Feelings Overall

In all, this was a great teaching experience. In addition to enhancing the learning environment for students and increasing engagement on a whole throughout each English class, we also opened the minds of many colleagues. We were able to effectively demonstrate the learning opportunities that graphic text provides and supplied teachers with numerous resources. The sharing day on May 9 was probably the most positive experience I've been apart of in terms of professional development as an educator. People were intrigued and more than willing to participate throughout the day. I knew that after the formal component of the sharing day was complete and we continued to discuss concepts after the fact with our colleagues that our TLLP had been successful in achieving the objectives initially set-out. J. Castagna

Impressions at the end

This TLLP was a great experience for me. I was of the mind that comics were for 'little boys' and that graphic novels were better suited for the audience at ComicCon - I just didn't see them in a school setting. After implementing the graphic novel version of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with my Essential level students, I could not have been more wrong. If you treat the text (even a comic!) as an academic piece of literature then you can help students learn all of the terms and strategies that they need. I am excited to continue finding engaging material that will interest my students. They have already been through all the comics that have been made available for leisure reading - now I am looking for new ways to find more! This project has proven to engage students, but what really suprised me was how much I was motivated by the new material. I still wouldn't call myself a 'comic book person' but just seeing how much the students are interested in texts makes me want to find source material for them. I would encourage anyone to look to their students when trying to find some new energy and material. Let their interests guide you. If the learners are engaged then the teacher will naturally be more motivated and the classroom will be a happier place for everyone - that sounds pretty good to me! Jessica

Comments about our Sharing Day

These are just a few comments about our May 9, 2014 sharing day. I have left these anonymous but have the sources of each if anyone is interested: “Wow! The presentation and discussion about the use of graphic texts and comics were very helpful to me and I plan on using many of the ideas in my English classes. The information and ideas were relevant and useful for all levels and all grades. Great day!” “The PD opportunity put on by Liana and crew was one of the most rewarding I've had the pleasure to experience in a long while. The ability to leave a workshop with hands-on activities that can be implemented the very next day is always a teacher's dream! Further to this, I left the workshop with a slew of new graphic texts that I was now more familiar with and purchased for my department. All teachers leading the various sessions provided us with access to creative approaches, success stories, downloadable materials, and expertise regarding teaching students how to be successful with these types of texts. Great workshop!” "An excellent opportunity to learn new approaches and techniques - the presenters helped me move towards effective use of technology and rekindled my love for comic books!" "The sharing experience on comic books in the classroom was an excellent opportunity to see the creative, engaging, and differentiated lessons going on in other classrooms. It's is always a wonderful experience to share best practices. In particular, the multimedia presentations, including access to i-Pads, helped to facilitate teacher interaction and growth." "Graphic novels are an underused genre in the English classroom. I left the session with new ideas for sharing comics with my students and engaging them in whole new ways. Like other texts, they need to be explicitly taught - even to teachers - and the session showed how graphic novels can be a powerful tool to teach important literacy skills while engaging some often hard to reach learners." "Having spent much of my time teaching in a different discipline, I found it truly interesting to listen and observe the various techniques that can be used by teachers to improve student literacy skills. The enthusiasm by presenters and participants was palpable. Congratulations on a job well done." I will be adding more comments as they come in.

May 9th Sharing Session

May 9th was a great day! Joe Castagna started us off with an excellent presentation on introducing the basic structure of a graphic text into the classroom. There is a whole other language to comic books that I was not aware of until I started this TLLP! Thank goodness Joe is a big comic book fan! He provided us all with excellent resources and information! Colin, our guest star from the Chatham board, was an amazing addition to the sharing session. He had some wonderful examples of the work he has done with iPads, iPhones, apps and other devices in his class. His ideas were engaging and exciting and clearly showed that technology in the classroom can be a useful tool, not a distraction. I spoke about my experience using the graphic version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I enjoyed discussing the idea of presenting the text as a real piece of literature, not an abridged version for the less intelligent. I think it is extremely important to focus on the self-esteem of our students as intellectuals - no matter what their capabilities may be. Melissa Tellier focused on her exciting work with the graphic text, Macbeth. She had so many great ideas for Essential and Applied level students! The strategies that she used with her class (trading cards, etc.) to get them into the difficult Shakespearean tale were really useful - be sure to check them out under resources! Liana brought together some truly amazing educators from all over the Windsor area and beyond. The sharing session was a great experience with some truly valuable professional development. Thanks so much to everyone who came and shared their ideas and opinions! Jessica

May 9th PD Prep

Our group has been busy preparing for the big sharing session. Despite the work involved, it has been exciting to gather all the information and to see the large volume of work that has been put together thus far. Most exciting is the diverse collection of comics that has been purchased from Rogue Comics. These will be distributed during our sharing sessions. It is our hope that students throughout the system will be reading these exciting graphic texts and that teachers will find a way to add these reading materials to their daily routines. In addition, Liana Cote has created some great learning posters to distribute to the teachers in attendance. They are bright, colourful and easy to read. Both teachers and students will find them easy to use as reference images when teaching the lessons provided. We have some great guest speakers lined up who have some wonderful ideas and perspectives to add to the session. We are all looking forward to some really valuable PD! Jessica

May 9 Share-Day

After it was all said and done our workshop on Friday, May 9 definitely proved to be an insightful and motivating event. Insightful in that all who attended came away with resources and teaching concepts that will be highly beneficial in the classroom. Over the course of the day much conversation was generated in regards to successful teaching approaches among all teachers who were present. Not only were multiple teaching concepts in English uncovered, but also how to overcome learning difficulties among an array of students from a Special Education perspective. The event was found to be motivating due largely in part to the focus and excitement throughout the educators in the audience. There was a eagerness to learn present, not because anyone was mandated to participate, but because there was a sincere interest in trying to incorporate graphic text and the concepts being presented. Although there was a great deal of work required to coordinate the day, it was well worth the effort considering the positive feedback we have received since May 9. In addition, the collaborative work sessions we held throughout the past year have been incredibly productive. I feel that from the onset of this TLLP our energy has been building continually with the new resources we have uncovered and the materials we were able to obtain. In turn, this energy was reciprocated by the teachers engaged in our workshop and has resulted in a true effort to implement graphic text, iPad applications, and various teaching models (SAMR as an example). In all, comparing this TLLP to my previous experience in working in a TLLP, I found it to be much more engaging based upon the concept and material. Also this TLLP is beneficial to any English teacher across any level of learning. Lastly, the resources we were able to acquire can be easily integrated in the classroom and highly relevant to students in today's learning environment. J. Castagna

I met a new inspirational teacher today at MISA and he showed me this:

... and I used Padlet to show students these two new apps...

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