Stick Figure Movie

Self - Branding

After reading and learning about self-branding I believe that people are branding themselves and don’t even realize they are doing it.  Children today are on the computer before they ever enter a classroom.  Branding has already begun.  Each game that a student signs into requires a username which many times are used over and over to eliminate the possibility of forgetting the name.  Because of this reason, I believe that we should begin teaching self-branding at a young age. 

The internet is a part of life for every student entering our school system.  Since the internet has such a large impact in their lives, we have had to introduce internet etiquette as well as internet safety in our classrooms.  This is a perfect place to insert information about self-branding.   Teaching students that we are beginning to define ourselves through our usernames, the games that we play, and sites that we frequent would be the next step to protecting their name.  Negative self-branding is going to be difficult to convince the students of.  They often can’t see the future and repercussions from choices made today.  Starting at a young age might help stop it before it starts.

Using popular brands that we commonly see and with the help of the internet, we should have many avenues to teaching self-branding.  We could begin the internet safety unit by writing down words that define us and asking students to write descriptive words about each other.  Brainstorming is a great first step in building the positive internet reputation that we are striving for.   

Counselors, in my school, are asked to introduce this unit on internet safety.  Self-branding should be added when internet etiquette is taught.  Students can begin to create their brand with the help of their classmates as I described above.  Allowing classmates to list positive words that describe each student will also add to positive self-esteem which as educators we are always striving for.   

Four Design Principals

The Bible from Ethiopia was very interesting to look through.  The front cover has a basic border repeated in a smaller similar version four times.  The borders draw your eyes into the center decoration of a cross.  The pictures that were used throughout the book were very simple but the colors and lines used make a bold statement.   Even though the author used all four principals I feel as though the author relied heavily on the contrast and repetition of his color choices and the repetition of shapes and pictures throughout the manuscript. 

The following are examples used throughout the manuscript that illustrate the four design principals.

Contrast

The author created interest in this book by making sure that the different items on the page were completely different.  There is writing on some of the pages but the decoration that surrounds the wording is bold and in color.

Repetition

The colors, shapes, and pictures were used throughout the manuscript.

Alignment

The alignment is the same on all pictures.   All of the pages had text followed the same rules with margins and size.

 

Proximity

The author kept the visual elements on each page between 3-5.  The information is placed in a way that is organized and easy to follow.

 

 

EDLD 5363 Conferences

Reflection on Conferences

I attended every conference that was offered during this class.  I usually began the conference with questions and when the conference ended I still had those questions as well as a few more.  There were times when students would ask a question and the response was to “Google it”!  Often the professor would ask the group to answer the question that was directed to her.  Before every conference I would read through my paperwork so I could have my questions ready and be knowledgeable about the assignment for the week.  My professor frequently responded to our questions with a statement about needing to read our assignment or overview before the class.  We are all professionals working toward a higher level of education.  That comment was very condescending and unnecessary. We all work very hard at our classwork and deserve respect.  A classroom, whether in person or online, is a place to ask questions and discuss coursework.  No question is a dumb question.

The most frustrating aspect of our conferences was that many times we could not see or hear the professor or each other.  There were many of us who attended every conference that was offered. It is not easy to set aside time from our busy schedule but we managed to fit it in every couple of days.  There were conferences that were late, cut short and the last one never transpired because the professor never showed up. 

I believe that a web conference is necessary to have an online program be successful.  Time management, organization, attendance, and knowledge of how to run a successful online conference, is something that needs to be addressed. 

EDLD 5363 Week 4/5 Reflection

EDLD 5363 Reflection on Week 4/5

Everything about technology excites me.  I have learned about so many different activities that I can do with my class to help them become successful in their subjects  The wealth of information that is out on the internet is just waiting for us to find and utilize.  The amount of free resources on the internet is also available to us in many different programs. 

During this class I was assigned individual assignments as well as a group project.  I am still amazed that I can work collaboratively with my peer students who live hundreds of miles from me.  My group consisted of Carrie Allen, Jodie Allex, Carla Carattini and myself.   I don’t consider myself a group person because I usually don’t trust my other group members to do their part of the assignment.  With that thought in mind I must admit that my group was amazing.  We each seemed to find our niche and run with it.  When there was a piece missing someone quickly picked it up and completed it.   We worked very well together.   If we have another group assignment I would like to pair up with these ladies again. 

Google Docs made our collaboration very manageable.  We each picked a color to reflect our comments so it would be easy for anyone looking at our document to figure out who was saying what.  The weather was bad all week so it was difficult to video but the first chance we had we took our students outside and began our videoing. 

My experiences with my assignment through week 4/5 have been very positive.  Learning to use a new video editing program and work with Audacity again has made me more comfortable with these programs.  I look forward to taking my knowledge back to the classroom and utilizing these resources with my students.

The EDLD 5363 class was quite troubling to me.  From day one we were told that the assignments on Black Board were not correct and that we should not be reading or following them.  My concern every time I went to turn in my assignment was that I might have followed the incorrect rubric.  I am very conscientious about my schoolwork so to have assignments that were not clear was very unsettling.  In my opinion, graduate school should be more organized than this.  My hope is that Lamar gets their act together and has our next class organized and ready to go.  

Reflection on Internship and Action Research Plan

Internship Plan

My internship plan often takes a back burner to the rest of my work.  Not to say that I am not working through the domains but summarizing my findings and uploading my documents to my e-portfolio is not up to date.  At the beginning of this school year we had a change in administration.  This change gave me the opportunity to step up and complete many aspects of my internship plan.  The leadership roles that I have taken on or sat in on consist of school board meetings, hiring board, class schedules, coordinator of Family Math Night, and creating formative assessments to name a few.  Many of my projects had to be altered because of the change in our administration.  This change has given me many more leadership opportunities.  I plan to catch up during the two week break that we have in between classes.

Action Research Plan

My action research is in full swing.  I began my project by giving a survey to the parents of my students about parent-teacher contact.  Their responses were all very positive which gave me great hope that they would be willing to participate in my classroom technology.  I thought I would begin slowly so I made a “Mrs. Rodriguez’s Classroom Facebook” page.  I had done research about the different options Facebook had to offer and I decided to go with a group page that allowed the teacher (me) to add all interested followers.  Many of my parents had expressed concern about privacy and this allowed me to be selective on who would join our group.  My excitement quickly diminished when only 2 people followed my link to my page.  Adding an incentive to anyone who would find the secret code on my page acquired a few more parents to join but the participation was just not there.  The first of December I plan to send out another survey.  I plan on introducing Remind 101 to my students and parents after the survey has been returned.  I will continue my Facebook but add in the reminders hoping that extra contact with the parents will bring scores up.  

EDLD 5363 Introduction to Force and Motion