Recently it was revealed to me that there is an awesome website, Caligraphr, where you can turn your own writing into a type font! For a self proclaimed nerd like myself, this is an absolutely fantastic and fun website with seemingly endless possibilities. On face value, this website is simply a means to turn your type face into a realistic virtual rendition of your own hand writing. But on a deeper look, it has some really fun possible applications for your classroom.
Student Engagement
One of the immediate applications I can think of using this website is the level of student engagement this can create. Imagine having a student that doesn’t want to participate because he or she gets bored when typing. Well, by having the student create their own type font, they can see their own handwriting magically appear on the screen in front of them. It’s no longer a dull born type face, but rather an element of the students personality being put inside a computer. There is instant ownership over the content, as it’s more than just a paper, but an art project too.
Another possibility is allowing one student a week have the opportunity to win the opportunity to have their handwriting be the default for the class. If you use things like smart boards, it would be a really nice reward for doing well in class.
Art projects
So much of our modern world is online, including art. With this tool, anyone can add their own carefully and creatively crafted lettering to a graphic design. This could be used for something like a website, posters, or the school yearbook. In art class students could either make entirely online graphic designs with their unique writing style, or a student could use this type face and then print it out to make stencils so that their lettering stays consistent across the medium they are working on.
You can also assign hand made pictures to each keystroke, like the classic Wingdings font. Each press of a button would be piece of your custom artwork.
Games!
I would be lying if i didn’t say that I didn’t also think of adding this to a number of my own personal games that I enjoy playing. I love making maps, and I know some of my students do too. By using the Caligraphr website students can make digital maps for history or geography class projects and add legends that appear as if they were handwritten.
For the more nefarious or dubiously minded individual, you can mix up the letters to create a code. Then you can either create a cypher for students to use to break the message. Or, you don’t provide a cypher and just leave it out as fun game to see if anyone can break the code for a prize.
How to use Caligraphr
Thankfully Caligraphr has a super easy tutorial that has only 5 short steps. However, you will need access to a laser printer and a scanning device (a smart phone works just fine.) Just click on the image below to start and hopefully you’ll have as much fun with this as I am!
