6/8/09 Session Report

The 6/8 session was only a single meeting with 10 kids. Normal sessions will be two groups of 10-15. The difficulty of the warm-up and activity were fine, but there may have been too many total. I'll try and shorten it in future lessons.

A couple of the kids were from last summer, but many were new, so it's a good thing I'm starting from the beginning. They seemed able to focus on the tasks with minimal acting up, so it's a good group. I'm looking forward to working with them.

Stats will be posted soon.

6/8/09 Session

The first session at the Collegiate YMCA Summer Camp is expected to have lower attendance than later sessions. According to those in charge, attendance will be lower than normal until around the 3rd or 4th week. I decided to start with a lesson on Layouts, since it's simple and not critical to later activities.

I won't be able to take pictures or videos of the kids this year. While last year all the parents signed photo release forms, this year many of them have decided not to allow pictures possibly out of increased privacy concerns.

Comics used:

And Shine Heaven Now
Geebas on Parade
Ghost Hunters
I Come From Mars
Kastle Comics
Smithson
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Weirdling
World of Orenda
Zombies Calling

Summer Schedule Update

Here's the (so-far) final version of the comic project's summer schedule:

Monday & Tuesday, 1 - 3 PM - Collegiate YMCA Summer Camp
Wednesday, 9 - 10 AM - Baierl YMCA Summer Camp
Wednesday, 11 AM - 2 PM - Western Area YMCA
Wednesday, 3 - 4 PM - People's Oakland
Wednesday, 6:30 - 8 PM - Northland Library
Thursday, 9:30 - 11:30 AM - Allegheny YMCA

Wednesdays are the big day as you can see. This isn't the schedule for this week, as only Collegiate and Western Area YMCA's start this week. Next week the full schedule begins, though People's Oakland start date and time is still in the air.

5/29/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 5/29 session.

Comics collected: 24
Attendance: 3
Student efficiency: 8
Maximum possible: 30
Lesson efficiency: 0.80

Create a Comic Project at APHA 2009!

The comic project has earned another major academic opportunity: I've been invited to present not one but two presentations on the project at the American Public Health Association (APHA) 137th Annual Meeting!

The first will be a 30-minute roundtable focusing on picturevoice. This style is not only longer than the presentation at SOPHE, but will give me a greater chance to interact with my audience. The focus will be less on picturevoice as an educational tool and more how it can be used in the context of health research. Hand outs are encouraged, so I'm going to work on assembling a "picturevoice packet" people can take home with them. It will give them all the equipment they need to do a picturevoice project of their own.

The second is a normal 15-minute oral presentation focusing solely on Healthy Holidays. I'll use it to focus less on the theory and more on the practical applications of picturevoice/comicvoice.

Picturevoice and comicvoice are the theoretical underpinnings that enable my work with art to not only be a useful educational tool, but a powerful mode of research and data collection. The Create a Comic Project is but one of many possible applications of picturevoice and I'm grateful to have a chance to share my ideas with the broader academic community.

Create a Comic Project at SOPHE 2009!

In a significant move, the Create a Comic Project has earned its first invitation to a major academic conference: the Society of Public Health Education (SOPHE) 60th Annual Meeting!

I'll be doing a 15 minute oral presentation on the concept of "picturevoice:" recording the thoughts and perspectives of individuals in a population using art. I'll be discussing two comic project events: the National Public Health Week April 2008 events and Healthy Holidays from December 2008. As the conference is geared to health education, I'll be focusing on the known educational benefits of the comic project.

The concept of "picturevoice" is an expansion on the idea of "photovoice," which relies solely on photography. Picturevoice can use any visual art, such as painting, though I've used it mainly with sequential art; I call this subset "comicvoice."

With any luck, this first introduction to the broader academic world may help the project expand its reach to education researchers across the country. I'm especially hoping to establish some collaborations with other educators.

Create a Comic Project at Otakon 2009!

The comic project will be holding a panel at Otakon this year! "Manga, Literacy, and Children" will be a panel/workshop demonstrating several of the project's techniques. This will be similar to the one I held at Tekkoshocon in April (and hopefully with better attendance). The exact date, time, and location are pending; more info when they notify me.