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