TEDx, Bitstrips and Metamorphic Teachers

Ello readers!

Today was another typical Thursday. I struggled to keep conscious in Math, discussed taxidermists in Writer’s Craft and watched a 17 year old boy dressed like a leprechaun run around the drama room for 75 minutes. Though, last period in Communications Technology I was handing in a timeline for my stop motion animation project when I noticed a familiar website open on my teacher’s computer monitor.
“Mrs. V?” I had asked, and she nodded in recognition.
“Is that a Bitstrip?” To which she nodded again, excitedly.

Bitstrip, in a nutshell is an online program that helps you create a comic strip and characters for it. I first became aware of the website when my mom started using it, but only realized its importance after listening to Jesse Brown’s TEDtalk at TEDxOntarioEd last Friday. Jesse Brown is the co-founder of the website that was created by Jacob Blackstock as a literacy tool! Comic strips and literacy fit together, go figure. It’s a great program and gives kids who may not be strong at sitting down and writing an essay an opportunity to sit down and make their point with images and speech bubbles instead. Mrs. V explained to me that she was using it in her grade nine class comic unit. (Probably because it’s convenient and even the kids who can’t draw get a fair chance.)

Now I’m a high school student as well, and I’ve come to realize there are two types of teachers; the old school teachers,( who would rather stand at the front of the class and read out of a text book in a monotone voice while expecting you to absorb all of the information like a sponge when really the majority of your energy is focused on staying conscious) and the metamorphic teachers. Metamorphic means change, and these teachers are constantly changing their teaching styles to suit their classes, and trust me we appreciate it.

That was another main focus at TEDxOntarioEd, the initial theme was motivation but everyone kept bringing it back to motivating students in the classroom, new techniques to use, programs etc. I have to admit, it was pretty impressive.

I have classified Mrs. V as a metamorphic teacher, she constantly goes to workshops and learns new programs to use and it is quite obvious that she enjoys doing it. So, it is probably safe to guess that that is how she stumbled upon Bitstrip. Though, Bitstrip is only one of the awesome things teachers are using today to help motivate and engage students, TEDxOntarioEd is proof of this.

Conclusion: There are teachers, and then there are teachers who engage you with comic strips, developing the characteristics of a taxidermist and marking you on your ability to dance like a leprechaun for 75 minutes. I prefer the latter.

-MegaTron

Clickity Click This Link