for next year and think the Motivational Poster Tool will be a great resource, too! Please let me know your ideas and thoughts for using this in the classroom or library !!