Unit 2

 Welcome back to my blog TO and class!

For this most recent unit, we addressed the application of alternative lesson types and utilizing more than just writing and text-based assignments to analyze student understanding. The first article of this unit is titled "The Green Knight Should be Green: Graphic Response to Literature." This article by William J Broz delves into having students use alternative, artsy projects (graphic interpretations) to express what they learned in a text. Although this was originally done to break up his routine weekly work, he received fantastic, unique projects from all of his students. These projects expressed "insightful interpretations of the literature," which allowed the students to depict what they individually connected to, as well as showing how the literature was perceived by them. Another benefit of this kind of assignment is that students have to be specific with their project, unlike with essays where they can be more broad and general which doesn't require as much focus to detail. Broz states how graphic responses make it difficult for students to create projects that are "too general," and that such responses "inspire focusing on a specific interpretive concept...constructed in response to the text." The author mentions how this type of assignment will work across all age groups, and that even the most uninvolved and quite student can create a detailed, personal, and amazing project to turn in, showing a deeper understanding of the text than through basic text-based writing assignments. 

The next article we covered, titled "I Just Need to Draw" by Short, Kauffman, and Kahn, expresses multiple ways in which teachers can implement sign systems ("the ways in which humans share and make meaning") with activities such as art, music, and dance when it comes to analyzing student comprehension  of lessons and texts. Having students transform their understanding through these types of signs helps them "create new ideas, and so their understandings of a book become more complex." They utilize these sign systems as a type of tool for analysis, application, and thinking over what they've learned and read. One of the tools that they presented was called a "graffiti board," where students have a large sheet of paper placed in front of them (shared between a group) that they all have a specific section of. As they read and talk, they fill in their section with whatever they feel helps notate what they're reading (drawings, sketches, notes, words of importance, etc). This hands-on and visual method helps grow their "in-process thinking" and allows them to write down the important thoughts and points, however they'd like, as they progress through their group activity. This can help create additional connections through their reading, and give them something to show their group and present in a different manner than just words. The authors also made sure emphasize the value of reflection, and not just have the students utilize some form of free response. Reflection allows the students to "take intellectual responsibility for their views," and allows intense analysis of what they have already focused on to better understand what they connect with (which they can then share and compare with their fellow students in reflection followup activities). A closing statement on this article is that allowing students to explore and utilize such wide ranges of activities allows them to flex their understanding of what they read and learn, express themselves in specific and unique ways, and helps in creating larger pools of ideas and connections on what they just read, all of which are invaluable in the education and growth process of students.

The last two articles address graphic novels, aka comic books. The first of these is called "Graphic Novels: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," written by Jacquelyn McTaggart. This article is essentially and introduction to what graphic novels are, presented in a way of "Question: Answer," giving the reader the primary questions that someone who is not knowledgeable about graphic novels may have when first learning about them. It addresses things such as the differences between the types (shorter, glossy, colored comics created in the US compared to longer, black-and-white comics made in Japan), the explanation of their popularity and introduction into culture, relevant words such as "manga," "anime," and "bone," and how to implement them in classrooms, to name just a few. The author addresses ways that graphic novels can benefit student attention and understanding, as well as test scores, and ways to makes sure that what they choose and us is inclusive of all students. McTaggart even makes recommendations on implementing graphic novel use in the classroom, across several grade groups, to help teachers who want to use them in their lessons. Overall, this is a very informative read for teachers looking to become "hip" with their teaching process, and to utilize new ways of displaying information and sharing/covering stories with their students in new and engaging ways.

 The last article, titled "Comics, the Canon, and the Classroom" by James Bucky Carter, explores how teachers can utilize anime and graphic novels in their classroom and apply it to their lessons, as well as explaining how and why graphic novels are beneficial in lessons. He references research that suggests that "mixing words and images...is a great way to foster comprehension and memory skills." He also addresses that part of the reason that comics aren't used more frequently has to do with "political indigestion" and general reluctance by teachers, even though most teachers acknowledge that concept maps, word webs, and graphs are beneficial for remembering important information; "sequential art...is (simply) rarely seen in the same light." There are concerns about age-appropriate comic books, but frankly this feels like a copout since most of us were made to read "Lord of the Flies" in high school, and we all know that wasn't about roses and smiles. Carter posits that the newness of comics is what may be the largest inhibitor of implementing more comics into teacher's lesson plans, as well as possible reluctance of school policy when it comes to allowing teachers to use them in their classrooms. If we are able to turn certain canon literatures into comic books, such as To Kill A Mockingbird, we may be able to introduce more graphic novels into classrooms, showing that they are useful and beneficial, possibly even more beneficial than simple textbook canon readings, which starts a change in policy and traditional teachings. Overall, the author states that there is no simple or easy way to answer why so many teachers are opposed to using comics within their classes; and this article is not looking to radically change how we teach class, just add to it a new form of media and learning to help reach more students in newer ways through additional mediums. 

This unit was very informative on how we as teachers can utilize graphic novels, alternative approaches, and other unique and new methods to further help our students delve into their understands and create their own connections to what we teach them. If what we teach students has changed over the years with newer information, then how we teach them should change in a similar manner; using new technology, teaching methods, alternative lessons, and different types of texts. We cannot maintain the way that we teach things if we want to continue to grow as a species or a nation. We must change, adapt, adopt, and progress with our methods, instead of maintaining a conservative approach to education and, ultimately, the future of this country, that being our students.