Saturday, August 10, 2013

First Day Fun


I saw tweet on #tlap (teach like a pirate) of one teacher making a photo booth for her students on the first day.  I loved this idea but will tweak it in two ways.

Way #1  I thought why have it for my 110 students when I can do it for over 1300 students if I did it for the entire school.  Then I thought it'd be a fantastic idea to do it as a fundraiser for my team.  Students will take 4 quick shots, and they will be printed just like the ones they get in photo booth at the mall for $5.  Click here for student order tickets.

Way #2  With my mind not turning off, I thought why not make it a blast during our first faculty meeting of the year which we have before the first day of school.  One:  It's a way for the staff to have fun and get pumped about the new year all while goofing off with their teacher friends.  It will be great team building.  Two:  It's a way to publicize our event so that the teachers bring their students to have their pictures taken.  Three:  Great pictures for the yearbook!

Now I just have to get my principal to agree to both these ideas.  Since I got him to read the Teach Like a Pirate book (which he loved), I think I have a good shot.  UPDATE: I got approval!

I began my search to find how to make the props (for a not-very-crafty person) and what would be the best app on the iPad to use.

After many sites searched, I couldn't believe the fabulous print outs I can get from this site http://www.planyourperfectwedding.com/download-our-diy-templates for FREE!  I figured it will be easy enough to cut out the ones I want and attach them to a wooden dowel.  I visited Hobby Lobby and saw the dowels for 29 cents each.  Perfect!

I proceeded to read about the best apps to use.  I found two that are free and have worked:  Insta Booth and Pici Booth.  I tried printing a practice one at CVS and Shutterfly, but it doesn't print correctly. They will print correctly if you print them on your home computer/printer.  Insta Booth allowed me to print right from my iPod 5th Gen and printed out correctly onto a Brother printer.  Pici Booth gives the options to email or save to camera roll and then you can print them.

Check out my photo booth board on Pinterest for other ideas I've gathered.

I'm sorry I don't have pictures to share.  I'm doing all this while on vacation visiting family.  I will add pictures to this post once I've created the props for the photo booth.  In the meantime, you can see how much I had fun with the app!


2 comments:

  1. Hey there!
    I did a photobooth with my class and it was a huge hit. I love how you are using it as a fundraiser. Love it. I have a suggestion for you. Instead of spending .29 per dowel, You can use the bamboo shish kabobs skewers. They aren't quite as sturdy, but are much cheaper. I just trimmed the ends so they weren't sharp. Also, here is a link to some more free props. This is her second set of free printables. Click on the link in the message for the first set.
    http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/photobooth-props-set-2-free-printable/
    Happy back to school!

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  2. Fantastic idea! I already have some skewers just laying in a drawer in my kitchen. I love the pirate prop from the web site. Thanks for the insight and comment.

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