Comic Book Creation as Learning

         Before I attended the Faculty of Education at Western, I was teaching English as a Foreign Language abroad in South Korea. Before I had learned about differentiated instruction and assessment, I was always looking for creative ways to keep the students engaged. Learning a new language can be frustrating, and usually the hour they spent with me three times a week was the only time they were using English. Most of my students were only studying English because their parents pushed them to, and because it is considered a requirement to be considered successful.

        Teaching at a private language institute in South Korea typically involved rote memorization through repetition in both speaking and writing. Students would drill vocabulary and sentence structure, but very rarely had the opportunity to use their creativity and express anything other than routine, scripted conversation.

        My students were so excited when I presented them with the assignment to create their own comic book, with no restrictions on content or required vocabulary. The success criteria for this project was simple: tell any story using English in a 3-4 page comic book. This exercise demonstrated the importance of allowing students to express and demonstrate their learning in non tradition and creative ways that play to their strengths as learners.

If we can find ways to make learning and assessment both valuable and fun then students will not only be more invested in their learning, but may also be more likely to want to continue studying that subject.

        Just as there is more than one way to learn, there is of course more than one way to express that learning. As a student of history and English I of course see and recognize the value of traditional assessment through essays and exams, but I believe that there is room in our instruction for assessment that allows students to make connections between their academic knowledge and the things they enjoy.

        This comic strip is a first draft done by one of my grade 5 student named Lily. When I came back from Korea I brought some of the comic strips my students had created as keepsakes of my time there. Now I realize that this was the birthplace of my belief in constructivist student centred learning, where we place students as key contributors to their learning. What better way to ask a student to buy in, and invest in their own learning than by giving them the option to express that learning in ways that cater to their interests and strengths as learners.