Moving in: The Bitmoji Classroom

I'm starting my 18th year as a classroom teacher. I have loved every bit of my tenure as an educator in the public school system. I share this because it is important to know that I am always open to new ideas and approaches to teaching. To be clear, I don't think a Bitmoji Classroom equates to a teaching methodology or philosophy, but a Bitmoji Classroom can be an effective learning tool. 

In some social media circles, I have heard people say that Bitmoji Classrooms are "cultish." I'm not sure about that, but there is a Bitmoji fever going around. Despite the hype, beyond the well manicured and highly adorned 2D classrooms that are filled with utter cuteness, there are viable teaching strategies hidden in this online classroom craze.

Although I am new to Bitmoji Classrooms, I usually jump in to something new with both feet. It took me about a week to build my classroom, working on it at different times throughout the day. The video below shows different parts of my Bitmoji Classroom and my wife's Bitmoji Classroom (each room is a Google slide).

I designed my Bitmoji Classroom to resemble aspects of my actual brick and mortar classroom. In my current classroom, I have pictures, posters, banners, pennants, and memorabilia from former classes and students. I want my students this year to connect to my actual classroom. We might meet there as a class if we are allowed to go back to school this year, and if/when we do, I want my students to have some familiarity with the physical classroom.

Here are a few more reasons why I am going to use a Bitmoji Classroom for distance learning this year. Bitmoji Classrooms can...

• engage your students. The content is highly visual and fun. If done correctly, the scenes (or rooms) can add interest and much needed excitement around learning online.
• provide insights into your personality, experience, and life.
• express what you care about or what is important to you.

I have spent over a decade perfecting my Google Slide layout for daily instruction, so I will use those slides for most of my direct instruction. At this point, I don't see my Bitmoji Classroom replacing my Google Slides. However, I am always learning and growing, and I think I have some opportunities to use my Bitmoji Classroom in my eClassroom this year. 

Currently, I plan to use my Bitmoji Classroom for my infomercial that I blogged about in an earlier post. Basically, five minutes before my class meets online, I will share my screen and have an infomercial playing as students "enter" my online meeting. Here is where I will use my Bitmoji Classroom. Because they are highly visual, a Bitmoji Classroom makes a lot of sense for sharing key information with students.

My wife on the other hand, plans to use them more consistently with her 5th graders. She wants to embed links and resources that students can access. Her kids will love this. If she wants them to pick up a document, she can add an image and link the document to the image or add a QR code. I can see students liking an illustrated classroom to visit and use for learning. 

I don't know what this year will look like, but I am heading into the unknown willing to try new things in order to make this year amazing for my students.

Resources

Here is a Google Presentation with lots of icons to help you build your very own Bitmoji Classroom. You will find empty rooms toward the end of the presentation. I am not sure who shared this with me, so I will track this down and share the name of the owner once I find out.

Want to learn more? Read this blog about Bitmoji Classrooms.