With the first month of the school year coming to a close, we’ve been thinking a lot about how cartoons shaped our own education growing up. I’ll never forget the joy I felt in the classroom on occasions when the teacher rolled out a monstrous box-shaped television strapped to a pushcart. This unsubtle action meant one thing to me back then. We were going to watch a video! It was a break from the typical lecture-style method of teaching we’re all so used to and allowed me to sit back and relax while I learned something new. However, there was more to that television than meets the eye, especially on days when the video at hand—maybe Schoolhouse Rock, maybe The Magic School Bus—used animation.
The Dot and Line was lucky enough to grab a few minutes of a teacher’s time to talk about the use of animation in the classroom as a tool for learning. Amy Hysick was honored this past year as the 2017 New York State Teacher of the Year. Her work in her classroom at Cicero-North Syracuse High School gained not only the notice of her local peers but those across the state and country. Teaching high school biology is no easy task, but thankfully we have animation to lend a helping hand.
“There are so many abstract concepts that the kids can’t visualize, so for them to see animated characters, to see things like what it looks like inside a cell, it goes a long way. If you don’t have the animation to do that, you’re on your own,” Hysick said regarding her own use of animated videos and clips. “Part of what I try to do when I teach, with these abstract concepts, is I try to give an anchor point to reality in the actual lives of the children I’m teaching. Being able to give kids analogies where they already have experience allows you to tie in the new concepts.”
A lot has changed since her own time as a student. Gone are the days, in Hysick’s words, of “overhead projectors with slides of static images.” Before the advent of the internet and tech boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, teachers had to rely on textbooks and their own imagination to capture the attention of their students. “Now I have my YouTube videos for certain topics throughout the year,” Hysick said. “My job is to connect you to the tools that help you learn the material, and I won’t be offended if you learn through someone else’s method or video.”
Searching for and vetting animated videos is quite time consuming though and can strain a teacher’s already hectic schedule. “I just wish there were more hours in the day,” Hysick said, “ because I know there is more out there, especially in animation, that would help in the classroom but I just don’t have the time to find it! I know that the visual elements of animation and video add such a richness to the classroom.”
How to help teachers like Amy Hysick
You can help bring animation to a child’s classroom too! Below are current DonorsChoose.org projects that you can donate to in order to help a teacher and a class in need expand their learning capabilities. Give the gift of animation today!
Coding For Childhood And Beyond:Grades 3–5 in Clermont, Florida
- “The Osmo Creative Set with Monster Game add-on enhances creativity and artistic skills by teaching beginning concepts in animation…Adding the Osmo gaming systems to my classroom will give students a larger variety of choice in how they use technology to learn.”
Animation is a ‘STEAM’ Sport Based on Imagination: Grades PreK–2 in Portage, Michigan
- “Animation gets kids creating in physical space rather than just spending time with their devices.”
Pick Up Some STEAM in Art!:Grades 3–5 in Pascagoula, Mississippi
- “Hue Animation Studios has won several awards for it’s effectiveness and ease of use by children of all ages. Students will use the studios to animate math concepts using stop motion claymation. This project will cover many objectives, including collaborative learning and behavioral goals.
All About Learning Using Computer Programs: Grades 3–5 in Stone Mountain, Georgia
- “The Brainzy math and reading program will help my students to understand and learn the math and reading skills through visuals with animation. This enables them to connect and apply the learned concepts in their everyday life.”
Brain Pop Needed to Make Our Brains Pop!:Grades 3–5 in Atlanta, Georgia
- “My students process information my seeing it, hearing it, and living it. The amazing multimedia resources provided through Brain Pop will make learning come alive for my students. The animated movies, interactive quizzes and learning games capture and hold my students attention. It makes learning fun!”
Disclosure: Eric Vilas-Boas, editor of this story, previously worked at DonorsChoose.org.
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