EDLD 5397 Week 1 Web Chat

I participated in the Wednesday night web conference.  I asked about changing my internship plan and found that it is alright to make changes.  The question was also asked about how long it takes to do our action research project.  We were told it would depend on our personal project.  He said it may very well take a long time.  We also asked about our field supervisor.  I found that we should be hearing from him after this class.  I had asked about this because I have not heard from my field supervisor since the beginning of January.  There seemed to be a lot of people who had changed districts and they were asking about how to change their field supervisor at their school.  In the end I believe everyone seemed to get the answers they needed.  The last thing we discussed was the practice test.  He told us we can take that as many times as needed throughout this course.

Week 5 Reflection 5366

When first starting this class I did not know the four design principals.  After reading The Non-Designers Design Book I learned about the four design principals. These principals are contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity (Williams, 2008).  These principles seemed like they are easy and they are to some point.  However, it took me a little while to learn how to use them properly.  The next thing I learned about was branding and self-branding.  I always have known that the way we present our self is a reflection of who we are or at least that’s what others see.  However, I had never realized that was called self-branding.    I read an article that was talking about self-branding.  It had some ideas that I had never thought of for making your brand. It mentioned that you should not just decide how you see yourself, but also ask others what words they would use to describe you (Alcantara, 2009).  After reading all about self-branding I believe that students need to learn about it.  I think they need to understand that how you brand yourself makes an impact on how people see you.  One thing I was familiar with when entering this class was Blooms Taxidermy.  I learned about this in teacher certification courses.  I was very interested in reading the article about it.  I was excited to see how it is used in blogs and wikis.  I read in this article that posting to these types of sites go under creating (Churches, 2008).  I enjoyed reading this article because it took something that I had learned from my past and gave me new knowledge about it.  I felt like it gave me the information I would need to take what I had learned previously and use it in the digital world.  I also think the article gave me a better understanding of the subject than I originally had. 

In this class we had a group assignment.  I was very happy with our group assignment.  I was in a group of women that are easily able to work out any differences of opinions.  We are able to understand that if someone does not agree with us then it isn’t personal.  We are able to move on and finish our project.  Our group learns from their mistakes and moves on.  I think that working in a group like this makes the assignment easier.  It also makes the assignment easier because we all know that each person will pull their own weight and do their part correctly.  I feel like I did a good job on this assignment.  I was off the internet for a couple of days the week before the website was due, but still used my cell phone to email my group.  As soon as I was able to get back online I immediately got to work on the webpage.  I sent out emails asking each member if they were alright with the portions I wanted to do.  Once in agreement I did the work.  I have learned from this class how to use the design principles and also how to make animations.  I think the animations will be great when I start teaching.  I feel like I can allow students to make animations in order to help them see what I am teaching instead of just hearing it.  I think it will help those who need to see it instead of just hearing it.  I think as a lifelong Learner I will be able to take this information in the future and find new ways to use it in my classroom.  For instance when I start teaching I will find a use for using webpages.  I think I will use a webpage to allow parents to always know what is going on in the class.  They could go online and see if their child has homework or even a test coming up.  I think in K-12 it is important for parents to understand what is going on in the classroom.

References

Alcantara, L. (2009). The Art of Self-Branding Part 1. Retrieved August 17, 2012, from LeaLeas Blog: http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/the-art-of-self-branding-part-one/

Churches, A. (2008, April 1). Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally. Retrieved August 17, 2012, from Tech & Learning: http://www.techlearning.com/article/blooms-taxonomy-blooms-digitally/44988

Williams, R. (2008). The Non-Designer’s Design Book (3rd ed.). (N. Davis, Ed.) Berkeley, CA: PeachPit Press.

Tagxedo Apple Wordle

Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures Under Ground

I chose this book because it is the original manuscript to Alice in Wonderland.  Page one of this book uses repetition because of the vine being repeated.  The vine is repeated throughout the book at the chapter beginnings.  This vine also shows contrast.  It shows that it is different.  The vine shows proximity because throughout the book it is always right by the chapter title.

On page two I looked at the picture of the two girls and noticed that they made the sister a lot bigger.  They just showed a side profile of her and showed Alice’s whole face.  I believe this is to help remind us Alice is the main character. I also believe it is to contrast them.  It is also in proximity of where the book talks about it.  The picture is left aligned.  The words are aligned around the picture and this is repeated throughout the book.

On page nine there is a picture of Alice crying.  This picture is in close proximity to the words describing it.  It is also used to contrast the size of Alice and the mouse.  The writing is aligned to the left except where the picture is.  The text is aligned around the picture and is repeated throughout the book (repetition).  It leaves the page very clear and organized.  It keeps there from being a lot of empty space. Page twenty-eight shows contrast with the writing.

When I pulled up this book I was amazed how well it was done.  I liked how they used the vines throughout the book to tie the chapter beginnings together.  I also liked how they used pictures to show the importance of scenes.  It gives people something to look at other than just words.  It can give you a glimpse into what the scene looks like. 

      

June 4, 2012 web conference

The first thing discussed in this conference was rather you have to buy the digital cook book or not.  She said that no one has to buy this product.  She said that it is good but that it is not a required thing to purchase.

Kay also spoke about how school districts have changed since the beginning of the Lamar program in the fall of 2008.  She is saying that more and more of the schools are opening up the internet for the teachers to use in the classroom.  She said that we are the ones who have to promote using technology and the intenret in the classroom.

She then spoke about our video that is due.  She said that it can be about ourself or about our school.  She asked that we use a different open source resource than the one we used in our other classes.  She said that cooltoolsfor school gives you different links to help with this project.  She was telling about the different links on this site and that it includes links for audio and video. 

Kay spoke about her video she made.  She talked about how she is from Texas and how her career went.  She was saying that it is a good example of how we should do our video.  She was saying how she has retired twice and is now working at Lamar.  She said that we do not have to do a personal video like hers but that we can. 

She was saying that they encourage elementary schools to use free open source software.  She said that she wants us to have the experience to be able to bring this information to the school districts.  She said that we are the ones who can help get schools to use this software.

June 30, 2012 web conference

After watching the June 30th web conference I have learned more about what we should have turned in for week 4.  I was under the impression that we needed to turn in the final project.  However, I was wrong.  I learned from watching this video that we were only suppose to continue working on the project.  We were suppose to just submit an assignment saying that we are continuing to work on our assignment. 

I also learned about the final assignment for this class.  She said that we are suppose to write a report about our internship hours.  She said that we will be doing this at each class.  She said that it is so that we do not do all of our internship hours at the end of our degree.  I am glad she explained this because I did not know what we were suppose to do. 

During the web conference she also explained about emails we were getting about course evaluations.  She said that it is alright that we get them every week.  She said that we are suppose to do it before the class ends. 

The final discussion was about the length of the video.  Someone asked if the video could be three minutes.  She said that we can do up to 3 minutes, but that it should not be real long.  She said that 10 minutes is too long.  She said that it should be short, but that she is not going to deduct points for going over the 90 seconds in the assignments.  She also said that five minutes is too long though.

July 2, 2012 Web Conference

After reading the July 2nd web conference I learned what exactly we were suppose to be doing on our 5.9 assignment.  I learned that we are suppose to be telling how many internship hours we have done.  We also need to report rather or not what we have done is beneficial to our school and how it is. 

Another thing discussed in this conference was the course embedded hours.  Some were not sure if they were for all classes and how we were suppose to do them.  It was explained that there were course embedded hours for only some classes.  One student also told where you could get an updated list of classes with course embedded hours.  The one thing I am unsure of after this conference is if those hours are suppose to be included in our week 5 assignment. 

There were also students who mentioned that their mentors had retired, moved, or quit.  They were discussing what they were suppose to do in these situations.  I think this may be a problem for several students.  When the end of the year comes around there seem to be several teachers who make changes in their career.

After reading this conference I felt a little less alone.  I have not done a large amount of my internship hours due to the fact that I had to spend most of my time this year student teaching.  I was unable to take days off so I have just had to wait on most of the internship requirements.  I hope to catch up quickly though.