Graphic Novels

I recently read The Complete Persepolis and was amazed at how it held my attention. At first, I was dreading this long, comic book type read. It's going to be difficult, confusing, or just plain boring. Comic books were never really my type of literature to read. This graphic novel was actually hard to put down. I wanted to know what was going to happen next as if reading any other novel. Cool! It's definitely a new experience trying to read the text and look at all the artwork. It took more time to read through than just text. This type of novel might help those students who are visual learners. The pictures give clues to feelings and thoughts of the characters that some might not pick up on with text alone. Before reading, I thought this type of novel wouldn't be part of my curriculum. Now, I think it's a nice change from the text-only novels. I'm curious to know how many English teachers use graphic novels because this was the first time I've encountered one.

Cell Phones

I recently read an article in the Tribune Chronicle about a school using cell phones instead of computers.(not the Tribune article, but relevant)(another article) At first, I thought...kinda neat! Then, I kept thinking about it. I wondered how this would help a student with disabilities. A student with low vision might have problems reading on a tiny screen. Students with cerebral palsy might have a hard time holding a cell phone in their hands. Also, I don't understand the need to eliminate the use of a computer. I know it takes up space, but is that a major problem schools are facing today? This relates to the article in class about cell phone novels. I don't think they are a bad thing like some of the critics in the article claimed. Creating a novel on your cell phone is a unique twist to the typical book novel. I don't think there is anything wrong with having both in our world. If students, or anyone else, will write a novel through their cell phone instead of a word processor, then...GREAT! But let's not take away the merits of our big computers and word processors just yet. Instead of focusing on how these novels came to be, we should celebrate the creative minds behind the words!!

Media Writing

I am currently thinking on how to incorporate a teaching idea into a news story for my Media Writing class. The professor wants us to write a news feature dealing with the media. Since I am a INLA major, I would like to somehow link the two ideas. My first idea is to say that the media portrays a negative image about our educators and educational system. My second idea was to discuss how teachers might incorporate the media into learning. I remember cutting out news articles from the paper to bring into class in high school. I'm just not sure what purpose that served. At the moment, I can't even remember if it was for English class or Government....My third idea is to say how teachers can implement new media into their curriculum.