Before I took this course in multimodal literacies, I had no idea what an English Language Arts classroom should look like. Now, I am happy to say that I have a better understanding of what my classroom will be like. I think it is so important to incorporate other media, as well as textbooks, into the classroom. I loved doing the multigenre autobiographies at the beginning of the semester because it was fun and I actually learned a few things about myself and my fellow classmates. I think this would be a great way to start off the school year with students. I was surprised how much I actually liked reading graphic novels, considering I have never been a big fan of comics. I really enjoyed them and I just started reading another graphic novel, American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang.
Although, I am not very good with computers I feel that they are very important to integrate into the classroom. I also like the idea of film in the class, as well. There are so many great movies out there that can be tied in with English content. I also feel like students should be exposed to a variety of texts and media. I plan on using blogs, wikis, film, and graphic novels in my classroom someday.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Persepolis and Naruto
I really enjoyed Persepolis! I thought it was such a good story and it was not difficult to read at all. It makes me feel so lucky to live in America, where there is more freedom and equality for women. I like the "coming of age" novels, graphic or not, and I think that they are good reads for teens.
Naruto was alright, but I'm just not into that ninja fantasy genre. I also found the panels difficult to read, possibly because they read from right to left and were very busy.
I think just having these books, or any other age-appropriate graphic novels, would be nice to keep in my classroom when I become a teacher. It lets students know that there is a different way to read (with pictures) and also it might inspire some leisure reading!
As for me, I think I just might take a stroll down the graphic novel aisle at Borders. I went to the Kent Free Library on Main St. and the librarian said that they don't carry any graphic novels as far as he knows! I was a little shocked when he told me this. He said that they can order them for people to check out but they don't have any there. I just thought that was strange because it seems like graphic novels are gaining more and more popularity, especially after the movie The Watchmen came out.
Naruto was alright, but I'm just not into that ninja fantasy genre. I also found the panels difficult to read, possibly because they read from right to left and were very busy.
I think just having these books, or any other age-appropriate graphic novels, would be nice to keep in my classroom when I become a teacher. It lets students know that there is a different way to read (with pictures) and also it might inspire some leisure reading!
As for me, I think I just might take a stroll down the graphic novel aisle at Borders. I went to the Kent Free Library on Main St. and the librarian said that they don't carry any graphic novels as far as he knows! I was a little shocked when he told me this. He said that they can order them for people to check out but they don't have any there. I just thought that was strange because it seems like graphic novels are gaining more and more popularity, especially after the movie The Watchmen came out.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Second Life
Just reflecting on last week's class and the introduction to "Second Life"... I thought it was interesting so I decided to go to http://www.secondlife.com/ to see if I could bring back the avatar that I orginally created. I was not able to do so and I'm not sure why. But it was interesting to even see the home page because it literally is like a second life! I just thought it was like a little online virtual-reality game, but I was wrong. You can buy property, clothes, jewelry, etc. It scares me a little bit to think that some schools are having their campuses in Second Life. I guess I'm just old-fashioned, but I really like the idea of physically being at school. I am O.K. with computers in the classroom, as long as the students are actually present too!
On that note... I'm not sure I'd know exaclty how to handle a classroom that was set up the way ours was in Moulton Hall last week. I certainly know that that particular set up was not efficient to teach in. Our guest speaker was not really able to see what we were doing on the screens and not all of us were doing the same thing at the same time. Because were doing different things at different times, we all required individual attention from her and I felt like a lot of time was lost that way. I think that a computer lab/classroom should be set up in a way so that the monitors are more visible to the teacher. That way, the students stay on track and can't go surfing the web and the teacher can see that all students are on the same page.
On that note... I'm not sure I'd know exaclty how to handle a classroom that was set up the way ours was in Moulton Hall last week. I certainly know that that particular set up was not efficient to teach in. Our guest speaker was not really able to see what we were doing on the screens and not all of us were doing the same thing at the same time. Because were doing different things at different times, we all required individual attention from her and I felt like a lot of time was lost that way. I think that a computer lab/classroom should be set up in a way so that the monitors are more visible to the teacher. That way, the students stay on track and can't go surfing the web and the teacher can see that all students are on the same page.
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