Brainstorms:
It was so much fun! Fotoflexer is really easy and quick to use, and students were able to create meaningful works in a short amount of time. One of my frustrations with some technology and programs is that they take so long to learn how to use and that students end up spending more time navigating the program than they do mastering the standards. If the standard is to explore technology and use it to communicate a message, that's one thing, but when the standard is to analyze a character's voice, the vehicle for demonstrating mastery of this standard should be a help and not a hindrance to learning. Several students commented on how easily and quickly they were able to create something they really liked and felt adequately demonstrated their understanding.
Student Work:
A few students recorded themselves talking about their own propaganda pieces on ScreenChomp. The first is of me modeling the process for them and the following are a few samples of their work:
* "It helped me to think symbolically."
* "I was able to get my point across visually."
* "It was much faster and easier than drawing it out myself."
* "It helped me to think more about my character's personality."
* "Although I'd rather draw it myself, I liked that it didn't take long but I was still able to show what I learned."
* "It made me think about propaganda's presence in pictures. It's not just in writing or what people say."
* "Two people could upload the same original pictures, but all of the editing features made it so that even two of the same image looked like completely different pictures."
* "It was quick to throw together when with your own hands, it would take hours to do the same thing."
* "It helped me to picture my character and how their looks show their personality."