I am a veteran teacher. This is a polite way to say I have been teaching for quite a while- 30 some odd years. So, you may be surprised to find I embrace all the technology we have available in our profession, and yet you shouldn’t be. What any good teacher wants is a way to convey their enthusiasm and love of learning to their students, and with the use of sites like GoAnimate, our jobs get a little bit easier.

I started using GoAnimate before there was a school site for it-about 3 years ago. I initially used it as a way to have a little fun in presenting some chemistry concepts. The students seemed to enjoy the short lessons they conveyed, and I got to be a little more creative. My students especially got a kick out of when I would put our lab and classroom in the background photos. I myself used GoAnimate for quick lessons, to show in class, and then embed in our class wiki, so students could re-watch them prior to a test. I sometimes made “review” cartoons, where I would have a character tell the students what they should study for a test. Of course my favorite cartoon was my Underdog cartoon on polymers- I wonder if students even know who Underdog is now- but they’ve got to love his catchy background tune.