Yesterday I observed a very powerful videoconference activity in Keith Ward's English class. The students had read Persepolis, a graphic novel about story of a young girl's life under the Islamic Revolution. The class connected with a class of college students at SUNY Cortland who were participating in a Young Adult Literature Course. The college students had also read the graphic novel. The groups took turns asking each other questions about the novel and thoughts about the use of pictures in the story. There was a small panel of guests at ESM who answered questions about graphic novels. The panel consisted of an artist who is working on a graphic novel, a writer of a graphic novel, and a representative from Cloud City Comics.
It was very interesting to hear the students from SUNY Cortland asking the high school students what their thoughts were about graphic novels, why they enrolled in the class with Keith Ward, and what they thought made a good class. Some of the students from SUNY Cortland mentioned that they were going to become a teacher and were very interested in the students' thoughts. The college students also asked the high school students what they were reading outside of class and what graphic novels or comics they should read next.
What a great experience!
