It's all SUNSHINE and rainbows...

Recently I have taken on the task of the Sunshine Committee.

It's a little bit of a blur as to how it all started and ended with me, but I have to say I'm kind of excited!  I have a lot of support from teachers that have been part of the Sunshine Committee in the past.

With that being said...what's the point of this post in particular?

Yesterday, one of the teachers gave me a binder of stuff from the past years of Sunshine.  I barely know what to do with it.  Have things changed so much that a binder of papers overwhelms me?!

Apparently so.  

Granted I haven't done much, but everything I have done so far has been almost exclusively digital.
Let's run down the list.

Meeting Agendas: Google Doc
Cards (Get Well, Happy Birthday, etc): Word Swag app w/ Pixabay images
Ideas: Pinterest
Happy Hour Interest: Google Forms
Happy Hour Announcement: Word Swag app w/Pixabay images and email
"Binder" to keep everything: Google Drive

Granted, I'm not expanding to outside the digital box but so far what I have works...for me and my team.  I do have to keep in mind that not everyone at my school geeks out over tech like I do.  So of course I made flyers for the Happy Hour and I will print out agendas for meetings, etc.

But I feel more organized...and creative.

"Get Well" image that was made into a card for a teacher out for surgery

The image above was made with @wordswagapp (introduced to me by +Tony Vincent) and +Pixabay images that are found within the app. BONUS: Pixabay images are copyright free so they can be used without attribution.    

shameless promotion OR copyright lesson

You be the judge.

Sooo, I recently decided to take the dive and start uploading to Teachers Pay Teachers.  Initially, I was very against the idea.  The very core of education is legal thievery...or at least that's how it always felt.  But that was when you were in a building and everyone shared within that 1 building. Now, just like with the kids, the audience of teachers is more global.

So why not try to help a fellow Disney lover.  Yup...at this point (and anyone that knows me will NOT be surprised) everything is Disney inspired because well that's me and my style.  I love me some Mickey Mouse.  :)  Anyway, if I'm taking the time to create something that is Disney and copyright appropriate AND someone else can use it, why not put it on TpT?  And if I can make $2 for it...I think my time spent and their time saved is worth that.  Granted, nothing has been bought or downloaded but I've also only been uploading since 5 days ago.  I think I'm ok with that.

Anyway...shameless promotion part - GO! My store is my handle: EBGtech.

Now...to the copyright lesson.  One year ago, Tony Vincent came and presented to the teachers that I work with.  He showed us so many A-MAZ-ING tools.  I was completely overwhelmed and there was no way I would remember everything.  I picked up a few tools to use right away.  Other things have been in my back pocket...just waiting.  Well, about a week ago, one of those tools came out!

The Noun Project!  It's a website with icons that you can either download for free and give attribution to OR you can buy the image royalty free for $1.99.  It's your choice.  And if you decide to give attribution, they download the information on the image for you!  The only thing you have to do is copy the link from the webpage and share that with the image.  WHAT?!  They are doing the work for you.  Cause we all know you can copy and paste at this point.

I haven't opted for the $1.99 yet just because I'm stingy and I don't mind giving credit.  However, I can see how it would be useful.  The name of the icon creator is right there in the middle of my image.  Hmmmm...I don't care enough to pay for it, but you might.

Great tool for you and great tool for your kids!  Talk about an easy way to teach them about digital citizenship.

So now you get to decide...did I shamelessly promote OR did I share a new awesome tool for images with appropriate copyright information?

https://thenounproject.com/search/?q=laptop&i=531255

An Island of Images

Right?  My title gives you NO indication what my post will be about.  HA!  That's ok.  I'll explain it here and I'll also explain the title.

I'm going to talk about Pixabay.

Title first: In my head a bay = an island.  While geographically incorrect, it's the word association my brain uses to remember the website.  I can call it what I want.  :)  Pix = pics = an image.  Get it?!  Get it?! Huh?! Huh?!

The "a" is inconsequential.

This summer Tony Vincent came and talked to a group of teachers that I work with and one of his suggestions for finding images for presentations was Pixabay.

Why use that when Google images has all of the possible wondrous images that you could ever image?  Well....because of copyright laws.  That's why.

Pixabay images are from users who upload the images and you have free right to use them, change them, reprint them, etc. all without giving credit.  You are totally in the legal free and clear when using Pixabay.

Why does this matter?
It matters because back in the day when the only thing teachers and students did was create a power point and show it within their own classroom or school.  While that was still not legal, nobody really knew and it could easily be "swept under the rug" and ignored.  Now your audience, whether you are a teacher or a student, is on a much more global scale.  Folks are bound to notice if you are using their material illegally.  Or maybe they won't.  But do you really want to 1) risk it? 2) set that example for your students?

Nope.

Give Pixabay a chance.  They have some really amazing pictures.  You may even consider uploading some of your own and know that other educators out there are using them and sighing in relief because they are in the copyright free and clear.