Remix

In creating the meme above, I used Meme Generator. My students are actually the ones who told me about Meme Generator; back in February, I sent them a meme. They thought it was funny, so they requested that I send them a meme every day that week. I came back in the next day and told them that they better appreciate my memes, because I paid $3 for an app to create them. My students proceeded to #facepalm and tell me I’m old and that there are a million free meme generators. Although the old insult stung a little, it did lead me to the online tool I am spotlighting today, and for that, I am grateful.

Meme Generator is an easy-to-use platform that allows you to create a meme quickly, easily, and for free. The website provides popular meme photos, which someone can then select and add words to create a meme. The process takes about three minutes, and then there’s an easy download button which can be used to save the image. One of the great things about memes is that our students have been exposed to them for as long as they can remember. To them, memes have always been a way to express, critique, or comment on an idea. With this in mind, it makes sense that we would use this tool in the classroom to give students a way to express themselves in a way that they’re familiar with and that they might even have fun with.

There are really no drawbacks to the Meme Generator other than the fact that it leaves a small watermark on the image. This isn’t a huge deal, especially when this tool is being used for classroom purposes. Teachers should also be aware of the fact that Meme Generator might include images that are offensive or inappropriate for the classroom. Perhaps students should be asked to find an image elsewhere that they can upload themselves rather than browsing through the collection on Meme Generator.

Some suggestions on using Meme Generator in the classroom:

• Although most students will be familiar with memes, it might be helpful to explore memes as a class prior to asking students to make one. There are certain memes that are used for very specific purposes (such as Bad Luck Brian), and if students didn’t know those purposes, they might create a meme that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to others.
• This could be a great tool for analyzing characters and conflicts within a text. Rather than asking students to write another painstaking analysis paragraph, why not let them express their analysis through a meme? Then, they can write a short reflection or make a short oral presentation about their intentions for the meme and what exactly they were trying to express in making it.

In creating the remix above, I changed the meaning of the original text by adding words and creating a meme. The original image above is from Spongebob. Spongebob has been taken out of the ocean and has become dehydrated. He is clearly horrified and dying.

The text that I wrote is inspired by someone’s personal experience in our cohort. During their interview, they mentioned edTPA and the principal expressed that they did not know what edTPA is. This cohort member said they died a little bit that day, and so I thought it was appropriate to overlay these words over the dying image of Spongebob. The image of Spongebob helps to emphasize the feelings of despair felt by my classmate after working so hard on edTPA and realizing that principals don’t even know what it is. The meme was a quick, easy way to express her experience without having to explain the whole narrative.