Final Post 5366

5366 Final Reflection

  Going into this class as a non- tech student, I was extremely scared about the entire process. Although I have led a few technology sessions at my school, I am nowhere near the level of a master student. I really enjoyed the first week where we learned about The 4 Basic Principles of Design: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity (William, Third Edition).   Although I have always thought I had an eye for design, this really helped give me some guidelines for me to remember for the remainder of the class. The entire animation process was new to me. My students have used Go Animate for projects in my class, but I have never played around with this technology. I really enjoyed the entire creative process and can see how kids get really involved in it. I have to admit that when I first found out that I was placed in this class, I did not see the value of a multimedia class. However, after completing the web page design I can see how this class benefits future administrators in a variety of ways. First, I only had a little experience with working on a blog. Creating a website helped me gain more experience adding a variety of multimedia to it. I feel this experience will help me as an administrator guide teachers in technology.

  The approach and strategies I used in completing the assignment really varied.   In regards to technology, I usually jump in and just spend time and play with the software. This is what I did with the flyer, logo, and animation lesson.  When I have a problem or question with technology, the first person I ask is my husband. He has a degree in computer science, so he usually can help guide me to an answer. This was the strategy I used to help download the animation program. During the web design I used you tube videos to help me. One thing I struggled with in the online technology class is not having an instructor there to show me real quick how to fix some issue.  If I had a question, I felt it took twice as long than when I have been in a technology class in my district. Overall, I am very proud of the work that I was able to complete in this course. For the group web site, I completed the logo and the animation site. I was so nervous my work would end up getting points deducted from the project but that did not happen.  Our web site was fantastic, and the interaction with my colleagues was successful.   The fact that our group collaboration google doc was shared with the professor and IA keep me responsible for my work. In addition, since we shared the web page this made you want to do your best because your entire group could see everything.  Yosinda states “They (students) feel a greater ownership of what they create and try harder to make it as good as possible because it will be seen by a larger audience.” This type of collaboration made you want to perform at your best, because you did not want to be the one who lost points for the group. I really do not get that same interaction with colleagues on discussion forums or web conferences.  I am just required to respond on discussion posts, but I do not feel like I let anyone down.

   

  The technology skills I learned in this class will help me on my journey to become an administrator.  I will need to use the Blooms Digital Taxonomy (Churches, 2008) to help guide them with activities. The actual hands-on activities have helped me, so I will be able to guide them as well.  My interactions that I have encountered in this class will help me because I have learned how to collaborate online. As a future administrator, I will use this skill to reach out to other administrators in the district for guidance or help when working on projects. I feel this class has really given me the extra push I needed to step out of my comfort zone with technology. This class pushed my abilities and challenged me a bit and I was able to complete the task. In the future when I see technology classes that may be a little more challenging, I will sign up for them, because this class gave me the confidence that I can complete them.

Resources:

Churches, Andrew. "Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally." Classroom Technology News. Tech and Learning, 1 Apr. 2008. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.

Williams, R. The non-designer’s design book typographic principles for the visual novice. DOI: The Non-Designer’s Design Book Typographic Principles for the Visual Novice

Yoshinda, Clyde. "Creating a Culture of Student Reflection: Self-Assessment Yields Positive Results." Edutopia. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.

Animation- Dancing Girl

Assignment 1.2 Ancient Manuscript

January 19, 2014  Week 1
Assignment 1.2
Title of picture- Virgin and Child

Investigate ancient manuscripts with a 50-100 words reflection. 

My first impression of this ancient work is how they work the very intricate Celtic designs around the main picture, yet it is not too busy. They were able to use the right color combinations of rich colors (green, gold and purple) to help the picture stand out, yet not be overshadowed. The Celtic artwork is very beautiful with the intricate art. This picture displays the four principles of designs of C.R.A.P. First, for contrast this picture uses complementary colors purple and gold, along with secondary color of green that work well with each other. For repetition, green, purple and gold repeat throughout the picture, as well as the design that frames the picture. Also, it has the same corner design. For alignment, the main picture of the Virgin and child is centered to create a  main focus. Finally, for proximity the artist placed the angels together to represent them as a unit. The artist helped us understand the importance of this ancient manuscript by placing the main picture in the middle and framing it with the signature Celtic design. The main picture is of the Virgin Mary with child and I personally believe it is beautifully done.

 week 1 Assignment 1.4 Partners for group project

Google Doc link below
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_Z92HcU4ZEslR1efjM9TAGCUk7gvOsM-J9LQuS-G0UM/edit?pli=1

EDLD 5366 Digital Graphic Web Design

Week 1 Assignment 1.3 Create a project
Heritage Night Flyer that teaches C.R.A.P principles

 50 -100 word review:

  My teaching tool for the C.R.A.P. assignment is a flyer for our upcoming Heritage Night. This flyer is simplistic in nature , yet follows the design principles that could be taught to teachers in an easy format.  For contrast I used blue and orange for the background. These two colors are opposite on the color wheel and are complementary colors. Also, blue makes a great background color. For repetition, I used bold stripes of blue and orange in a horizontal pattern, along with using the white font color. For alignment, I used the same font throughout the flyer along with keeping the font color white. Finally, for proximity I centered the picture of the hands in the middle, along with the information for the event.

Current Update 2013

I currently have the data from the 2011-2012 year regarding  the number of our discipline referrals . I have created  graph that will be used in the final results  page. I plan on administering  a quick survey at the end of April to the staff. By then the stress of STAAR will be over, and the teachers will have a full year to evaluate the effectiveness of the CHAMPS program.  I know that complete buy in from the staff will ultimely produce the best results from the campus. I also understand that even if the school see benefits from this program, we will also see room for growth. I look forward to analyzing the data from my staff.

Final Thoughts on Research Class 2012

When I first started this course, I had little training on action research. I was fortunate enough to be working on an action team for the district, in regards to our graduate profile. The team I worked with had a focus on improving interpersonal relationships with the students. Throughout this course I have gained a greater insight on what it means to do action research. I thought the blog was a very interesting way to share ideas and comments on my plan. I have always marveled at teachers who blogged about different subjects. I thought it was something that was too technical for me to accomplish. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to create and do. I am very grateful for learning a new strategy on how to communicate with others.

Reflection was a big concept that kept recurring in the book, the videos, and webinars with Dr. Abshire.  I learned that an effective administrator takes the time to reflect on action research projects both on their own and with collaborative groups.  I know in a lot of our science professional developments, we are asked to do a reflection form at the end for an evaluation. To be honest, most of the teachers just write ”Great job today,” so they can leave. I admit, I have done this many times. However, after this course, I now understand why they want us to use the reflection form for evaluation. Reflection time allows you or a group to really stop and think about the process or plan fully. It gives you the time to think about what is good in the plan, but also what needs to be changed. We need to take this time to think through potential problems, and be able to  plan accordingly.  Reflection is also a good thing to do collaboratively to be able to bounce different ideas and opinions off each other. During this process, if you  are working with a group, then you need to have a strong leader that allows everyone to share their ideas . The leader of the group should be a good listener, speak when needed, and guide the conversation in the correct direction.

The strategies such as; Force Field Analysis, Delphi Method, Nominal Group Technique, and the CARE model were of particular interest to me. As a teacher, I am always interested in learning new strategies to teach my students, so learning new strategies is always something that I have been interested in . These strategies for sustaining improvement in an action plan, were both easy to implement and helpful. I really liked the CARE model because it not only identified concerns, but also positive policies going on at a school. I feel when implementing a change, we sometimes look so closely at the negative we forget the positive.  This model has you look to the positive aspects in your school that will help make those changes.  Again, when I used the CARE model to write up my plan, it was very straightforward and not at all hard to do. I think this is a major benefit of these strategies.

I feel that I have gained a greater understanding of what action research is and how to complete a plan. I know that as I continue to reflect and revise the plan, I will grow to understand it even more. The best way form me to continue my understanding is to ask to be involved in action plans in the district and on my campus level.

 

Citations:

Dana, N. F. (2009). Administrator Inquiry Defined. Leading with passion and knowledge the principal as action researcher ;Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press, a Joint Publication with the American Association of School Administrators

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. P. (2010). Sustaining Improvement. Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action (pp. 94-96). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.