It Was Always the Pictures

I really enjoyed reading this article because it contained many good ideas for me in my future classroom. I think having many different ways to create visual aids could benefit many students in a classroom, despite their classification in a school setting.

I particularly liked the section on using graphic organizers. When I was student teaching at Pine Grove Middle School, my sixth graders were taught about different forms of graphics organizers. It was established by the grade level that graphic organizers was something teachers really wanted students to learn and utilize. In every sixth grade classroom there were about 10 posters hanging on the walls with each one showing a different layout for a graphic organizer. Students were encouraged to use whatever style worked best for them whenever they felt it might help them.

As a teacher in this setting, I felt it was my job to structure lessons and activities around the possibility of using a graphic organizer. I wanted my students to have the chance, if they choose to use it, to use the graphic organizer and receive as much practice as possible while I could be there to guide them through it. I thought it was great that all the teachers were working with the graphic organizers and that there were so many different choices for students to choose that hopefully everyone was able to find a style that would work for him/her.