Sunday, May 31, 2009

Comic Tournament IV

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven has awarded the Create a Comic Project yet another small grant to support the Comic Tournament! This marks the third time they've done so. This means there will be a tournament in 2010, likely around mid-March.

For next year, I'm thinking of splitting the tournament into two Saturdays. This would allow for more time judging and for the events, solving many of the time issues of before. A benefit of being in NYC next year is that I can simply take a train to New Haven, making travel much easier.

Friday, May 29, 2009

5/29/09 Session Report

As with the 5/22 session, attendance was low. Two of my best students can no longer attend, one due to cost and the other due to having moved. The student who was suspended is also still out of school, leaving me with only one older child and one younger child. Fortunately, a younger one who hadn't been in attendance for a while came by today so I had 3 students instead of only 2.

I didn't take any pictures or video; stats will be posted soon. The last Sunnyside session in on 6/12, which may or may not have any attendance since it's the final day.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

5/29/09 Session

Like the 5/22 session, the 5/29 session will focus on long form comics. This time I used a shorter 5-page arc to make it easier on the students.

Comics used:

Abandon
Awkward Zombie
Chugworth Academy
Dominic Deegan
Faking Life
Geebas
Goats
Matt Herms
Questionable Content
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Simulated Comic Product
Sluggy Freelance
Smithson
Sorcerers and Secretaries
TV Circuit
xkcd

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Sunnyside Up

The school year is almost over and with it so ends the Collegiate YMCA's after school program at Sunnyside. There won't be a session on 6/5 due to me having to be out of state, so the last sessions will be 5/29 and 6/12. Both of these will focus on long-form comics to make things simple for the kids.

I'm currently working on my summer schedule. In addition to the Collegiate YMCA summer camp, I'll also be working at summer camps at several other locations. Once times are worked out I'll post it here.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

5/22/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 5/23 session.

Comics collected: 31
Attendance: 2 + 1 half time student = 2.5
Student efficiency: 12.4
Maximum possible: 45
Lesson efficiency: 0.69

Based on this, I'll stick with shorter arcs for future lessons instead of long ones.

Friday, May 22, 2009

5/22/09 Session Report

The 5/22 session went all right, though it suffered from low attendance: only 3 kids. One child who hadn't attended for a while was there. Unfortunately, I found out one regular participant has moved and is no longer doing after school activities while another was suspended for fighting.

I didn't take any pictures or video this time. I'll post stats soon.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

5/22/09 Session

The 5/22 session will focus on long form comics.

Comics used:

Blue and Blond
Flipside
Lil' Formers
Nothing Nice to Say
Planet Karen
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Seasons of Constancy

Saturday, May 9, 2009

5/8/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 5/8 session:

Comics collected: 53
Attendance: 2 full time + 2 part time = 3
Student efficiency: 17.67
Maximum possible: 44 + 8 = 52
Lesson efficiency: 1.02

I was able to use a more precise weighting for the maximum possible since I kept closer track of who was given how many comics.

Friday, May 8, 2009

5/8/09 Session Report

After a long string of cancellations, I finally got a session to run! It's been 5 weeks since the last session, so I'm glad to have been back with the students.

4 students participated, though 2 dropped out halfway through. The two who were left, though, did very well: they both finished an entire story arc from Flipside each! That was more work than some of the older kids from the tournament were able to do. I was very impressed.

Pictures, stats, and video will be posted soon, I hope.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

5/8/09 Session

The 5/8 session will focus on a long-form comic making exercise, with the kids creating multi-page stories. Since my students like stories focusing on girls, I chose Flipside for its emphasis on female protagonists, clear action, and low word bubble count per page.

Comics used:

Animenifesto
Blue and Blond
Devil's Panties
Flipside
Nothing Nice to Say
xkcd

I also used art from Robin Edwards and Raina Telgemeier.