Unit 2: Building a Bitmoji Classroom
ETAP 623 Spring 2021 (Byrne) | Joe Ansalone's Portfolio Page
Pre-Requisites
Before starting this unit, please review the pre-requisites below. These are needed to navigate and understand the material in this mini-course.
- You should know the very basic features of Google Slides and how to navigate it from UNIT #1
- You should know how to decorate your Slides presentation using the background/theme feature, in addition to adding videos and pictures.
Learning Objectives
- You will be watching a 10 minute video tutorial of how to create your own Bitmoji gymnasium for your classroom use.
- You will need to identify a common theme for your class (content area/lesson topic)
- By the end of this lesson you will be able to create your own Bitmoji gymnasium using the information that you gained from this mini course.
- By the end of this lesson you will see how to hyperlink slides to your Bitmoji gymnasium for a flawless transition for your students.
- By the end of this lesson you will see how to incorporate GIFS into your Slides presentation.
Why Choose Bitmoji Gymnasium/classroom?
Well-being
Currently, teachers are being put through a great amount of stress to ensure that students don’t slip through the cracks during distance learning. Creating a Bitmoji Classroom is a surprisingly therapeutic and enjoyable experience for many teachers. Maybe its the personal touches and limitless customizations that you can do!
Promotes a supportive learning environment
Students and teachers (as well as parents) have been abruptly thrown into the deep end with distance learning since March of 2020. Many of us are feeling anxious during this time of school closures. It is comforting for students to see their teachers (even in animated form!). Some teachers have even recreated their actual classroom into a virtual Bitmoji classroom! This helps students feel a sense of normalcy, in an otherwise quite rapidly changing learning environment.
Engagement
Teachers know just how important it is to engage their students. Teachers recognize that using many short activities (as opposed to one large activity) can help to engage students in their learning. The Bitmoji Classroom allows teachers to organize activities in a creative and fun way. For example, some teachers use the cover page of a book which when clicked (hyperlink) leads to an audiobook for students to listen to (Each content area will specialize in their own respective area). Students love to see, discover and find the treasures that their teachers has hidden for them!
Visually appealing
We are all visual beings! The Bitmoji Classroom can be as colorful and visually aesthetic as you want it to be. This helps with student engagement, which is one of the biggest challenges of distance education.
Sharing with the online teacher community
There has been a huge amount of online engagement with teachers sharing their Bitmoji ideas on Facebook, Youtube and Instagram. With more time spent at home, teachers are able to reflect on their professional craft and learn new skills. Teachers are turning to social media for learning and sharing ideas. Each new idea inspires the next!
Getting You Started
- First you are going to want to establish a theme for your Bitmoji Gymnasium! Depending on the content area you teach or the specific lesson you are doing for that week! That will be entirely up to you. Ex) Being that I teach PE I am able to have a picture of my gymnasium where students can feel comfortable and achieve success.
- You will need to create your own Bitmoji character and account if you do not have one already. If you do have an already existing account you can simply download the Bitmoji Google Chrome Extension for your browser. Be mindful when using a browser try to use (Google Chrome).
- Begin to decorate your Bitmoji Gymnasium! Start adding pictures that fit your class theme, add colors and fun objects that students will find interactive and engaging. There is no right or wrong way to doing this! You can customize and create your classroom to whichever way you feel most appropriate.
- Once you have added all the items your Bitmoji classroom, you can beging to HYPERLINK the pictures to slides in your presentation. Remember the process is simple. Click the image you want to hyperlink, then go to INSERT on the tool bar, navigate down to LINK, and then select the slide you want linked to that image. Please refer to the video that is attached!
How To Create Your Own Bitmoji Classroom VIDEO
- Please watch this video showing how to create your own Bitmoji gymnasium/classroom!
- This can be overwhelming so please take some notes and pause the video at anytime!
Incorporation Of GIFS
- A GIF is a short 3-5 second video i use to demonstrate a specific exercise or fitness related activity.
However GIFS are not meant to be used solely for PE use. We see GIFS used all over social media and in our daily conversations with friends! I will show you in a very easy step by step way how to utilize GIFS in your classroom.
Step 1
Take a 3-5 second video of you doing an activity that you want your students to replicate.
Step 2
Download IMG Play in the app store or on your Apple or Android device.
Step 3
Take that video you just created and upload it to IMG play application. This application will convert your video into a GIF..
Step 4
Once the GIF is created you can upload it to your computer via "airdop"or email. once it has uploade to your computer you can then upload it to your Google Drive by simply dragging it from your desktop to the desired Google Drive folder. Once it is in your drive you can add it like any other picture. ONLY you will select DRIVE instead of Google Images!
Activity #1
- For this activity you will be creating your own Bitmoji classroom at a very basic level! Please refer to the course and video tutorial as a reference as you embark on this education adventure! Please make sure you follow the directions that are provided in the Slides presentation!
- Please refer to the video and mini course tips to help you in creating a fun and engaging student experience.
- CLICK THE LINK BELOW to access the presentation
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11gpBqZ3-vzKVcZbhQbvY1urE6pNw2LyesV5lU0Pv3CQ/edit?usp=sharing
Activity #2- Reflection
This reflection activity will require you to think about your experiences with the Bitmoji classroom so far and if you feel it will benefit not only you as a teacher but your students as well. Feel free to use the WHAT, HOW, and WHY strategy to help you during this assignment. Please reflect in the Google forms link posted below.
- WHAT- What can be done in order to make this come to a reality in your classroom..
- HOW- Describe How you envision teaching this and incorporating it into your classes..
- Why- Why or why not will it work and how can you explain?
- Please make sure you put your email before submitting the Google forms!
'CLICK LINK BELOW'
https://forms.gle/oHnCu4KFuTX3qVki7