Think, Sketch, Share: Student-Made Comics As Learning Tools

(Previously STEMToons, this workshop has been renamed.)

• Date/Time: Sunday, October 5, 9am - 3pm
• Location: City College of NY, North Academic Center building (exact room will be emailed to attendees)
• Workshop Leaders: Emilie I. Dion, Brian Levine (bio(s) below)
• Appropriate for: Teachers/educators of any grade level, no artistic talent required!
• 6hrs of CTLE credit offered

Comic-making and illustration can be powerful tools in any classroom, providing an alternative way for students to capture their experiences and report their findings in a fun, accessible, collaborative, and easily understandable way. Join us in this workshop inspired by NY Comic Con (which takes place Oct 9 - 12 at the Javits Center) and explore how you can motivate students using simple comic and artistic techniques in any classroom. Your workshop leaders will bring examples from their classes. Feel free to bring any of your own work if appropriate and invite an art teacher, librarian, or another colleague with whom you would want to collaborate.

In this full-day workshop, we will:

• use pencil & paper to create several simple comics based on prompts you can replicate in your classroom, including a session outside (weather permitting).
• explore how to include illustrations in a variety of contexts - from short lessons to larger projects.
• connect comic-based projects to your class goals and NGSS standards.
• provide example rubrics and possible connections within and outside of your classroom.
• brainstorm ways to incorporate this practice to augment existing curriculum.

No artistic ability is required to join us in this workshop, and your students’ artistic ability is not being assessed - we will treat art as a tool, not a talent. Walk away with ready-to-use examples and practical strategies you can implement in your classroom immediately!

WORKSHOP LEADERS

Emilie I. Dion is a Wildlife Biologist and Science Educator with over 20 years of experience in K-12 education spanning New York independent schools and museum education. During her decade-plus tenure at the American Museum of Natural History, she developed workshops and courses partnering with scientists and experts, including a transformative collaboration with a teaching artist that led students to create science comic strips as their capstone project. This experience established illustration and visual storytelling as core elements of her STEM teaching practice. She now works as a freelance educational consultant, reviewing science content and helping schools and teachers stay current with content and education practices. Check out her Instagram here!

Brian Levine is the STEMteachersNYC Program Director with over 20 years of formal and informal teaching and program administration experience, working with elementary through adult learners. Brian is not an artist, his degrees are in astronomy and science museum education/communication, but he is a proponent of incorporating artistic modes of communication into his classes and programs. Brian is also a regular attendee at New York Comic Con, including their annual Educator Day, where he scours for illustrated science (and Star Trek) content, and has made connections there that have led to ideas and speakers utilized within his teaching and programs.

Since 2011, has delivered professional development workshops for teachers, by teachers, about teaching. We are an approved CTLE and NYCPS MTAC vendor. All workshops over 2hrs offer CTLE. Below is some important information, but please see our official on our website for full details and policies.

Pricing: workshop/event pricing reflects a desire to offer affordable professional learning experiences. Some workshops are subsidized and offered at a discount or for free.

CUNY & other partner campus pre-service students: If you are training to be a teacher, we want to welcome you to attend our workshops for free! Please email [email protected] for details and to see if you qualify.

Want to pay by invoice or purchase order? We encourage you to ask your school or organization if this is a possibility. Please see the for the process.

Are there discounts available? Often, yes! In the summers, we offer Early Bird and Teacher discounts alongside a Full Price ticket meant for those whose school or organization is funding their ticket. In the summer, we also have full scholarships, and a Fellowship available. All year, we announce specials and discounts on our social media (@STEMteachersNYC on Instagram, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Facebook), and in our Weekly Newsletter – sign up here. Additionally, we partner with several organizations and CUNY to offer free tickets to teachers and pre-service teachers involved, and if at any time price is a barrier to you purchasing a ticket, please contact us at [email protected]

Refunds, cancellations, and other registration/ticketing policies or changes: Please see the full for details and policies.

Please note: We take screenshots, photographs and record video of our workshops in order to publicize a positive image of science teaching, and of STEMteachersNYC – a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization – and to support future teacher leaders. If you register, you are agreeing to be photographed and to have your voice and image video-recorded. You are also agreeing to relinquish all your rights to the photographs and video recordings.

If you do not wish to be photographed or video-recorded – you must inform us before the workshop starts. For in-person workshops, we may take one photograph of your face so that we can erase your image if we happen to catch it by chance during the workshop, and we will do our best to avoid you.

Have more questions?Please see the full for further details and policies, or contact us directly:

• Registration or ticketing questions - [email protected]
• Questions about invoice/PO issues - [email protected]
• Any other questions - [email protected]

Host or Publisher STEMteachersNYC