Scott McCloud

This guy absolutely loves comics! The best aspect of his book Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels was the whole book being written in comic form. Scott has a web page with supplemental information on the chapter "Tools, Techniques and Technology" that he calls chapter 5 1/2. I like the fact that the online supplement talks about color, and the reader can actually see the color. The book doesn't have any color in it.

I never really realized how much detail goes into drawing a comic. Also, I never imagined how much information and detail can be given through just the picture and not the words. For example, page 84 shows the vast array of facial features to show emotions. There are sooooo many! I would never be able to draw that many emotions on just a face without the guidance and detail Scott gives in this book.

As I was looking up Scott on the Internet, I found something he did that might be something fun to try with students. Scott and a friend had a contest to create the 24-hour comic. He describes it in detail on his site.

Class Reflection

I have enjoyed our class this semester. The strategy demonstrations were my favorite part of the class. More classes throughout the college requirement sheet should do activities like this. I felt that it came to late in my college career. This assignment gave the class a lot of really good ideas to use in the classroom. Furthermore, I think it would be even better if the lessons/ideas were collected into one document and emailed to the class listserve.

Also, I enjoyed parts of the writing workshop. In the beginning, I was a little reserved about sharing any of my writing with the class; however, after reading the pieces from my peers, it wasn't as scary. The length of the assignment was daunting until I actually began to write. When I made the time, the words just seemed to flow out onto the page. The class discussion was the only aspect of this process that I didn't enjoy. I felt as though the track changes were enough for me. It might be good for some people, but I'm not the tell-people-what-I-think type. In my own class, I would allow class discussion on the pieces of writing, but it would not be part of the grade.

Finally, I really appreciated the time Dr. Kist devoted to answering student questions and listening to our comments or stories at the beginning of each class. This helped me feel more relaxed and less stressed out about the semester. I enjoyed hearing about my classmates' experiences and their own struggles.

Paying Students for Grades

I know that many people do not agree with giving students money as a reward for good grades; however, I think it is a good idea for many reasons. First of all, teachers are preparing students to become functional, tax-paying citizens. This means that students will need to be able to find and keep jobs! Also, they will be getting paid to do their work. So why not have the incentive of money for doing good school work. Workers get bonuses for a job well done; therefore, students should get a bonus for a job well done. I'm sure that math teachers can use the fact that students are getting paid for some type of educational benefit! Have the students calculate interest if they keep their money in a savings account...lol!

Secondly, I believe that this type of reward system might be better used in low-income communities. When parents do not make enough money, sometimes their children will have to find jobs as early as thirteen years old. Working and doing school work is not an easy task, and some teenagers are trying to work as close to forty hours as possible. Maybe if students didn't have to worry so much about getting a job, they could focus more on academics.