Make a cartoon with Custom dialogue with Go!Animate

Secrets at the Copy Machine by Dan Klumper on GoAnimate
Time to get back to some Tech tools. Create short, comical dialogue between cartoon characters is a good way to emphasize a key point or topic. With Go!Animate, you can quickly and easily create dialogue between characters. You can sign up for a free account with your Google account and begin creating in seconds. Follow the steps, choose settings, characters, and insert dialogue and boom, your comic is ready. You can share your Go!Animate comics on your website by embedding it(like I have done) or by providing a link. Create a funny comic about the end of the year, your current topic, or make one of yourself to share. Once we get 1:1 in our district, these would be great projects for students to add to their online portfolio.

Comic Strip Creation App: "Strip Designer"

The majority of the time our iPads are being used for the internet. They are great for that since they are mobile, easy to handle, and fast. Kids can walk around with them (if they are near the wireless signal) and have the internet at their fingertips. The iPad is more than just the internet, and even though I am not a fan of the iPad in education, there are some apps that make the iPad more meaningful, more dynamic than simply an internet device. 'Strip Designer' app allows you to create comic strips on your iPad or iPhone. This app allows the user to use pictures from their album or the internet and upload them into your comic. The user can also add speech bubbles to give it a truely comic strip look. This app is $2.99 but could have many benefits for kids creating, writing, reading, and sharing.
Application for Education: Make comic strips for your students! Invent a character and have that character help you teach the class important concepts. Put the iPad in your students hands (when available  and have them do the creating. Have them show a particular sequence of events in a story, the steps to solve a math problem, any topic of the social studies, or the steps of a science experiment. The pictures and comic strip like speech bubbles produces a unique way to learn and review. 

Pixton: Creating a character for your classroom

I think it is very helpful if teachers create "characters" that help them teach. I think that if you have a character to help you explain topics, review topics, etc, kids are more likely to be engaged and interested. Characters become something your students look forward to. They get sick of listening to you talk, so when your "character" shows up, they are excited because its something new/different. I am not talking about making yourself a different character, I am talking about creating one in cyberspace. In my class, I have a few different characters that help me teach: Crazy Izzy, Johnny Rawten, and Blueman. For this post, I want to tell you about Blueman and how to create your own character. Blueman is a slightly awkward, rude character that I created with Pixton.com.  Pixton is a website that allows you to make your own cartoons for free. Using the free version has some limitations, but I use the free version and am able to create what I want just fine. With pixton, you can create your own character and have them help you out with your teaching. I created Blueman to help provide a different way of discussing the topics I teach about. Blueman, along with his "frenemy" Mustache, are always popping up in different places, talking about social studies, sort of. Kids look forward to new Blueman comics because they are goofy, entertaining, and helpful. I strongly suggest you think about creating a character to help you teach. Kids love it, and who knows, maybe they will get inspired to create a character of their own to help them as well.