Comics and Digital Portfolios

Since I don't have any stop motion apps on the classroom set of iPads, I assigned the students to prepare a comic strip on Transformations using either Comic Maker or Zoodle Comic. 


The other reason is simply that one of my students from last year asked when we would be doing comic strips again.  I was so thrilled to be asked when they could do that activity again.

Most of the students chose Comic Maker because it had more options for backgrounds, characters, bubbles, etc to choose from while Zoodle allowed more creativity on a solid background but was more limited on number of characters available.  In addition Comic Maker allows you to figure out how many frames  you want at the start whereas Zoodle has you dow one frame at a time and once you are done, you put it into strip form.  About half the students chose Comic Maker while the other half went with Zoodle.

Now the issue I'm having is that a few students in my Geometry class do not want to keep digital notes.  They would rather keep handwritten notes.  I want them to keep digital notes so they develop skills for the workforce and learn one or more apps they might use at a future job.  Although most students can operate their mobile devices, they don't usually have productivity or utility apps on their devices that they use.  They mostly play games, take snapshots or do something similar to that.

 Any suggestions on how you'd handle this?????

New warm up and update on Zoodle Comic

I am getting more work from my students.  Once they finish the comic strip, I have them save it and then either they e-mail it to me or I e-mail it to myself.  Once I get it, I can grade it and print the comic strip off so I can show them to others.  The comic strips are turning out quite well.
One of my students today asked if he could look up how fast a hummingbird beats its wings.  In the process of finding that info, he discovered the following information about hummingbirds:
1. Their heart beats 1360 times per minute.
2. They can fly 27 mph
3. on average they beat their wings 70 times a sec but if they are mating, it could be up to 100 times a second.
4.  Their tails make a whistling noise. 
They requested some problems using this information for warm-ups on monday.

I stumbled across a bit on how some folks used two sides of a 29 story building to create a tetras game.  I am trying to get enough information to create some warm-up problems.  Today I showed my students a couple short clips on the event and they thought it was neat.

Zoodle comic

One of my students turned in his comic strip made using the app Zoodle comic.  I let them choose one of 7 word problems.  They had to select a problem and then in the comic strip,  explain the problem, show how to solve it and come up with an answer.  The others are still finishing up their comic strips but this was the first one turned in and it turned out quite well.  I thought I would share it with everyone.  I blocked his name so as to keep his privacy.

Started, looking at other testing possibilities.

I had the students choose one word problem and start their comic strip.  Most students finished one frame but this is a new program so some people spent much of the class exploring the program.  Some of my more artistic students really had a great time with it.  I'll report back in about a month to let you know how it goes.
I was hoping to give students a practice test tomorrow where they would take a practice test online but I ran out of time this week so I think I am going to plan ahead to do it next time.  There is a push to have my students become comfortable with online testing due to the state tests going online beginning next year.  The problem I have doing this is simply I do not have a way of always looking at their work unless I have them show work on scratch paper and turn that in.  Otherwise I have to choose to accept the answers as right or wrong with no inbetween. This actually brings back a discussion in my college methods class on full vs partial credit.  I usually prefer partial credit but will the state tests end up with the full credit or none.  This is something I have to continue struggling with.

Zoodle Comic

In preparation for Wednesday, I found Zoodle Comic app (free) from iTunes.  It is installed on my iPads and I have had one of my students, who hates working in class, exploring and learning to use it so she can help me answer student questions on using it. The student has had a great time learning to use it and is creating some great things.
It has a choice of 4 different cartoon type characters and several different speech boxes.  It allows you to draw in things and make a real comic strip.
I am going to give the students a choice of three or four word problems.  They will then create a comic strip showing how the problem is solved and include the answer.  I think it will give them a chance to use their writing skills and it will help the more artistic ones.  Since I work with ELL students, this hopefully will help them improve their knowledge of the English language.