In the book “Secret Coders,” the plot follows the story of Hopper and her experiences at a new school with her friend Eni, who teaches her about programming and coding. Together, and with the addition of another friend, they work to unlock the secrets of the school as well as more about Hopper’s past. In the “Tapping Into Parallel Universes” article, the writers describe how the use of images as well as the language help to create a whole-picture description in the literary genre of comics. Comics use pop culture to touch on gender, social inequality, violence, and many other topics that relate to sociolofy and can form many useful conversations in the classroom. In the McCloud TEDx Talk, I noticed his connection of his passion of comics with his knowledge of technology, coming together to talk about the ineffencies and effencies of post-print comics. This connects to Yang’s TEDxTalk about the use of comics in the classroom. He mentioned his expereince with using comics to teach math, allowing students to learn visually and at their own pace, without looking at a screen, proving comics to be a uniquely helpful medium.
In the McCloud TEDx Talk, I was really moved by the moment where he said that at 14 years old, he was introduced to comics and then decided that was what he wanted to do when he grew up. Personally, I wanted to be a doctor up until I was 14. My parents were extremely proud of my goals and I was on track to do so in terms of my grades and extracurriculars. It was not until I met my Freshman English teacher that I realized teaching was truly my calling. My parents were initially dissapointed that I would not be a rich doctor and instead had to face the wrath of dealing with tough administration, unruly students, and impolite parents. Now, my parents have started warming up to the idea, espcially since they see how passionate I am about it. And when my students talk about wanting to be a writer or archeologist or pilot, I support them because I know how it feels to be told you shouldn’t pursue specific things.
What subject do you wish was in comic form? Why?
Alicia's Blog 
Hi Alicia, if comic books were used in K-12 curriculum more I would like to see socioemotional issues represented in this form. After reading and watching the Arthur interactive material and listening to the podcast on Dora I think incorporating socioemotional learning in a variety of mediums can provide more opportunities for children to learn how to treat others. I believe believe real life behavior modeling is the primary source of learning for children but having additional resources to support character development is valuable.
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Hi Alicia,
I am really glad that you have found something that you are truly passionate about and love doing. It’s even more impressive that you were able to go against your parents needs and decided for yourself at such a young age. Personally, I never really thought about what I wanted to do until my senior year of high school when I was applying for colleges. The subject that I wish to see in comic form has to be math. I feel like its such a dry and complicated subject to learn, especially for young kids, but being able to see something like this in an inviting and fun manner will probably be really helpful.
Best,
Tony
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