Pleasantly Surprised!

Before I discuss what was learned by the articles and Wilhelm's chapter on visual learning in a language arts setting, I first want to clarify that I was never much of a comic reader. I found them useless, mindless, and far from engaging. However, after reading American Born Chinese, I found a whole new love for this genre. The book was a quick read, however, there was much more to it than what meets the eye. Beyond the three stories that end up being connected, all three different characters face internal battles with themselves as a minority. As Jin Wang enters a new school he struggled with the stereotypes that come along with a foreign student. With slanted eyes and different hobbies, Jin ddint't fit in with his peers and found himself wishing he was something far from himself. I believe that a lot of people, especially in their late middle school and early high school years, struggle with fitting in and wish they were someone else. Unlike Jin, not everyone has the oppertunity to "magically" change into what he thought was a perfect depiction of popularity and success in a high school setting. He does not believe that who he is personally is good enough for the standards that society puts on him. This was my short love for the genre. I think a lot of students, "popular" or not can relate to this  novel because I believe everyone has a time in their life where they are unsure of themselves and their role.

Besides the novel, I was suprised at how postive the results were in Wilhelm's research of using visuals in the classroom to reinforce reader response actually were. In the cases of his three "test students," Wilhelm was able to gage the the progress from the different activies given in class and the actions of the students following them. In the beginning, all three students struggled to read and lacked the basic skills of concecting a picture to the words on page. As time progressed, some of the students were reading novels and searching for more books in the school library. This to me was amazing. I would not have guessed that using pictures in the classroom in the variety of projects that he used would have been as effective as they were. Relating it to the novel we read for class, I can now see the how pulling from different genres is important and can reach an array of different students. Especially in the lower levels, using pictures worked exceptionally well. One of my favorite techniques discussed in Wilhelm's chapter was the idea of picture mapping. Note taking, even for an advanced student, seems dull. Drawing pictures of the main events in the story, instead of simply writing a bullet point about them, is a lot more affective to the students because it allows them to make the connections to the plot, climax, conflict, and characters in the storyline. If they are pulling from their own imagination, they are more likely to remember the sequence of the story and better relate to it because what they are studying from is their own drawings. One way that I think I would use this technique in my own classroom would be to include it in the classics discussed in the previous class. Sometimes the classics, although demed "classic" for their importance, tend to confuse and turn students away from the meaning behind it. If we ask them to simplify the novels and break them down into their three parts: rising action, climax, and falling action. Once the story is simplified in the eyes of the student, it may be easier for them to understand what is actually happening and the importance of it.

Also, stepping away from Wilhelm's chapter, I found it interesting the role that simple techniques have in comic strips. For example, simply making CAPITAL letters or bolding a word can make a big difference on how the reader is to respond. I guess I always just over looked that these are important aspects to comic strips, and just simply read them for what they were. Especially in comics, it's interesting that even the shape of the word bubble can define what the character is saying, without using different word techniques. I found myself reading comics outloud and comparing the pictures with the tone of how my voice sounded with the words on the screen. I would then change my emphasis to another word and tried to compare how different they sounded, with just that small change. IF you're reading this, don't laugh but try it... you'd be suprised on how much one emphasis can change in the meaning. I think that this skill can also be used in everyday life. The way we confront our students is important, and we have to be aware of our tone when we speak to them. Even if we are having a difficult day as Wilhelm did with this struggling students, we must try to keep our composure and come across as the professional we are trying to be.