Comic Genius

Today I felt like taking a bit of a different direction and talking about my actual career and how it relates to comic books. If you’ve seen my “About” info, you know that I’m an English teacher. It’s a career that makes it completely OK for me to be a book nerd, which I totally am. I actually take a book to school with me every day, and use any free time I have to read. It’s not only because I’m a total book nerd and I love to read, but also because I think it’s a good way for kids to see people reading for pleasure and not just because it’s part of an assignment.

I went through a long streak this year where I was reading what my students call “real books,” or “books without pictures.” I had my fair share of students amazed at the fact that I could read a book without pictures because they were so used to seeing me read comic books at school. But I had the opportunity to teach them that comic books have the same kind of insight available to them as regular books, so I jumped on it immediately.

In a Novels class of about 6 special education students, we had about 2 weeks of lag time between books, and the main teacher in the classroom gave me the opportunity to teach a comic book to the students because she knew how much they interested me. I, of course, chose a Superman book since he is the character I know the most about, and we read Birthright. The difference between their reactions when they first heard and when they first laid eyes on the book was truly a sight to see.

I think what I enjoyed the most about being able to teach a comic book in the classroom is that I was able to employ basic story elements and make sure that the book wasn’t considered a blow-off or a waste of time. And I know that if I ever get the chance to teach it again that I will do some things differently, but it was great to know that I had a way to get students to read. One student in particular simply does not like to read, but if you put a comic book in front of him, he will read the book as fast as he can and request the next one as soon as possible. Knowing that I can use comic books to get kids to read makes me all the more eager to find ways to use them in the classroom more.

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