Every time a student uses a GIF in my classroomIt was around December when I started adding GIFs as the header image to my Google Form assessments. I can't remember if it was a deliberate thing or I was just bored with static, stock image banners. I think it was an image of a guy falling off of a hoverboard (we were doing nonfiction notice & note at the time and our article of the day had been about the dangers of hoverboards). I didn't think much of it until I saw the reactions of my students. They saw it, tilted their heads to the side in confusion, and then laughed. Then they immediately began talking about their own experiences with hoverboards before we dove into the article. From that moment on, I was hooked...and so were the kids. Every new concept, idea, and text introduced was accompanied by a teacher or student provided GIF and now these little moving pictures have become a staple of my instruction. I actually just finished an end-of-the-year reflection Slides presentation where, in addition to their written response, students provided a GIF to support what they had said. This fascination in my ELA classes really got me thinking about the benefits of using these pictures as tools in every classroom. Get on their levelLove it or hate it, the way we take in the news is changing. Think about the popularity of sites like BuzzFeed, who post news pieces in short sentences accompanied by GIFs, videos, and pictures. People are getting their news from thumbing down a newsfeed and less and less families seem to maintain a relationship with print newspapers. This generation wants things quickly, instant gratification, which contributes to the popularity of these websites. I have spoken to educators that are completely against GIFs in their classrooms. They become frustrated at students who insert them into presentations. And while I understand that there is a time where seriousness is mandatory, I don't think a student adding a (school appropriate) GIF in an informal presentation is going to end the world. It's a part of popular culture and it's almost better to embrace it than completely shun it. Keep that engagementHanding my special education students a two-page, single-spaced article would cause them to break down, give up, and put their heads down on their desk without even trying. Handing them the same article with content-related GIFs scattered throughout? Suddenly they care. My students could not care less about the beef production industry's impact on global warming (Yes, we did read an article on this for our compare/contrast nonfiction essays). When that same article was presented with cow GIFs interspersed throughout, all of a sudden they cared about the information. And while I thought throwing a GIF into direct instruction or an assessment header would be a distraction, it proved just the opposite. It drew them to the work instead of pushing them away from it. Boom. Instant interest in even the most boring subject. (FYI- it is the unspoken law of the internet that you must try to use at least one cat GIF) Stop all that repeatingIt always happens. You've finished giving directions. Everyone seems to get it. Then you send them off to start working and a few students raise their hand and say "Wait...what?" GIFs solved some of that problem...at least with step-by-step directions. Need my students to follow certain steps in a tech-based assignment? I use the program ScreenToGif to record the steps I want the students to accomplish. I put the GIFs in a presentation and use it to guide students through the process. There's no more "Wait...where do I click?" or "What am I supposed to be doing?" The students see an animated image on an infinite loop and can figure out what to do. Plus, the computer mouse moving around in a GIF is more interesting than hearing my voice. Note: This idea is also amazing for training! When I give GAFE presentations and sessions for my coworkers; having GIFs that walk through each step instead of watching me simply do the steps quickly in front of them has been really beneficial! Work those critical thinking skillsThe other day I prompted my students to find a GIF that represented one character's reaction to another. Some students had an idea in mind and set out for their perfect GIF. Some had no idea at all. They started looking for general images, happy, sad, angry. Seeing the world of GIFs out there allowed them to make some connections to the text. "Well, she's giving side eye. I'd imagine the characters doing that because they hate each other." After further prompting, such as asking why they wouldn't be fist fighting or screaming if they hated each other, I got the student to dig deeper about the relationship. The student determined the internal motivations of each character, how their motivations impacted their relationship, and how their personality traits caused them to deal with difficult situations. All that from a GIF. If I had come outright and asked the student to identify character motivation, I would've heard crickets and seen blank stares. Granted, it isn't always a miracle worker, but GIFs do offer some inspiration and ideas for students. If they create it, they will learnI use ScreenToGif for my GIF creations (except for this post- which I stole from the internet. Bad model for my students). I've encouraged my kids to use the same program. Some examples of why we've created GIFs:
Blindly copying an image URL from a search into a presentation doesn't show understanding of the concept. It doesn't require much thought and effort from the student. Plus, after seeing 3 presentations in a row with the same exact picture (the first one from a Google search), everyone is bored. Creating GIFs requires students to identify exact moments that deal with a particular concept. John Wilkes Booth crossing the bridge from Washington DC on his escape route requires a specific moment. A random GIF of a pig dancing from a Google search will not suffice. Student creation shows knowledge and higher level understanding of a topic. Let me know about any great ways you use GIFs in your classroom!
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December 2017
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