Super Fun

     I was trying to find something really fun and interesting to share with you today and I think I have done it.  Have you ever had a concept that you needed to teach that was either a bit boring or you could see the students having difficulty grasping the concept?  It would be wonderful if we could find an easy way to make that concept more fun or easier to understand.  I found a website called Bitstrips that can do just that if you are willing to invest a little bit of time and imagination.  This site allows you to make your own comic strips with your own dialog and ideas.  It provides you with backgrounds, people, props, furniture, and more.  You can even change how your person is standing on the screen.  You can choose how many frames you want to use, up to 9 frames.  Once you get your backdrop in place and you add your people, you click on the Controls tab and you can change their facial expressions, their posture, arm placement, eyes, if they are sitting, standing, or even running!  It is all done with the click of a mouse.  Did I mention that it is free? 
     I honestly just sat down and decided to play with it and create a silly little strip.  It took me about 10 minutes to do it, and that included the sign up.  Yes, you need to create a log in and pass word for this site and provide them with an email address but that is a small price to pay for having something this fun to play with.  Afraid to put yourself out there with your students?  Don't be!  They may laugh (if you made it a funny comic) but just think about how that comic strip might help that hard to reach student.  That silly comic that YOU created might just be the thing that helps them to recall that vital piece of information that they need to succeed!
     Now I am not a pro at this site, yet.  I plan on using this myself in my classroom.  Honestly, it is something that even the students could use when it comes to skills.  The issue you will have is that they either have to all log on as you on this site to create (which I do not recommend), or you will have to create a log on per student so that they have a creation place.  If you ever want to do this so that your students can create then email and talk to me about it.  We will deal with that issue if and when we get to it.  You need to learn how to utilize it first before you can take students there to work.
     Here is my very first comic strip.  Go ahead and laugh....you're supposed to!  Oh, and ignore my bare feet.  It was the only red head in the group and my talents are not enough yet that I was able to put shoes on her...LOL!  See, even I have places where I need to improve.  So dive in and start creating!

     Edit:  OK, so the whole lack of shoes was really bothering me.  Plus I just did not like how this toon looked.  I went back in and made my OWN character, which was very simple.  It walks you through each step of the creation process.  Now go look at my new comic strip!  It saves all of your strips that you make and even any characters that you create.  You can even go back in and edit the comic strip after you finish it.  To save it on your computer you just right click on the comic and use "save as" and save it to your hard drive.  Don't forget to give it a name that helps you remember what that comic is about.