Gallery Walk

Today in class - I incoporated a gallery walk similar to the assignment we did with the decades artifacts. In our IT class - we all made a powerpoint of a decade and walked around to view the other group's work. In my Fashion class - we created posters of our research of each fashion publication. Rather than having the students do presentation - I had the students conduct a gallery walk. This created movement and more enjoyment. Rather than students (who lose focus eailsy) listening to mulitple presentations, this gave them the opportunity to move around the room and "search" and "sort" through the information that other groups had researched. This was a great addition to the design of the Fashion Marketing curriculum.

don't provide the answers

As a part of the design technique for both my students and teachers (as a dept. chair)....I often provide the "answers" that they have so that I show that I am truly "teaching" them. However, an "ah,hah" moment was ....don't provide the answers. Re-ask them the question OR ask them other probing questions that will help THEM come to the answer. On my deparment meeting agenda - rather than me providing LOTS of information for my new teachers....I am going to ask them lots of questions and provide them with the resources in how to find the answers. Im hoping this will help my novice teachers.

From boring - to engaging

I took a unit that is normally boring to both teach and learn. It's the 9 functions of Marketing. This unit was traditionally taught through Powerpoint presentation and lectures but it was an overwhelming amount of information and very boring for the students to learn. Then I altered this lesson to allow each group to create a poster on one function and each group would hang the posters and do a presentation to the class. This was a little more exciting but as each group would present - the other groups wouldn't really "learn" about ALL functions. This time- I used the "off-loading" concept, as well as ACTS. I created a problem (which was real) - which was to design a brochure for the "intro to marketing" class. The intro to marketing class is full of freshman so I challenged my class to create a brochure explaining the 9 functions in a format that the freshman would understand and appreciate. I paired the groups up into 2 and they had to look up the information in the textbook - learn the definition and then re-phrase it in a simple format. They then had to develop an example for each function. This was much more engaging and the students actually "retained" the information on ALL functions. They also learned a software skill of creating a brochure by using a template in Blackboard. Another great concept in design:)

Sharing Design with others

This week I had the opportunity to share the concept of design and ACTS with my department. As a department chair, I get the opportunity to share alot about curriulum and guiding our efforts in accomplishing department goals. In this weeks meeting, I discussed the importance of "designing" our courses to cause a more effective learning environment. I discussed the components of ACTS and how it can be incorporated into lesson plans. I have 2 novice teachers in our department and they were very excited to hear about these concepts. They feel that this will help guide them in their lesson planning process. Pay it forward:)

Authentic Prolem - A great problem to have

Today I quickly incorporated an authentic problem into a lesson plan. I have a lesson that I teach on the Marketing/Promotional mix. I teach the material then have an activity with the students. Rather than giving my normal activity & examples....I transitioned to "creating an authentic problem." I usually "lecture" on the various types of items involved in a Promotional mix and have student "think, pair and share" examples as I lecture. This time....rather than lecturing - I had the definitions of each promotional mix element on the whiteboard...I then told students that H&M in Fair Oaks mall called me to ask my students to help them with an upcoming fashion show. I asked the groups to tell me a plan that they would propose for each of the elements (Advertising, promotion, publicity, public relations, personal selling). They got very excited and began to work and stay on Task! The concept of an authentic problem is GREAT. I do know the manager @ H&M....and I do plan to sumit their ideas so that I can get feedback from him to respond to the students. In this scenerio - having an authentic problem is a great problem to have:)

Grading as a part of Design

The concept of design has not only challenged me to re-create my lessons, but it also has me thinking of different ways to evaluate my students. I find myslef re-thinking what I truly need them to "master" so rather than assigning students certain tasks that are a part of the grading process, I will either do research or have pre-created worksheets(teacher-created) or if it is student-created - I re-think the need to grade them on certain aspects of the assignment. In addition to looking at the organization of a course, I think its important to re-focus how we grade or evaluate the students on their comprehension of the "design" that we have created. I find myslef grading less, but more effectively. (I hope:)

Blackboard

I really enjoyed the usage of a book club on blackboard. I do silent sustained reading in my classes and I think this strategy will work great! The only challenge I have is that all my students are not reading the same book. They are simply reading a book that pertains to the fashion industry. I need to develop a way to have a discussion on various books OR I need to select one book that all students can read throughout the year.

got me thinking!

Understanding the importance of design, I have started to recreate several lesson plans. I have started a new LP format and have re-thought the "tools" that I am using. I am trying to be more creative in "off-loading" as well as utilizing more effective tools for various types of assignments. I feel a sense of "urgency" to re-create. Ignorance is bliss:) Now that I am learning more, the more I think and the more work I do to make effective changes.

technology "pieces"

In an assignment that I recently did with my students, I had them demonstrate their knowledge of the design elements in fashion by completing a VMA Award assignment. They were required to explore various websites then put their findings and evaluation of the design elements in a powerpoint presentation. I showed/demonstrated the use of the basic creation (using a template) within powerpoint. This allowed not only the reinforcement of content but a small portion of technology usage.

Blogspot

I was very excited to have incoporated the use of blogspot to my COOP curriculum. I normally require my COOP students to submit a journal for their work experiences. In the past - I required them to write in the journal once a week and submit it at the end of each quarter. Many of my students would wait until the end and write in all 9 in one day. I have incoporated the use of blogspot - this makes it wonderful because it not only uses a more modern use of technology but it allows me to see when they are actually making posts. It also eliminates the pain on my arms from carrying tons of journals home each 9 weeks......Love this concept of "design"

Use of "offloading"

I loved the concept of "offloading" - I believe in teachers serving as facilitators in the learning process. Utilizing the document for a reading activity is something I have been looking for! I do sustained silent reading in my class, but it has been always a challenge to ensure students are reading and more importantly - getting something out of the reading. I plan to utilize this style of document for groups to work to demonstrate the comprehension of their reading:)

Purpose & Goals

This blog will be used to document thought my creatie designs and how they are implemented. My goal is to ensure that as a "designer" - I am truly EFFECTIVE and demonstrate