ComicLife Article Review

The article, How to use ComicLife in the Classroom, by Charles Thacker is an article that discusses many possibilities of the uses of ComicLife in a classroom. Thacker introduces ideas of why ComicLife is beneficial for a classroom. He states that ComicLife is an asset to a pre-reader because “a comic can be purely graphical in nature and help provide practice with sequencing as well as concrete to abstract transitions using illustrations instead of written words. The written component of a comic can be introduced when the early readers are ready to connect words with images” (Thacker, 2007). The illustrations within the comic help children learning to read associate words with images to give them a better understanding of what is actually taking place in the story. “For more advanced readers, comics can contain all the complexity of 'normal' written material which the student must decode and comprehend, such as puns, alliteration, metaphors, symbolism, point of view, context, inference, and narrative structures. A comic can also be a stepping-stone to more complex and traditional written work. A single pane in a comic can represent paragraphs worth of written material in a manner that is enjoyable and effective for the early or challenged reader” (Thacker, 2007). Thacker also explains that ComicLife works to meet students of different learning styles.

Thacker continues to elaborate on many ideas of how to incorporate ComicLife into the classroom. “Some ideas that he suggests ComicLife can be used for are timelines, historical figures, step-by-step instructions, character analysis, plot analysis, storytelling, post-reading tool, and his list continues to add other ideas” (Thacker, 2007).

Thacker’s article continues to give the reader a better understanding of what ComicLife is and what it can do in the classroom. Thacker gives a brief tutorial which demonstrates how to design a ComicLife example of your own. He finishes the article with an example that he built about his experience adopting a child from China. His rendering of this story is rather comical despite all of the complications that his family had when they were trying to adopt his youngest daughter.

ComicLife is a great asset to have for a teacher to have at their disposal in the classroom. It enables students to explore new possibilities in the classroom and put a unique twist to the situation. It also allows teachers to display information for students in a more elaborate and meaningful way, which, in turn, reaches more students. ComicLife is a tool that it beneficial to anyone in a classroom, teachers and students.



Thacker, C. (2007). How to Use Comic Life in the Classroom. Retrieved September
20, 2009, from MacInstruct Technology in Education Website:
http://www.macinstruct.com/node/69

ComicLife Reflection

ComicLife is a program that is a great asset to any teacher. ComicLife can be used in multiple ways. It can be used to tell a story, to build a graphic organizer, or it can be used to design a flyer. If a student is a given an assignment that encourages them to describe a process or to tell a story, then ComicLife can be used to grasp their attention and keep them motivated. ComicLife has many capabilities that students can explore. This gives students the ability to show creativity and use “outside-the-box” thinking. ComicLife can be used to capture the attention of students who may be less inclined to do a certain project. Many students gravitate to projects when they get to use technology and demonstrate their creative abilities.

ComicLife can also be used to generate very attractive graphic organizers. Students who use graphic organizers as a tool to process and understand new material will find endless advantages with ComicLife. Graphic organizers are used by many visual learners because they give students information about the process involved with new material. Being a high school mathematics teacher, I use graphic organizers a lot. I plan to use ComicLife in my classroom to help reach students who may be struggling with a new concept.

ComicLife can also be used to design flyers. Walking around my school, I see flyers around every corner, but they are always so plain. If the flyer was drafted within ComicLife, then it could bring some life to the flyer and capture the attention of more people. The whole idea around a flyer is to capture someone’s attention. If ComicLife is used to design a flyer, then audiences will be drawn toward the flyer and will possibly bring more individuals to the event advertised.

Emerging Technology that Supports Communication

At the high school where I teach, teachers are required to maintain communication with parents, especially if their child is failing. We are expected to contact parents anytime their child drops below the pass/fail line. However, I teach 7 periods a day and have only 45 minutes of planning time to prepare for those 7 classes. Not to mention, if I go to place phone calls during my planning period, it is impossible to get a free phone line because they are constantly busy. Moreover, a lot of the phone numbers listed in our computer system are no longer active. Being a teacher, it is not possible for me to take a phone call during the day if a parent calls. The best way to contact me is via email. I have started using a web program called callingpost.com. With this website, I can upload each of my students and their phone numbers and send out mass phone messages to their parents. I am able to record a phone message that states what the call is about and how a parent can contact me (preferably email, but I also give the school phone number). Callingpost.com keeps track of what happens with each phone call, as well. It records whether someone answered the phone, whether an answering machine picked up, or if there was no answer at all. If the phone call is not received, then callingpost.com attempts the number 12 more times. When I am ready to turn in a contact log of my parent contacts, all I need to do is go to callingpost.com and print out a copy of all the calls it has made and the response that it received from each phone call. The program does cost about 9 cents per call, but it is well worth the money instead of having to fight the headache of trying to get an open line at school and hoping the phone number that I have is active.

ComicLife

To the left is an example of a ComicLife that I put together. ComicLife is a program that allows people to build comics using images that they have taken. I used images of particular mathematics problem and designed a graphic organizer. ComicLife is a great tool that can be used to add some creativity to any graphic organizer that one may want to use in the classroom.

VoiceThread Link

The following is a link to the VoiceThread Project that I did with my high school Math II students:

http://voicethread.com/#q+solving+quadratic+equations.b607559.i3237197

VoiceThread for High School Mathematics

Upon reflection of my experience with VoiceThread, I feel that it is a great tool available for teachers. It allows students to make comments or give responses to problems they may be having within the course. Since I am a high teacher, I feel that I can use this tool as a tutorial for students who may be absent from my class. I can post a lesson explaining what I covered in class during school that day, and if a student was absent, he/she can get online and work through the tutorial so that they will not be so far behind when they return to my class. It can also be used as a reteaching or support tool for students when they are at home. If a student is working on an assignment and cannot remember how to work through a given situation, then they can access the tutorial of the lesson which can help them understand where they are getting lost and explore other areas of the math with which they are working. I think that this is a great tool, and will be very inclined to use it in the future as a means to reaching my students when they are not at school, but can still use some assistance or guidance.

Quadratic Formula Calculator

The past two weeks in my class has involved solving quadratic equations. We finally derived the Quadratic Formula which can be used to solve any quadratic equation. I was also able to find a Quadratic Formula Calculator on the internet. This is a great tool for students to use at home to ensure that they are using the formula correctly. Below is the link to the calculator:

http://www.mathwarehouse.com/quadratic/quadratic-formula-calculator.php