Week 14 Reflections on a Newsletter and Reflections

This was as busy week for me, consumed by Teaching with Technology projects on either side of Thanksgiving.

The adjacent letter along with a couple paragraphs is submitted to fulfill assignment A7. In this assignment we are asked to use MS Publisher or an Open Office Suite application to create a class newsletter. Yes, I know, the artifact shown is more of a class letter, than a creative newsletter. (So be it. I put a lot of creativity today into a presentation scheduled for tomorrow evening. ) With the college's version of MSPublisher unavailable while the campus is closed for the holiday, this seemed like a good time to try using one of the Open Office tools. I chose Writer by OpenOffice.org (OOo). The letter was composed using a personal letter template included in my version OOo Writer. I wrote the letter as a hypothetical Physics teacher in "Room 101" contacting students and parents early in the 2nd marking period.

Communication between teachers and parents is important because it reminds each party of the role they play together in supporting the child's education. It avoids surprizes at the end of the marking period, demonstrates respect for the role the parent has in the childs life, and can help address any issues any of the parties may feel need to be discussed. I plan to communicate with my student's parents or guardians early in the school year, and then on an approximately quaterly basis thereafter. If I employ a tool like Engrade.com (mentioned earlier in this blog and in the letter) then the communication can readily be more frequent. Nevertheless, I would anticipate sending periodic letters or newsletters to parents to keep us all engaged, even if they are not regularly checking electronic communications. With OpenOffice.org's Writer, I found composing the letter was quite simple, but no better than MSWord. In fact when I wanted to make slight adjustment to the paragraph spacing, Writer suddenly started underlining text that I didn't want underlined. I probably could have loaded more templates for a fancier layout, but frankly the hard-drive on this computer is filling up. Using Mac software was not listed as a permitted option in this assignment. If I were doing a real class newsletter, I would probably keep the letter simple, without much graphics, so as to minimize use of photocopier toner or printer ink, while maintaining a crisp look on any color paper that is available.

I spent many hours this week researching and preparing for a presentation on the Use of Simulations and Gaming to Enhance Authentic Learning. The research was interesting and I feel that the subject is far more important in a Teaching with Technology course, than the allotted 10 minute presentation allows. In a way, I'm glad to have taken the time to do the research, but realize that it took me far too long to prepare the presentation for the micro-lesson.

I learned that a key component of using simulations for authentic learning, is the act of Reflective Assessment. As in other learning experiences, including this one, Reflective Assessment is the time when we construct meaning from the experience, develop our critical thinking, and make a personal connection to the material and learning outcomes. When we read and comment on each others reflections, this gives appreciation to the learning experiences of others. Our emotional response when appreciated leads to more memorable and effective learning as well.

Indeed, of all the assignments in this course, including the ones still pending, I believe these reflections are the most valuable, as they represent the meaning constructed by myself. As a teacher, I will try to use the Reflective Assessment technique, along with teaching my students the stages of observation, analysis, and reflection which help make reflection powerful and professional.

There are many papers that discuss the value and practise of Reflective Assessment. The following article, Reflective Assessment by Lynn Dominguez (2006) was a fine place to start.