Course+Reflections

=EDLD 5366 - Reflection on Newsletter Assignment=

Creating a newsletter was not new to me. Since 1991, I have worked in positions that required the creation of documents to disseminate information in an interesting way. This was much more difficult using WordPerfect 5.0 than it is today using Adobe InDesign CS3, but the basics are still the same. The readings from Week Four reminded me of many things that I take for granted. Lamb’s paper, Evaluating Newsletters, reminded me of the necessity of a consistent look and feel, consistent use of fonts, and following through on theme and layout choices. This made me realize that it is important to teach these basic concepts to students at an early age. High school students want to use every font and all colors, since that is allowed through elementary and junior high. Those bad habits are hard to break.

Lamb’s Planning Newsletters brought up a point that was also stressed during our recent TEA audit. All communication must be created with its audience in mind. We have no written communication for parents in Spanish, even though over 60% of our student population is Hispanic. Also, the list of content ideas will be useful in planning future newsletter for teachers, students, faculty and parents.

Last, Basic Elements of Page Design stressed the need for white space. This is another concept that is difficult to explain to students. They understand what white space is, but they do not see a reason to use it effectively.

To create the newsletter, I solicited information from faculty, students, and administration. The information was then sorted under appropriate headings. The color scheme was created using our school colors. Before completing the assignment, the newsletter was sent to students and teachers for comment and their constructive criticism convinced me to rotate the band picture so it would be larger.

In the future, I will strive to build more whitespace into my newsletters. They are visually very heavy. Also, in creating publications over the past few years, I realize now I have rested on prior knowledge and not looked at current literature for trends and ideas. The readings reminded me of many things I had forgotten, and should keep forefront.

Lamb, A. (2005). Evaluating newsletters. Retrieved from []

Lamb, A. (2005). Evaluating newsletters. Retrieved from []

Yearwood, J. (2009, July). Basic elements of page design.

=EDLD 5364 - Course Embedded Reflection =

The assignment required working with a team of teachers to create a lesson. Creating our team was simple, as was working together. The challenges came from our misconceptions regarding the assignment. Our first mistake was that we did not carefully read all the weeks’ assignments before deciding on a topic. We chose a topic with which three of us were completely unfamiliar. Our thinking, from reading the first assignment, was that we would brainstorm and create technology based creative ways to teach the content and the member of our group confident about the material would handle the specific lesson. When we realized we each must create our own individual lesson, the real challenges began. Not only did we have to complete the assignment, but relearn math concepts to do so. And we used a lesson plan format and technology we had never before seen. The new concepts offered on the CAST website regarding UDL lessons were difficult to grasp at first, and the electronic book site was slow and seemed to have many limitations (CAST, 2009). As I worked through these frustrations, I found the electronic book site to be a valuable tool that I will be able to use and teach to our staff. The UDL lesson format offered more information than I am accustomed to writing down. While I see a place for this format, I also like the “Template for Lesson Planning with Technology” offered by Pitler (2007, pg. 221). By working through the four planning stages and considering the three networks offered by CAST, a perfect lesson plan merging content and technology while considering all types of learners could be created.

As a group, we worked effectively. The role of leader was handed off from person to person seamlessly as the need arose, but we always came back around to our original leader for final project submissions. We each used the traits we identified in the first week, but others emerged as we worked together. We communicated through chats and Google docs. We found Google docs to be cumbersome when multiple people tried to type at once, so we took turned being the typist. We chose to color code our documents to signify each person’s contributions. Since working through the challenges we encountered using the Web 2.0 Tools, I am better prepared to teach others to use them effectively in their classroom, since it is important to introduce our students to the free tools offered (Solomon & Schrum, 2007).

During the first week, I was not the strongest person in the group, but my contributions increased significantly during the third through fifth weeks. The fact that we supported each other and worked around schedules so that everyone could work together contributed greatly to our success.

As we worked to finalize our plan and create individual activities, I realized that this is what I will be doing once I move into a full-time teacher education role. I now know that working with another person to create a successful product does not require face-to-face interaction, but it does take relationship building. Through side conversations and off-topic comments, we got to know each other’s personalities and how best to work together. This will also be true when I work with teachers in our district. By knowing them and their classroom situations, I will be better suited to help them create technology plans that lead to their own and their students’ success. This course has made me aware of many Web 2.0 Tools that I didn’t know existed, but I must continue to research to find the tools that are available and best suited for our teacher’s situations.

Cast.org (2009). Cast UDL book builder. Center for Applied Special Technology. Retrieved on October 5, 2009, from http://bookbuilder.cast.org

Cast.org (2009). Model UDL lessons. Center for Applied Special Technology. Retrieved on October 5, 2009, from http://udlselfcheck.cast.org

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.