SHU Stories from the Heart

How can graphic novel stories be used to enhance student learning? By; Stephanie Bosworth   A P.D. that I attended during the 2019-2020 school year at Stamford Public Schools was about using graphic novels to help students understand important concepts. While I have never been a fan of graphic novels the P.D. day changed my perspective about these types of books. I also walked away from that P.D. with a new understanding of how using these can make a big impact on learners.      Believe it or not, even though I am a history teacher I do not really like to read all that much. It takes a really good book, (possibly historical fiction) for me to read. I think most of it comes from the fact that I was forced to read a lot throughout my schooling. For the most part, I find reading tedious, especially if the book has a long-drawn-out plot. I began to wonder if some of my students felt the same about reading and completing the DBQ’s I would give them every time they had t...

Play, Story, and the Imagination By Kate Greenberg     If there were two things I loved as a child, they were playing pretend and telling stories. My parents joke that my catchphrase was, "And guess what?" This was my go-to question for ensuring my audience was interested in the story I was telling.     My twin sister and I have both complemented our parents on their approach to play and language in our formative years. Between my sister studying for her doctorate in audiology and me completing my master's degree in elementary education, early language development and acquisition is a shared topic of interest. We often call each other to discuss what we have learned through our individual program's different approaches. We quickly came to the consensus that language acquisition and play in early childhood share a direct link, and despite not being aware of the science, our parents seemed to have an innate understanding of this. We are grateful for the steps our paren...

 Storytelling & The Narrative Classroom By: Grace Luppino      As an educator I've always embraced the theory of Multiple Intelligences in my practice but I'd often times struggle with how to articulate the way that I learn. I've never been the biggest note taker or flash card enthusiast so, often times I'd just find myself listening in class-no notebook or laptop in sight but my ears were kept wide open trying to take in as much as I could. I still did well on exams and assignments because the way I was able to recall information was through the anecdotes my teachers told.  I learn best through stories and real life connection. And many of the stories that were told through out my education I can still recall today, because stories stick in a place in your brain that flash card memorization doesn't.  The point I'm trying to make is that I think that the power of storytelling in the classroom is often overlooked. Sure, study guides and other traditiona...