When I’m reading a book, I take it everywhere I go. Several folks have asked how I read books so quickly (especially during #DBC50Summer). This is how. The book is always with me, so if I have a spare moment or two, I grab it and read another page. Naturally, I kept Drawn to Teach by Josh Stumpenhorst with me and it got quite a bit of attention everywhere I went! I noticed that the reactions ranged widely based on the age of those giving the reaction. Students were pumped to see me reading it while adults gave me odd looks. Curious about why? Check out the cover!

Check out the inside of the book in this Twitter post from Dave Burgess.

Hey!! Made this video to show you inside #Drawn2Teach by @stumpteacher because you have to see it to believe it! #graphicNovel art from @trevorguthke included! #tlap #LearnLAP #DBCincBooks @dbc_inc pic.twitter.com/S2suPNqhh7

— Dave Burgess (@burgessdave) April 16, 2019

Isn’t it incredible? Trevor Guthke, the artist who created the amazing graphic novel illustrations knocked it out of the water! This awesome book is brought to readers from the IMpress label of Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.

What Dave doesn’t tell you is the graphic novel portion is hilarious! Josh’s humor is infused throughout and I laughed out loud more than once while reading this book!

😂🤣😂🤣

“What’s 10% off of zero?”

“Oh, like… like in preschool?”

😂🤣😂🤣

Thank you @stumpteacher! #DrawnToTeach #DBCBookBlogs #DBCincBooks #BookSnaps pic.twitter.com/lfEwVLKnkf

— Alicia Ray (@iluveducating) July 14, 2019

What’s more: the messages contained within the book are spot on! Josh shares his heart when talking about relationships, what really matters in education (hint: it’s not the test scores), motivation, innovation, technology, and reflection.

Some of my favorite quotes include:

• “If you are going to ask for feedback, you must act on it.”
• “…Gold stars and candy will only get us so far.”
• “If the kids have a positive learning experience, the data will take care of itself.”
• “Joy has value and we should encourage more of it”
• “Learning is not a competition with others, but with yourself.”
• “Students are motivated when they have some level of choice and agency over their learning.”

I believe my absolute favorite quote from the entire book comes from the section that allowed me to relive my time in #DBC50Summer with The Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros. Within the “Innovation” chapter, you’ll find this gem!

“Students who are not allowed to fail at an early age don’t develop the coping skills needed to navigate the bigger and more consequential failures inevitable later in life.” ~Josh Stumpenhorst

Mic. Drop.

Implementation

So… if you’ve been with me for long in these blogs, you know that many times my implementations are not as obvious as trying an idea straight from suggestions in the book. That’s the case here, as well. I already have a rather large collection of graphic novels in our media center, and students check them out all the time! Their understanding of the nuances of reading graphic novels is impressive, and I want to give them the opportunity to take their ability to read a graphic novel a step further. We’re talking consumption to creation!

Here are some awesome graphic novel/comic creators available for free (or with limited features for free) online!

• Comic Creator by Read, Write, Think
• MakeBeliefsComix
• StoryboardThat
• Pixton

You can also use sites like Canva, Google Drawings, and even use Google Slides in tile view.

I can’t wait to see what my students will create to show their mastery throughout the year using these sites. I’m so pumped to share these with the teachers I serve so they can use them as another option for students! I’m excited to see how my students will react after seeing their reactions to this book. I think they’re going to love it!

Be sure to connect with Josh on Twitter and check out his website here. You can join the conversation using #Drawn2Teach on Twitter! Get a free preview of Drawn to Teach by scrolling to the bottom of this page! You’ll see where you can purchase the book there as well! Because you’re going to want to do just that after you see for yourself how cool this book is! Enjoy!