Cartoon Close-Up – Worducate SAT

Cartoon Close-Up is a recurring feature where I highlight Andertoons cartoon subscribers, custom cartoon clients, and customers who just buy the occasional cartoon.

Cartoon Close-Up 1

This edition’s answers come from subscriber Jodi at Worducate.com.

1) Tell me a little about yourself and your job.

Jodi has a background in psychology and marketing while Jim has a background in programming and entrepreneurship. We are both currently in the process of developing several educational and gaming iPhone apps. We find it interesting and challenging to keep abreast of new technology.

2) How do you use the cartoons from your Andertoons subscription?

The cartoons from our Andertoons subscription are a great fit for Worducate SAT, our iPhone SAT study app that utilizes synonyms to help students improve their SAT and ACT scores. After studying our synonym cards of SAT vocabulary words, students are directed to a practice section. They have been hard at work learning new vocabulary words, and then they see a fun Andertoons cartoon that lightens the mood.

The Andertoons cartoons add an element of humor and irreverence to our study app, to keep students engaged while they use Worducate SAT to raise their SAT and ACT scores!

Cartoon Close-Up 1

 3) Please give me an example of how someone has responded to a cartoon.

Prior to using your cartoons we tried using motivational stock images, but our test audience described these with comments such as “cheesy” and “not my thing.” As soon as we switched to Andertoon cartoons, we got a much more positive response–and a few laughs! They are a much better fit for our audience of students because they show the humor in the mundane. Studying for the SATs and applying to college can be challenging and stressful. It’s important to take a moment to laugh and enjoy the process.

 4) Which cartoon is your personal favorite?

I love this one! It is so funny and relatable! It also speaks to our desire to be recognized.

Cartoon 6586

 5) Where online can people find out more about you?

People can download Worducate SAT on the Apple iTunes store (our anticipated launch date is September 2015). We are also planning versions of Worducate to help people study for the GREs as well as to expand everyday vocabulary and aid ESL learners. You can contact us through our website, Worducate.com.

 6) Do you have any questions for me?

How does it feel to know that your work puts a smile on people’s faces? 

Aw shucks…

Long answer:

One of the weird things about being a cartoonist is the disconnect between you and the reader. A comedian gets an immediate reaction from an audience, but cartoonists mostly never get to see their work being enjoyed. You just send your cartoons out into the world to fend for themselves and hope for the best.

Occasionally, however, you get to watch someone read a cartoon of yours and it’s both terrifying (during the read) and exhilarating (when they laugh).

Short answer:

Awesome.

Thanks so much to Jodi for her time and terrific answers!

If you use Andertoons cartoons and would like to be featured here on the blog and in our monthly newsletter, drop me a line!

Cartoon Close-up – Leadership+

Cartoon Close-Up is a recurring feature where I highlight Andertoons cartoon subscribers, custom cartoon clients, and customers who just buy the occasional cartoon.

Cartoon Close-Up 1

This edition’s answers come from subscriber, Geraldine D’Arcy.

1) Tell me a little about yourself and your job.

I manage the research and publications side of things for the Irish Primary Principals’ Network – a professional body for Irish primary school leaders – and have been editing our member magazine Leadership+ for nearly 10 years now.  

2) How do you use the cartoons from your Andertoons subscription?

We use Andertoons on our ‘And Finally!’ page – to introduce some light-heartedness into what can be a very serious publication. It highlights the everyday humour in our primary schools in a lovely tongue-in-cheek way that reflects IPPN’s in-house ‘style.’

Cartoon Close-Up 1

 3) Please give me an example of how someone has responded to a cartoon.

Members tell us they love a quiet chuckle over a quick cuppa and that the cartoons resonate with them – all principals have stories like those reflected in the cartoons. Perhaps it’s because they are so true but also a little on the edge of what people might be comfortable admitting…

 4) Which cartoon is your personal favorite?

Cartoon #6883 – 

Cartoon 6883

Also #7012 – 

Cartoon 7012

 5) Where online can people find out more about you?

www.ippn.ie. Most content is restricted to members but all our publications, submissions and press releases are open to the public.

 6) Do you have any questions for me?

How do you decide what to feature, and what to leave out? What inspires the stories you tell in your cartoons – were you/your parents in the teaching profession?

Cartoons actually go through a lot of editing. I try to boil the art and captions down as much as possible to use only what’s absolutely necessary to get the idea across. That being said, I do get a little wordy and draw meaningless but fun details occasionally.

As for teaching, my wife is a teacher (1st/2nd dual-language), so I get plenty of inspiration and material from her.  My mom also taught piano lessons for more than 30 years.

Thanks so much to Geraldine for her time and terrific answers!

If you use Andertoons cartoons and would like to be featured here on the blog and in our monthly newsletter, drop me a line!

20 Education Cartoons For Back To School

Kids and teachers all across the country are getting ready for a new school year. (WOO!) So I thought I’d help get everyone in the mood with some education cartoons!

Enjoy:

Education Cartoon 6431

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but my wife is a teacher, and believe me, this cartoon is fairly accurate.

Education Cartoon 6451

I don’t know if it’s the case anymore, but when my kids were born it seemed like every boy was named Logan. I knew Wolverine was popular, but sheesh!

Education Cartoon 6457

You just know that kid is going to grow up and crash the entire financial system one day.

Education Cartoon 6463

This education cartoon was really really popular about a year ago. Is Pinterest still a huge deal?

Education Cartoon 6470

I’m really happy with how this cartoon sort of steps down from positive to OK to uh-oh in only 8 words.

Education Cartoon 6481

My wife uses that phrase a lot. For example, “I like how (insert name here) is paying attention.” It works like gangbusters usually, and I had fun playing with it a bit.

Education Cartoon 6490

Ignorance is bliss, especially with math.

Education Cartoon 6494

“Reluctant reader” is another phrase I hear my wife say, and it was fun to see f I could make a cartoon out of it. Also, those books in the background were fun to draw.

Education Cartoon 6510

For a while it seemed like infographics were everywhere, but they’re either dying down or I’ve seen so many I’m ignoring them now. I suspect the latter.

Education Cartoon 6528

This education cartoon came out around Valentine’s Day, and it’s one of those where you wonder what the back story is. At least I do.

Education Cartoon 6536

I disagree.

Education Cartoon 6548

I was sure someone had done this cartoon, but I searched online and never found it. Still, someone’s had to have done this already, right?

Education Cartoon 6553

I’d like to read that sentence.

Education Cartoon 6554

Most of my education cartoons are based in elementary schools, but I do try to do more high school themed cartoon occasionally. 

Education Cartoon 6562

PLC is the acronym for Professional Learning Community. According to Wikipedia they are:

…an extended learning opportunity to foster collaborative learning among colleagues within a particular work environment or field. It is often used in schools as a way to organize teachers into working groups.

My wife really likes it, and it was a fun challenge to do a PLC cartoon, but if you don’t know what that is, then this probably isn’t that funny.

Education Cartoon 6586

I tried to make the two handwritings different in this, but even my left-handed penmanship isn’t too bad. Sigh…

Education Cartoon 6603

This field trip cartoon was so much fun to draw, and I got to work in comic books to boot! WOO!

Education Cartoon 6652

Place value is one of those terms I think you forget about later in life. Unless you marry a teacher that is.

Education Cartoon 6690

I try to vary my education cartoon cast to include nurses, counselors, and, in this case, a librarian.

OK, last one…

Education Cartoon 6432

So that’s it! Hope you enjoyed these education cartoons, and hope you have a great school year!

Teacher Cartoons For Back To School

It’s coming. Soon schools will be humming again, so to get everyone in the mood I thought I’d share some more teacher cartoons!

It took a bit to find just the right font for this teacher’s bulletin board, but it was worth it.

I wrote this cartoon while doing some book surfing at Amazon.

What I like most about this is only three words, “Ninja-bots from Mars,” you get your ninjas, your robots, and invaders from another planet. Concise!

School nurses don’t get the appreciation they should. Especially the one at my 9-year-old hypochondriac’s school.

Apple pie maybe? Mmmm…

That kid might just be onto something.

In fact if it’s not a major motion picture I’d trust it even a bit more.

Teachers and Apple humor for the win!

I’m betting somewhere this is actually happening.

I once got ahold of a teacher edition for a class. It was entirely disappointing.

Inspired by my wife’s classroom helpers bulletin board.

This conference doesn’t go anywhere good after this.

Honestly I’d like to see that work. I bet it’s awesome.

I’m glad I went to college before you had to really put in any effort. Whew!

This is a pretty inside baseball sort of teacher cartoon. Learn more here.

My wife likes this teacher cartoon too.

True, but the four-letter ones are still the best.

Another one my wife likes.

A pumpkin turkey surrounded by colored eggs, snowflakes, hearts, and clovers is way fun to draw.

Good for him!

Still, maybe if he… um… uh…  I got nothin’.

Sometime soon some parent will complain about this exact thing.

That actuallyl kind of sweet.

I never understood school spirit. I still don’t.

That’s how they getcha!

This kid has a real future in politics.

I really had to research this to make sure it was right. It’s not a funny cartoon unless it’s all correct.

If I were a teacher I would totally try that.

I’m sure somewhere someone is already beginning to market a fix for this.

The old Rule of Threes never lets you down.

He’s on to you! Run!

Well, that’s it for this collection of my teacher cartoons. Hope it put you in a good mood for another school year!

Teacher Cartoons For Teacher Appreciation Week

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, so I thought I’d share a bunch of my teacher cartoons to thank all the educators out there (my lovely wife included) for all of their hard work! Enjoy:

Teacher Cartoon #6351 by Andertoons

I hear a lot from my wife about kids that are approaching standards, meeting standards, exceeding standards, etc… So this cartoon was sort of a no-brainer.

Teacher Cartoon #6356 by Andertoons

I was originally going to do this cartoon as a piano teacher one, but I thought band directors might appreciate a cartoon too. (BTW, I know there’s also alto clef, tenor clef, etc… but for the purpose of this joke I just stuck to treble and bass.)

Teacher Cartoon #6359 by Andertoons

I hear my wife talk about her lesson plans a lot, so it was really fun to draw this bedraggled looking teacher being comforted by one of her students.

Teacher Cartoon #6362 by Andertoons

Copier manufacturers, I know schools make a lot of copies, but copiers have been around for a good while now. How about making one that doesn’t break down once a week? Please?

Teacher Cartoon #6363 by Andertoons

Another take on standards; I think “standoffish” makes this work for me.

Teacher Cartoon #6364 by Andertoons

As a parent I certainly have opinions about my kids’ education, but I try not to go quite this far.

Teacher Cartoon #6365 by Andertoons

I probably spent a good half hour looking at formulas I thought might be readable as some sort of texting acronym (LOL, WTF, etc…). Any thoughts on what that might stand for?

Teacher Cartoon #6366 by Andertoons

Being the husband of a teacher I’ve spent some time in teachers’ lounges, and lemme tell you, comfy they’re not. So why the lounge moniker?

Teacher Cartoon #6367 by Andertoons

Dogs eating homework seems so last century. Do they eat PowerPoints and PDFs now?

Teacher Cartoon #6368 by Andertoons

Ah…  Periodic table humor…

Teacher Cartoon #6369 by Andertoons

Listening to my wife talk about school sometimes is exhausting because so much of it is acronyms. I try to keep up, but I think they mint new ones daily. Help!

Teacher Cartoon #6370 by Andertoons

I’m proud to say that my permission slip signing record is perfect so far.

Teacher Cartoon #6371 by Andertoons

This cartoon took a while to figure out. I had the drawing first, but the caption came really slowly. It wasn’t until I thought “why is he giving her so many options” that it finally clicked – it doesn’t really matter why, just that he did.

Teacher Cartoon #6372 by Andertoons

I’m not much of a mashup kind of guy. It’s not that I don’t appreciate a good one, I just prefer to create content from scratch the old-fashioned way.

Teacher Cartoon #6373 by Andertoons

My daughter just got a guinea pig for her birthday, so a class pet cartoon wasn’t far behind.

Teacher Cartoon #6374 by Andertoons

There’s a lot of educational theories and approaches out there. Currently there seems to be a lot of emphasis on almost constant positive reinforcement. Which is fine I guess, but it was pretty much begging for a cartoon like this one.

Teacher Cartoon #6375 by Andertoons

I remember doing a lot of simplifying back in the day, and I always wondered if there was some guy in a room somewhere taking basic math and just making it harder. Needless to say math was not my strongest subject.

Teacher Cartoon #6376 by Andertoons

I like this kid’s thinking.

Teacher Cartoon #6377 by Andertoons

We didn’t have homework folders when I was a kid, but now they seem to be all the educational rage. Call me a traditionalist, but the old backpack stuffed with crinkled papers works just fine, thank you!

Teacher Cartoon #6378 by Andertoons

Drawing this poor tired teacher is some of the most fun I’ve had drawing in some time.

Teacher Cartoon #6379 by Andertoons

To quote Daffy Duck, “pronoun trouble.”

Teacher Cartoon #6380 by Andertoons

I’m proud to say this actually is not the only photosynthesis cartoon I’ve done!

Teacher Cartoon #6381 by Andertoons

I tend to stay away from politics in my cartoons, but this one is non-specific enough that I’m OK with it.

Teacher Cartoon #6382 by Andertoons

I’m honestly really curious what this kid wrote about.

Teacher Cartoon #6383 by Andertoons

Another cartoon that I researched a bit. I’d originally had more text about The Renaissance on the board, but decided that it read better if you weren’t distracted by more text.

Teacher Cartoon #6384 by Andertoons

Semicolons are funny. They just are.

Well, that’s it. I hope you enjoyed them all! Feel free to check out all of my teacher cartoons, and happy Teacher Appreciation Week everyone!