What is visual literacy? According to Visual Literacy, it is “the ability to derive meaning from images of everything that we see.” The site goes on to say that it is vital for every field and is an integral tool for critical thinking. I suppose the saying a picture is worth a 1000 words is very accurate in today’s digital world.
I am not going to pretend that as an English/Language Arts teacher what George Lucas is stating is very overwhelming. I immediately thought, I could never add everything that he stated into my curriculum. Then, I took a deep breath and reassessed a little. I can’t do everything that is expected of me as an English teacher, but I can add the essentials to my classroom that allow for me teach some form of visual literacy.
In that last video that was created by students, the information is loud and clear. Visual literacy cannot be ignored. Students are bombarded with visuals by the minute. It is essential that they are taught how to read them. If students are not taught visual literacy by a caring, responsible adult, the media will teach them for us.
The reading this week encouraged me to add more visual literacy components to my classroom. The first steps will be helping students “spice up” their blogs by using some of these components I have read about. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great place to start.
Found this cool prezi by Laura Montgomery on visual literacy. I do wish she would have added some resources from the PLN that she uses.
Ms. Marcum's Mission 