Week 3 - Sept. 20
Thanks to technology, we are living in what Schmidt and Kruger-Ross call a “visually saturated world.” Our students (and even us as educators) are glued to our pocket-sized computers and taking in more information than our brains are equipped to handle. How can we ensure that we are equipping our students with the necessary tools to evaluate and comprehend the never-ending onslaught of info?
Set your Sights on Visual Literacy!
The foundation of visual literacy is rooted in three applications to visual text (VT):
understanding visual text
learning to read visual text
producing visual text
Elliot Eisner (1989) built the foundation for visual literacy in his work and believed that the text is not the only possible element for making meaning. Images and the context they build are equally important. In our visual world, it is more important than ever for every educator to integrate arts-based pedagogy into the classroom, and not just for the sake for saving the arts (though that is an incredibly important battle we continue to face).
“When are we going to leave “real-reading” in the dust?”
If you read my post last week, you saw the quote from Dr. Vasinda on giving students access to the same tools that are being used out in the world. Our entire career is built on this belief that we are responsible for preparing them for the real-world…so why are visual texts not considered “real-reading” in our classrooms? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pointing fingers any fingers here, but I AM tired of being expected to only allow a student to choose to read a graphic novel as an accommodation, rather than just supporting their choice. Okay…maybe I am pointing a pinky at school librarians I have experienced that literally spend their time tracking how many graphic novels a student is ‘allowed’ to check out during a school year because, and I quote, “Graphic novels are great, but real words are BETTER!” Are visual texts a fantastic student accommodation? Absolutely, and I know we all use this strategy often for our reluctant readers. If we can get a kid into a book, that is a huge win and it’s even better when they choose it themselves! Why are we so quick to limit this choice when it comes to illustrations being included?
Let me jump off this soapbox before I set it in fire and watch the blaze take over.
Some of the best texts I encountered in my undergrad have stuck with me due to their visual components. From my Adolescent Literacy class, A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness will never leave me. I can still vividly see the illustrations depicting the intense denial and grief Conor was struggling to cope with, and I remember the meaningful conversations we had on our individual interpretations and extensions we created with our own visual depictions of the same emotions. From my Graphic Novel class, Maus by Art Spiegelman has illustrations that I draw concerning connections to in our world to this day. The contrast of the mice and the cats helps readers truly understand the realities of the holocaust in ways that written text never could, especially our young readers that we so desperately need to understand the realities of hatred and unconfronted control. All literacy is POWER, no matter what shape it takes.
“What it means to consume and produce texts is changing as digital technologies offer new opportunities…”
-Margin Memo, Schmidt & Kruger-Ross
Created with imgflip Meme Generator
Consuming Visual texts: Memes and Infographics
Our students are speaking on entirely new language these days. Woah…reading this back is making me feel like the old cranky teacher in the building and I’m only in year four. I don’t know about you, but I think I would be happy if I never heard the phrase “siiix-seeeeven” screamed across my classroom ever again (not in a ‘these darn kids’ way, but in a ‘stop interrupting my class’ way). Back in my day (joke intended) we ran around screaming “YAAAAAS” and calling everyone “bae” and I remember it driving my teachers insane. One day, my history teacher flipped the script and started saying “YAAAAAS” when someone answered a question correctly. Suddenly we were fighting to be called on just to hear him yell a phrase most other teacher’s were trying to ban for their own sanity.
Using memes in the classroom is an incredible comprehension opportunity. Whether we allow students to make one of us or a character in a story, memes generate student voice and choice. During my first-year teaching I had an eighth grade student begin creating memes about The Outsiders as we were reading the novel. What is important about this situation is I couldn’t have told you that this student was ever paying attention in class and they made it very clear that they did not like reading and hated being there. We didn’t even have a conversation as their creation spoke for itself and opened a new window of communication that they created on their own. I no longer have access to those files, but memes quickly became a classroom staple that year.
With the push to limit phone usage in class, however, I noticed immediately that my students were struggling to shift their visual technology skills from one tech tool to another: their Chromebook. In my first two years, if they had the option to use their phone for a digital project, most of them thrived. Something about the district-supplied device made them despise doing anything that wasn’t trying to break through website blockers and playing Papa’s Pizzeria. Now that I have been in a phone-free school for two years, it has been interesting to see how students respond to utilizing tech tools and the attack strategies that they implement when bumps are encountered.
One way I could utilize meme creation in my class this semester would be in images pulled from our viewing of “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street” from The Twilight Zone. I think this would really help them connect to the episode we watch after the reading, as they struggle to interact with black-and-white media. Students could draw text-to-world or text-to-self connections based on the characters in the story and apply those connections to meme’d images of the characters/scenes. I’m in the early-development stage of the activity…any ideas or strategies you have used are appreciated!
“Now more than ever, students need skills to evaluate the validity of information being shared while also determining the source and understanding how the information is presented.”
Infographics are a powerful tool to push students to effectively communicate information in a concise format. My seventh graders struggle big time with keeping their writing on the tracks. I admire their creativity, but I recognize that we have to work on skills to make sure we are communicating what is required first and adding in the sparkle later. I see this the most in our debate unit in the spring. Students are assigned a topic to research the pros and cons of, then they are assigned one side or the other to defend in a formal debate. These are broad topics, and the struggle to break down the information into the important bites is clear. To help remedy this, I think students could find success in collaborating to create an infographic about the side (pro or con) that they are assigned. I hope that in the creation of their own infographics, we will be able to have meaningful conversations on the importance of the how and why of a piece of information being presented can impact and even manipulate the consumer.
