Comic Strip Templates for Google Drawings!

I attended #TXGoo17 this month and heard a great tip from @jmattmiller about utilizing Google Drawings to create comics! I loved this idea and immediately starting making one while sitting in his session as he was explaining the concept:

When I got home that afternoon, I immediately showed my 5 year old daughter and she loved the concept, too, creating her own - on her own (no help from momma) within minutes:

I shared the concept on twitter and got a HUGE response from other educators sharing their comics and their students’ comics.

Creating comic strips like the ones above is fast and easy with little explanation of what to do for students. 

Here’s the key steps you’ll need to make your own:

Brainstorm:

• Think of an idea for your comic
• Think of what still pictures you’ll want for each frame

Insert Images:

• Click on Insert, Image, Take a Snapshot 
• Get in position and take a picture by clicking the red “Take Snapshot” button 
• Hit the blue Select button to add it to your comic - then wait - it takes a minute
• Resize the image so you can fit 4 pictures (this is the eyeballing part that takes a while)

Add text bubbles:

• Click on Insert, Shapes, Callouts and choose the speech bubble you want 
• Draw it on the comic
• Double click to add text
• Move the bottom of the speech bubble so it points to the speaker’s mouth

I’ve made a few more since learning about this cool use of Google Drawings, but I tend to take lots of time trying to get all of the pictures lined up just so and making sure all the fonts are just right, and trying to make it look more like a real comic strip. I realized I needed a template where a lot of the hard work was already done for me! So I created two! One square, like the images above, and one long strip - like you would see in the newspaper.

The benefit here is that you can drop your images in quickly and the sizing and background is already set up for you (and/or your students). Additionally, if you like the comic-strip-y font I’ve selected, if you click on and select one of my example text bubbles before inserting your own, the new text bubble will AUTOMATICALLY take on the same attributes - white fill, thick black border, and comic-y font - instead of the default light blue background that all shapes take in Drawings.

Another Google Drawings tip to note is that you can send objects behind or in front of other objects by right clicking and choosing "order". This will help get your title on top with "Bring to Front" or move your image behind a text bubble with "Send to Backward". 

Ordering Images Tips:

• Bring to Front - brings the selected image in front of all other images
• Bring Forward - brings the selected image forward one image - useful for layering
• Send to Back - sends the selected image behind ALL other images
• Send Backward - sends the selected image back one image - useful for layering

You can download your completed comic strips as .pdf, .png, .jpg, or .svc files.

Click on the images of the templates above to make a copy for yourself or the links here:

Link to copy square comic strip template
Link to copy long comic strip template

Enjoy! Leave a comment! And share products you or your students create!
@meredithakers

End of Year Revamp Ideas

Teacher Revamp Ideas Doc

This time of year my brain often thinks ahead to how I want to do things differently next year. To be honest, maybe the truth is that at this time of year, I'm getting annoyed by things that aren't going as well as I think they should.

When I get back from summer, I often forget to change some of those things that I know I could be doing better until I am in the middle of it - and then I am so disappointed that I've made the same mistake again!

It's easy to take the perspective of "let's just make it through" these last few days, but really, then what will be better by this time next school year?

I came across this awesome post by Caitlin Tucker in which she gives an example of her End-of-Year Revamp list that she uses to reflect and jot down ideas for next school year. 

I loved this idea! Instead of being annoyed with procedures that aren't working or forgetting that new strategy I want to learn more about this summer, this template provides an easy place to capture reflections and set ourselves up for an improved year next year! 

I immediately downloaded a copy of Caitlin's template and started thinking of how I could tweak it for my teachers and for myself as an administrator. 

Here are the templates I came up with for teachers and administrators:

Admin Revamp Ideas Doc

I suggest you take a few moments to quickly reflect on each of the points in the Revamp Ideas document and then keep it open on your computer daily for the remainder of the school year. This way, any time you see something amazing in a teammate's classroom, get frustrated by a procedure that could go better, or just have a light bulb moment, you can jot that idea down quickly to reference as you get ready for next school year! 

Here's the link to Caitlin Tucker's post about her Revamp List where I got the idea. 

Feel free to make a copy using the links in this post and update/change/add to it to make it beneficial for you and your reflection process! 

Use these last days of school to think ahead toward making next school year even better!