Assignment+3

media type="custom" key="8532388"Assignment 3 Reflection

__ Assignment Three Reflection __

I have to say that doing this glog presented me with a number of unanticipated challenges. It was not the technology that threw me this time--glogster is very easy to use (although I am having a bit of trouble getting a youtube video to play:) What took so much effort was trying to create something that was relevant and meaningful in terms of my teaching goals (and those of my colleagues) and which would also be appealing to 6th graders. What I learned is that I am not connected to the MS mind. I looked at the initial version of my work and realized that to a 6th grader, it was definitely lame. I mean, I used a Beatles song and then it dawned on me, many of them have never listened to the Beatles. So I sat back and edited myself--looked at a number of other glogs (which definitely seem to reflect the teenage psyche) and tried to take my design preferences out of the process in order to create a tool that appeals to the end user. After all, I don't care how good a product is--a video, glog, prezi, whatever--if the audience it is intended for doesn't get it, or like it, or identify with it, it won't work, I think that my current version--new song, anime component, should appeal more widely 6th grade boys and girls (it is also challenging to make a glog gender neutral!), but I won't really know until I get some actual feedback from real 6th graders!

Next time, I hope to start from a different perspective. In all of the projects I have created recently, I found that I went through endless edits and a great deal of time, because I did not start with a sense of where I wanted to end up--I only came to those decisions after about 20 versions of each. Can't do that again--won't have the luxury of having so much time. Instead, I must be disciplined and organized and will begin by identifying critical elements the end product must address and/or contain. This list will likely differ slightly from project to project, but there are a number of things that will be relevant to the process each time. These include:

1) intended audience--who are the students, how old? What gender? What type of challenges do the present? 2) Educational Goal(s)--What I am trying to do? Do I want to teach, inspire, or guide? Am I trying to communicate an assignment? What do I want this thing to do. Am I working with a colleague? What are there goals? Are we on the same page? 3) Can I reuse the product? If not, how much time should I reasonably devote to it? Will it stand the test of time?

There are probably many more thoughts that belong here, but this is where I feel hampered by my lack of teaching experience. I can't even guess what other things I need to think about. Ugh. I know observation will help, but I believe that my first few years of working in school are where I am really going to get the critical experience that I need to make valid choices-right now I am just guessing. It is almost like playing house--in no way does that resemble what it is really like to be married!