Make an Animated Dictionary

I saw an advertisement not long ago with a cutout word with action going on behind the letters. I thought to myself, I can do that, what a great way to animate vocabulary for my English Language Learners. What a great tool for students to use to create a word list that will also provide meaning.  Take a look at the link below to see an example I created to introduce the concept.

Animated Dictionary

To make an animated dictionary of your own you will need three tools: Google Slides, Photoshop (or a new site I found called Sumopaint.com), and an extension for Google called MakeGIF which allows you to make gifs from videos.

• First, select your vocabulary words. 
• Then, find a video segment that illustrates the word. 
• Use MakeGIF to create a short GIF for the word from the video.
• Generate and then save the GIF to your desktop.
• Open Google Slides.
• Adjust the page setup to widescreen 16:9.
• Use Word Art in the Insert drop-down menu to type your chosen word in ALL CAPS. (Using Word Art will allow you to drag to make the font bigger while keeping it proportionate.)
• Change the font to one that is bold with a lot of open space in the letters.
• Use the fill button and fill the letters with white.
• Make the lines around the letters transparent.
• You won't be able to see the word, so, you will need to change the background color to something that will compliment your Gif.
• Go to file - download- and download it to your desktop as a png file.
• Now go to Photoshop or Sumopaint and set the canvas size to 960 x 540 to match the screen size of the image and make it transparent.
• Next, upload the word image you saved to the desktop.
• Select the magic wand tool and click inside the letter to select the white space inside the letter.
• Hit the delete button and the inside of the letter is removed to show the transparent background.
• Continue with each letter.
• When the letters are all transparent go to File -  Save As - and name your file (I like to add trans to the end of the name to identify it as transparent.)
• Go back to Google Slides and on the blank slide open your GIF and drag the corner to make it fit the screen.
• Next, click on Insert - Image - select your edited word that was saved to your desktop.  It will be loaded on top of your GIF.
• Finally, in the notes area at the bottom of the screen, the definition of the word can be added.

That's it!  Have fun creating your own Animated Dictionaries! If you need help with any of the steps just send me a message.  

No Regrets

We all have our struggles.  Sometimes things happen to us that we have little to no control over.  Other times, things happen because of the choices we make.

When I was younger, I tended to beat myself up with regret.  I regretted the choices I made.  I regretted my reactions to things that happened to me.  I wondered, what if I hadn't married when I did?  What would have happened if I had ended it sooner?  What would have happened if we had not moved out of state, and I had accepted the scholarship I was offered to pursue a career in art?  So many what-ifs.

Now that I am older and tend to spend more time reflecting, I have decided to throw out all those regrets and instead see them for the learning experiences they were.  If I had not married, I would not have three wonderful children that mean the world to me.  If my marriage had ended sooner, the time would not have been right to meet my current husband.  If I had gone to college to study art, I would not have had the fulfilling job of teaching English learners.

There will always be things out of our control.  There will be things we cannot change.  We all make mistakes in life; it is how we deal with and see these things that make the difference.  Don't choose to live a life of sadness and regret.  See life as a learning experience and make the best of it.  Smile, show kindness, and enjoy life.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  (In the grand scheme of things, it is all small stuff.)  We are here too short a time to live it in past regrets.