Making PSA's That Stick!

Our 8th grade science teacher asked me to come to her classes today to talk about creating Public Service Announcements (PSA's). She's having her students enter a contest on the creation of PSA's for endangered species.

I asked her about her timeline for the project and when I found out that the kids have ample time, I asked if I could hold off on showing them about the mechanics of creating the ad, and concentrate on the idea of how to create messages that "stick." The fact is the students can figure out the software (they'll be using iMovie on the iPad). However, I have found that students don't often know how to "craft the message."

So, today I'm sharing ideas from one of my favorite books, "Made to Stick" by Chip and Dan Heath. On their "Made to Stick" website, they offer this description of the book:

"Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions. Inside, the Heath brothers reveal the anatomy of ideas that “stick” and explain sure-fire methods for making ideas stickier..."

 Specifically, they say "sticky messages" have one or more of the following SUCCESS elements:

S = Simple (Finding the core message and getting that across)
U - Unexpected (Violating a schema to grab attention)
C - Concrete (Using sensory language/images)
C = Credible (Adding credibility through authorities and/or statistics)
E = Emotional (Tying messages to the audience's heart strings)
S = Stories (Getting the message across through story telling)

The Heath brothers offer some great resources on the "Making it Stick" concept on their website at http://heathbrothers.com/resources/. (You do have to sign in with your email address, but it's well worth it!)

To really drive the message home to the kids (or I guess I should say to make it stick), I created a presentation with examples of ads that exemplify each idea. Hope you enjoy!

Friday Freebie: Get Parents to Sign Up with Sign Up Genius!

One of our teachers recently invited me to her class to watch her students read poetry during their "Poetry Cafe." She said there would be light hors d'oeuvres and drinks. I accepted her invitation but asked if I could help by bringing any snacks. She immediately sent me a link to her SignUpGenius request page. I was hooked!

SignUpGenius is a free service that allows you to create an event and ask for people to bring items or sign up for time slots to help. It's a perfect service for you teachers out there that need parents to bring supplies,  food, or drinks to an event, or to man a booth or volunteer their time.

Setting up an event is easy. You name and describe it, select a theme, set a time and location, create your volunteer "slots", tweak your settings (what information you want from your volunteers and notification settings),  and then invite folks! You can invite by typing in email addresses or by simply copying the live link and emailing it or posting it yourself.

Here's a live example for you to look at:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050448A4A628A57-sample

It's a great tool for active teachers. Give it a shot!

Friday Freebie: Appointments Made Easy with YouCanBookMe!

Each spring, I offer free senior portraits to our senior class for anyone needing pictures. I offer a free one hour sitting at our local botanical gardens, then I edit the photos and give the pics to the family on a CD for them to print.

The receptionist at the high school has helped me take bookings in the past, but this year I'm going to use a great free site called YouCanBook.Me.  You have to have a Google account to use it, as it ties bookings to your Google Calendar. You simply log in to YouCanBookMe using your Google credentials.

Then you set the days and times you want people to be able to sign up for. You also have to set the times intervals per booking (in my case one hour). Then, there are so many options, I can't go into all of them here. But you can...

• set minimum and maximum times to book ahead
• change your theme
• go offline when you don't want people to book
• change your unique URL
• customize the information you gather
• send confirmations and thank you's
• and much, much, more.

Once everything is set, YouCanBookMe offers a variety of ways to share your booking site. You can embed the form, grab a graphical link, download a QR code, share on social media, and more.

I could see administrators using this to schedule teacher evaluations, or teachers using it to schedule parent conferences. The possibilities are endless.

Here's a link for a demo portrait booking. Feel free to click away and set an appointment. Sadly, however, it's just a demo. You won't get your senior portraits!

One Great Inspirational Message from a Student

At our district's monthly board meetings, we like to involve students as much as possible. One of the things we do at each meeting is have a high school student deliver an inspirational message. The students chosen are pretty much given free reign over the message they wish to share.

Last month, we had a wonderful student deliver a wonderful  message that I have to share with you. One our juniors, Elise, decided she wanted to talk about the value of the arts in education.

First, a little about Elise. While she is only a junior, she's already made the All-State band two years in a row - as first chair oboe! She's also a gifted singer earning state honors in solo and ensemble contest. But, above all that, she's an extremely nice young lady who is very respectful and incredibly smart.

So, Elise is my "guest blogger" today. I hope you enjoy her message and if you have anything you like to share with Elise about her wonderful message please send me an e-mail (drrjrios@gmail.com) and I'll forward it to her.

Here's her message .....

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” What was true for Plato in Ancient Greece is true even today. Not only music, but all of the arts affect us in a powerful way that is hard to completely understand.  

I was recently inspired by the decision of the Texas Legislature to protect the requirement of a fine arts credit for high school graduates. It’s inspiring to think that our state values the arts, which are sometimes sacrificed for more “practical” courses such as math and science. 

But if there’s anything I’ve learned from music and theatre and painting class, it’s that the arts make us human. Art is a way of life. The appreciation of beauty and variety, innovative ideas, profound thoughts expressed without words, and a reflection of the world around us are found in works from Prokofiev to Pollock. Music is as ancient as the paintings on the walls of our cave-dwelling ancestors and the bone flutes buried beneath eons of history. 

I’ve been so lucky to be able to explore the arts in school and out of school. Arts education enriches the lives of millions of children around the globe. It teaches us coordination, attention to detail, listening skills, timing, and organization. More importantly, it builds confidence, dedication, perseverance, and respect. Theatre, music, and other performing arts are about more than just the individual. It’s about teamwork, cooperation, and moving together toward a common goal. The arts also allow us to enjoy the now and live in the moment. A concert is never the same twice, and any particular scene in a play only lasts a few minutes. 

But most of all, art cannot be “solved” like an equation or “discovered” like a new particle. Art changes. It evolves. Robert Engman once said that, “A piece of art is never a finished work. It answers a question which has been asked, and asks a new question.” 

I’ll leave you with two thoughts: 

What new things can we discover through art? And what new questions lie on the horizon?

Image from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/A_Love_for_the_Arts_by_Delacorr.jpg 

Friday Freebie: My 5 Favorite Totally Useless Sites

Generally, each Friday I share with you a website or an application to help you in your daily productivity or to help your students become more engaged the learning process. I try to steer you to tools that have strong educational value and will lead to profound learning.

Well, I've had one of those weeks and I'm not in the mood. Nothing bad, mind you. It's just that I've been swamped with work and have been feeling a little stressed. So today, I'm looking for a diversion, and given the time of year, you may be looking for the same thing.

In that light, today I share with you my five favorite useless sites on the Internet. These sites have no inherent educational value, but are a heck of a lot of fun to look at. In no particular order .....

Bacolicious - Everyone know that bacon makes everything better. Head over to http://bacolicio.us and learn how to add a slice of bacon to any webpage. There's even a handy bookmarklet you can add to your bookmark bar to easily add that sizzling perfection with one click!

Beer Can or Bacon - Speaking of bacon, go to http://www.baconorbeercan.com and see if you can guess if this Jamaican man is saying "beer can" or "bacon". Totally silly! 

I Could Not Stop! - This site is can keep you entertained for hours with mindless clicking. Try it at http://www.dhteumeuleu.com/i-could-not-stop

Is It Christmas? - The site found at www.isitchristmas.com is probably the quickest site in the world to look through. If you're not sure if it's Christmas today, just try it.

The End of the Internet - If you think you've seen all there is to see on the Internet, maybe you have. Take a look at www.wwwdotcom.com and you may be done.

Images from:

http://freshnerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/useless.jpg

http://news.cnet.com/i/bto/20090206/baconbacon_620x345.jpg

http://tosh.comedycentral.com/blog/files/2009/12/bacon-or-beer-can.jpg
Rollng Rivers Photgraphy
http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/8100000/Christmas-Tree-Wallpaper-christmas-8142630-1024-768.jpg
http://allthingsd.com/files/2012/09/the-end-old-movie.jpg