WHERE'S MR. ALLEN?

There's a lot to be said for good ol' fashioned Microsoft Paint!

There are HUNDREDS of new photo editing tools, picture generators, and online design programs. But man, I LOVE Microsoft Paint.

Earlier, I had posted on Twitter, Facebook, and the Blog's Facebook page to see what people use to indicate where they are during the day. I've seen half-wheel signs, dry erase signs, flip charts, crayon signs, etc. But I wanted something unique.

So here's the basis for my post... if you want something creative, don't be afraid to BE creative!

Last year I used a Pirate Map theme. I scanned a copy of our school's floor plan (that we use for drills, evacuations, parents, etc.). Here's my Falcon school's map:

I took off the "Administrative data" like name, address, schedule, etc. and just kept the map

So after I had the image, I added teacher names and room numbers (since I was new and forgot names easily). After that, I Google Imaged a picture of a Treasure Map and opened it in Paint. I copied/pasted the School image onto the Treasure Map, added other locations I might be at and viola!

I printed it on tan paper, tore the edges and laminated it. It looked JUST like a treasure map!

I had a small red "X" that I would affix to where I was that day. I loved it... however it looked really busy and sometimes people weren't sure how to read it. 

This year, I wanted something cleaner and a little more fun :) Talking to my wife she suggested "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego" (which I LOVED... and maybe you did too :) However, my students are young and I'm not sure they remember AWESOME cartoons like we had. But it got me thinking about "Where's Waldo"! 

So again, I used the same School Map and opened it in Paint. I added a few places I might be in the day, colored the background blue and added my own "WHERE'S MR. ALLEN" "postcard":

I enlarged the "map" part, and only added major locations I might be at.

But I was missing something... Oh yea! Something to put ON the map indicating where I was. A simple X wasn't going to do. So I found an Image of Waldo, opened it in (yep) PAINT, and removed the head and the Hat. I opened my ASCA Headshot in Paint, took just the head and put it on Waldo, adding the hat for a nice finishing touch:

My own traveling "WHERE'S MR. ALLEN" :)

I'll print it, laminate it, and hang it on my door. I'll probably use Sticky Tack to adhere my "body" to my "map". 

And there you go. My own "WHERE'S MR. ALLEN". SO I encourage you to be creative, find new ideas, Pinterest, and don't stop until YOU are happy :)

Have a GREAT day!

-JW