Reflection # 7

      The article of Gene Yang is in a comic format that explains how to use graphic models in classrooms. He states that graphic models are a combination of image and text. To use graphic models in a classroom brings many benefits. Graphic models help students who are struggling with reading, since it has visuals. Graphic models are permanent, which gives the opportunity for the students to read at their own rhythm without any pressure and to go back to reread.
      The Gene Yang’s blog is place where people can see his publish comic books and leave comments. He encourages teachers to use effective methods of teaching with graphic models. I am in favor of Gene’s point since graphic novels could motivate students who doesn’t like to read and also could get students out of the technology obsession for a while by reading. It helps students in their cognitive, language and creative area.

                             *Example-"The Eternal Smile"

                                                                                     by Gene Yang

*Question: Does this method of graphic models is effective for all grade levels? Or until which grade level it’s effective for students?

*Date: November 1, 2010

*Time: 2:06 am

Reflection # 6

            Since I want to be a teacher of little children, I could create an activity called “multicolor Christmas object.” I could cut squares from four different colors of construction paper and have four little bowls of those same four colors of the squares and make the children put the squares in their correct bowls and then count them. After they practice their math skills, if it’s Christmas time, I could give them a variety of Christmas stuffs, such as snowflakes, Santa Clause hats and snowmen cut from a white poster board and tell them to choose among those three so they could stick with glue the squares on top.

In this activity, the children could practice their math skills by counting how many squares have the same color or how many squares they will use in their Christmas object and etc. Also, the children could have an art experience by having the opportunity to decorate a Christmas object with the squares. The purpose is for the children to practice their math skills while at same time using their creativity in decorating a Christmas object. After the children finished their Christmas objects, I could make holes on tops of the objects in order for the families to hang up their children work in their real Christmas tree.

*Question: Is this exercise a good balance between math and art?

*Date: October 25, 2010

*Time: 12: 52 am

Reflection # 5

     Rube Goldberg was an engineer known for his great inventions and on how he portrayed it. He expressed his work through art; he explained a task by drawing the process. Some examples of task solutions he made through drawings were How to get the cotton out of an aspirin candy and How to keep shop windows clean. He selected a simple task and transformed it to a complicated and interesting task, since he explained the process step by step.

     I will like to apply Rube Goldberg’s ideas in my future classroom. As Oakley says in his article, students aren’t always book smart; some students understand better through art. Some children need to see and understand a task step by step, like Goldberg portrayed the tasks. For example, I might apply these types of task solutions by drawing to the children the process of how to wash their hands. It is a simple task but a very important one in which many children gets confused.  For some children seeing this task step by step trough a drawing, they might understand better than by just explaining it orally.

*Question: Since Goldberg’s process of explaining a task goes from simple to complicated, might some students get confused?

*Date: October 17, 2010

*Time: 6:36 pm