Saturday, August 12, 2017

Making on a more personal level

Sharing these links as friends have been asking where I got my Lego logo items:

This Spring I was able to purchase two sets of Lego WeDo2.0. In order to complete this transaction, I needed to converse quite a few times with the helpful folks at Lego Customer Service. One day I found their webpage in an effort to confirm the phone number that I had. I noticed their graphic banner at the top of the site: https://www.lego.com/en-us/service?icmp=COUSFRCustomerService
I hope the graphic doesn't change as it is priceless! So very well done. But being in edtech myself I had an idea to borrow their idea and create a Lego representation of myself.

It sparked an idea. I hoped to create something like that for myself for this coming school year. As Legos are a big part of #OurSTEAMCafe, it seemed a perfect concept to bring to life. I began looking at Amazon for Lego figures that looked like me. Didn't quite find any that I liked. I also hoped to write my name on it. So one night scrolling through Etsy, I typed in "customized Lego people." That's what brought me to http://www.brickis.be I was able to choose my hair color and style, some choices about facial features, clothing color, and pants color. I could also have "Mrs. Shields" inscribed upon it. I have to say that I love the resulting product. So adorable!

After purchasing a Lego-like mini-me I figured I needed some type of technology item to hold. Through Amazon I found a great black laptop for Lego. It looks almost like our chromebooks. Perfect! Add to cart!

Next I was on the hunt for Lego furniture. I found a very cute brown desk (some assembly required). Who doesn't love to play with Lego!? For those that have been asking, it was purchased through Amazon but the shop is http://www.interiorbricks.com. The kit actually included Lego-like sized speakers, desktop, mouse and keyboard. It arrived very quickly. The other night I assembled it. A perfect evening amusement while it rained outside.

After all the pieces arrived and were assembled, I carefully placed them on top of a sheet of white computer paper. I took photos from various angles with my cell phone. The interesting thing is the photos that I preferred were shot in the evening when it was a little darker in our apartment. I also took photographs the next morning in direct sunlight. But I was surprised that I prefer the first set's lighting.

After uploading my photos to Google Drive, I used Google Slides to create my graphic. I understand the Google Drawings is designed for graphics. But I find that I can overlap layers much better using Google Slides. When you are finished --> File --> Download as --> .jpg creates a picture image that can be used on Twitter, Facebook and most importantly Google Classroom. I have several Google Classroom classes for professional development purposes at my school. One for each of the upper grade levels. I added some text distinguishing the grade level and reoutput to be our Google Classroom banner images. Pleased with myself and my handwork, I shared it on Twitter and FB. Friends started asking, "Where did you get that?" This blog post is my response.

Please note I am an educator. There was no sponsorship from any of the companies in the creation of this blog post. It is just a very happy customer (funding came from my own wallet) glad to share with friends and/or colleagues. If you create something similar I would love to see your results.