Course Embedded Assignment Reflection - EDLD 5366 Week 5

When I look back at this course, it will be much more than creating a poster, logo, animation, and website.  This course actually got me to think about how much more I could do in my classroom using the information that I learned.  I have created a Google site and a blog for previous courses but with the knowledge I gained from this course I am able to apply it to my previous work and teach it to others. 

From the first assignment I learned techniques that I can use in my classroom to help my students create projects that will enhance their learning.  With the knowledge I gained from week one, I can teach my students that too much color or fancy fonts does not make the project better.  Using the resources from week one by Robin Williams and the YouTube Video by Barry Jahn, helped me learn the basic principles of graphic design.  This is something that I have never thought about when creating content for my classes.  I had designs in my mind, but by using the graphic design principles, I would make the necessary changes to my project to follow those guidelines. 

The week two and three assignments were a lot of fun but the most important lesson was about personal branding.  Your personal brand should be authentic—it should reflect your true character. It should be built on your dreams, purpose, values, uniqueness, genius, passion, specialization, characteristics, and favorite activities (August 2007). Personal branding was something that I never thought about and how important it is. I really liked the article by Marshall Goldsmith especially the quote and it will be something that I will share with others. 

I really enjoyed the group website; I was involved with four great people that worked hard on the project.  I really learned a lot from them and by creating our website.  It allowed us to use all the things that we learned in the course and put it all together.  It was great to share ideas and learn from each other the different resources that we included in our project. 

Learners do not just receive information only at the time it is given; they absorb information in many different ways, often after the fact, through reflection. The most powerful learning often happens when students self-monitor, or reflect (Zemelman, Daniels & Hyde, 1993) (ETE, 2005) (Gerstein, 2011).  This was the most important lesson; it is something that would be beneficial to me and my students. It is a tool that I will use immediately in my classroom for my students and for my own professional growth. 

Robin Williams: The Non-Designer’s Design Book, Third Edition.

Jahn, B. (Producer) (2007). Retrieved from http://youtu.be/mF_mWi6r-9I

Goldsmith, M. (August 2007). Authentic personal branding. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/sep2009/ca20090929_228578.htm

Zemelman, S., Daniels, H., & Hyde, A. (1993). Best practice: New standards for teaching and learning in america's schools... Portsmouth, NH: Reed Publishing.

ETE. (2005, April 28). Reflecting - the reflecting student. Retrieved from http://www.cotf.edu/ete/teacher/reflect.html

Gerstein, J. (2011, August 16). Where is reflection in the learning process? Retrieved from http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/where-is-reflection-in-the-learning-process/