Teaching Visual Literacy by: Matt Dickman

Teaching Visual Literacy by: Matt Dickman
Text: Graphic Novel Classroom: POWerful Teaching and Learning with Images 
by Maureen Bakis)
1.) What was this text about?
The book Graphic Novel Classroom: POWerful Teaching and Learning with Images, was very informative when it comes to what texts should be taught in a high school classroom and what strategies the author, Maureen Bakis, uses in her classroom to help aid the students’ learning of graphic novels. 
The following paragraph will introduce some of Bakis’ teaching methods. Bakis starts her class with a TedTalk video about graphic novels. She tries to find videos with McCloud in them, as she believes Scott McCloud does a great job explaining what a graphic novel is about, the importance of graphic novels in the classroom, and how to teach them to students. Bakis then allows for discussion to take place about what the students have heard about her class, why they took the class, and how many of them enjoy or have read graphic novels before. Bakis then moves on to highlight the importance of allowing students to create and assist her in constructing a rubric for the class. This helps students define what an A looks like and how they can earn it. After this, her book then moves in to discuss other books that she uses in her classroom such as American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (to teach about stereotypes and culture), Persepolis by Marjane Satrap (to expose students to other cultures, as the author describes her experiences as a child in Iran), Maus by Art Spigelman (exposing students to World War Two), and The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller as well as V for Vendetta by Alan Moore (to expose students to superheroes and vigilantes). Bakis also uses student examples of comics and responses to show how she teaches some of these, as well as what forms she uses for discussions such as in-class and online discussions. Throughout the book she also highlights other methods she uses to help students analyze and create their own visual literacy.
           2.) Why did I choose this text?
I chose this text because I wanted to learn from a teacher on how to teach visual literacy. I also chose this text because I really like graphic novels even though I was just recently introduced to them. I think that this was a great read for a future teacher and it helped me understand that it is important to teach visual literacy and graphic novels in many different ways, especially in having discussions and letting the students have just as much voice as a teacher in the classroom. In this book, Bakis allows for students to take the lead and teach other students what they have learned using text evidence to try to convince the class that their point of view was how the text was meant to be read. I liked this because I believe a lot of what is learned is through listening to others and it provides for an appreciation for how others think. The text had all but one really good review, and I was excited to look online at the website that the author had created to go along with the book, such as lesson plans. Unfortunately the website is no longer available so I will not be providing a link to it.  
           
3.) Teaching Ideas
The first teaching idea that I thought was important was, as I listed earlier, conducting a survey to see where the class is at when it comes to reading and understanding the type of literature that will be covered in the text, in this case being graphic novels. Conducting a survey to see where students are at is key in building a good foundation for lesson plans. The second is letting students assist the teacher in creating a rubric. This creates less stress on the students by creating a way for the students to express what they feel an A looks like and allows them to be more creative and try new things in the classroom without being worried about whether or not they will fail the class because of it. It is important that students try new things and learn from their mistakes, otherwise learning can become both difficult and frightening. The third is having the students both analyze the text that they are reading and write an essay about it, as well as creating their own graphics and visuals. Allowing students to create their own work allows for a growing appreciation in the students for the process and work it takes to create different literary mediums. 
4.) Difficulties in teaching these methods
Some difficulties with these teaching methods were listed in the text, and include for example, having students participate in discussion when teaching. This can be difficult when a topic is sensitive and it can be hard for a student to feel like they have a voice or think they will be judged by their peers, especially when they are in high school. Bakis combated this with the chance to allow students to participate in online discussions. Another problem that would arise is getting students to be motivated to read and want to understand the texts. I think this would be the most difficult to control because as a teacher it can be very hard to get students motivated to read. Bakis did not really explain how she got the students motivated but instead described how much reading graphic novels helped her students with other literature and shared some of their reasons for that. The other problem that I thought would arise when teaching a visual literacy class or a class on graphic novels would be allowing students to help create the rubric. I have done this in previous classes, but that was in college where kids are more mature and seem to care more about their grades because they are paying for it. How would a teacher get students to care about their grades or make sure that students don’t take advantage of the teacher letting the students help create the rubric? That is something that I would have loved Muareen Bakis to cover in her book.
5.) Anything else that you want students to know?
I would like to take the time to say that I really did enjoy this book and thought it helped grow my understanding on how to teach graphic novels in the classroom. I think words and pictures often go together and allow for students to have an even greater understanding of literature and how to tell the story. If you are a future teacher and have an interest in graphic novels and plan to use them in your classroom, read this book!
POWERPOINT: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kO1E7DIqLDZmDtTX8j_mZwXCnW0gHOtFd6djs1kMisM/edit?usp=sharing




LINK TO TEXT: https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Novel-Classroom-POWerful-Teaching/dp/1628737344/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0/138-7148852-9004430?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1628737344&pd_rd_r=bbd1e72c-46f3-4e95-8488-201bcec9ca51&pd_rd_w=qHqm3&pd_rd_wg=lj0Hl&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=TP8DJMKDHXEJB8VZJCH3&psc=1&refRID=TP8DJMKDHXEJB8VZJCH3


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