Comics and Cartoons

Now I have seen comics done and utilized numerous times however I have never actually created one myself until this assignment. Here is a breakdown of my experience with each comic creator website.

Pixton was my absolute favorite! (https://edu.pixton.com/educators) The possibilities were endless with using this website and oh my gosh it was so easy. I love all of the characters you can choose from, the backgrounds, their movements, and how easy it is to type in the speech bubbles. Using the free version was so simple, and it allowed me to look like a pro comic creator because of how easy it was to use. Downloading and saving it was also extremely simple and gave me no issues at all. Pixton was by far my favorite site that I feel I could utilize regularly both in the classroom and in the library. I feel like my students and the teachers would get a kick out of it, and it is very engaging for all ages! This is also a great tool for the students to use in order to show what they have learned or to create a comic strip as their final product for a specific assignment.

The next site I tried was http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/. I wasn't very impressed with the site. It was relatively simple however it did not have many backgrounds, characters, or objects to choose from. It was very basic. Although I was able to navigate the site relatively easily, I did not find that students or teachers would find this comic strip as engaging because it did not have much to offer. In order to save it you have to create an account online. I also did not like the fact that a lot of this was in black in white, maybe for some things this could be an advantage. 

Fotojet (https://www.fotojet.com/features/misc/photo-comic.html) was my second favorite comic strip creator. I loved all of the templates that it offered, and that they were completely customizable. I love the fact that it gave you real pictures that you could utilize in your comic strips, and that there were so many to choose from. There was no way to save this piece unless you signed up for the 7-day free trial which forced you to input your credit card information. It was a little frustrating because you have the watermarks and things on your comic strip for the free version. I like what it has to offer however for the free version you do have to jump through a few more hoops in order to get it done.

Comic strips could be used as all about me's, book reports, character biographies, and even with lessons on digital citizenship. You could utilize comic book strips as how-tos for the library like how to check in or check out a book, how to find a book etc. It is much more engaging for all ages when you have something visual with what you are teaching about. You could use comic strips with the staff as ice breakers at trainings, simple cartoon strips of how-to's for the library, strips for how-to get your help for something. You can create them on fliers or send them out in regular e-mails. The sky is the limit to keep your teachers engaged!

https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/26-ways-to-use-mbc-in-the-classroom/