Earlier this week, I wrote about my goal to learn one new thing per week and blog about it. It’s my new blogging challenge to encourage me to continue learning and writing.  For this week’s #OneNewThing post, I am excited to share that I learned TWO new things! Well, I am sure there is actually quite a bit more but these are the big ones that stuck out in my mind.

Adobe After Effects: Creating GIFS

I have been a fan of Adobe’s products for a long time. Little known fact, I actually used to run a fairly popular (and nerdy) graphic design blog on Tumblr. This was several years ago but it was an amazing experience because I found that I had passions and interests that extended beyond teaching. If you know me well, I might even be willing to give you the link to this (insanely) nerdy blog. It may be in hiatus but it still exists!

This week, I had a couple of different projects that I was working on this week that inspired me to take my graphic design experience to the next level. Let me also be super transparent here: I am not an expert in graphic design nor do I have any formal training. It’s just a fun hobby that sometimes makes it way into my professional life. Anyways, I found this amazing tutorial video on how to create GIF’s using After Effects:

Major props to the author of this video! It’s super easy to understand and follow. Even though it is only 40 minutes, it definitely took me much longer to learn because I had to rewind so often. However, if you are interested and pay for the Adobe Creative Suite, I highly encourage you to check out this fun and interactive tutorial.

Here is one thing I made this week:

Super simple but a lot of fun to create. I look forward to going more in-depth with After Effects in the future!

Instagram Hack: Post Photos from Your Chrome Browser

Earlier this week, I found myself needing to post some Instagram photos from my Chrome Browser. In addition to this, my dad has become quite the photographer and I keep encouraging him to share on Instagram but he wanted to be able to upload his high-quality photos from his computer to Instagram. Anyways, I found two solutions to this problem. Check out this short video:

Chrome Extension

Isn’t that SO awesome and simple?! My mind was totally blown when I found this extension. Hey, it’s the little things in life, right?

Classroom Connections:

As promised, I want to try to bring this back to the classroom. Here are some ways my #OneNewThing could be used in a classroom setting:

Adobe After Effects

• I’ve always loved the idea of teaching graphic design to students using Adobe products. If you have these products available at your school, don’t waste these resources! Challenge students to create graphics for the school, build their own portfolios, and share their work globally. The possibilities are endless!
• Create gifs for your students – they’ll love it! It could be academic or something fun. Just give it a try!

Instagram Hack

• Do you have a classroom Instagram for parents? If not, you should think about it. As long as your students have the appropriate permissions and approval, of courese. This hack could be useful for your classroom Instagram by allowing you to post high-quality photos, graphics, or announcements to share with parents.

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Have you decided to take the #OneNewThing challenge? If so, share your stories below or tag me in your learning on Twitter!