Snipping Along, Singing a Song

Gourdhead Rock Band

Now  here's a tool I can wrap my brain around in total. I didn't have to visit it long be all over it: Snipping Tool. Right away I saw the beauty part and immediately began to make examples. First, there was the snip of the Gourdhead Rock Band from the Virginia Lovers' Gourd Society page. This piece of craft was a collaborative hands-on activity by several members at a Summer Play Date.                                            
      This snip identifies the Alien Gourdhead done by one of the youngest members (age 13).   Another snip points out how individual artisans handled eyes.

What not to love with this tool?  It speaks to step-by-step instruction that would be especially valuable with visual learners. Being able to break out a piece of a whole, then pinpoint the area of discussion, allows teachers to get specific beyond the use of language. 

The VA Tech. Standard A, effective use of a computer system...., is met with this tool. Teaching students to use this tool would them the wherewithal to show where they get stuck on a project and troubleshoot with others. This gets back to collaborating between classes and grades. By eliminating the need for describing a problem area or stumbling point, they can show each other and speed along their joint efforts.

However, along with these wonderful attributes comes a moment of caution: plagiarism. Another VA Tech Standard that comes into play is H--demonstrating knowledge of ethical and legal issues.... . Just snipping something I like walks all over someone else's copyright and intellectual property. These pictures of the Gourdhead Rock Band are mine. I own the images, I direct the organization they come from, I have permission from the member who created the parts of it to use it appropriately. But, what of grabbing images from Bing or other sources?  That's where careful demonstration of citing is in order. For my students, this would be included in the Plagiarism Packet.