Lesson 3

As I reviewed the documents I had one stood out that I should spend some time on to improve. I hand out this packet to the chemistry students when I go over ionic bonding. I love the cartoon and I think the students also like it. It helps them remember what ionic bonding is about in a new way (even if it's funny). It explains the concept that is common in everything. That is that opposites attract. The catoon also plays on how easily students can be distracted by something outside the classroom especially the opposite sex.

The thing that was distracting about the picture was the font and the font's color. Originally, all I had was the caption in basic black. I felt it somewhat blended into the picture and was not as noticeable was I wanted. I also felt that I should have a discription at the bottom to add to the explaination of what ionic bonding is and how the picture represents it.

Another thing I changes was the size of the picture. Initially, it took up almost the entire page. I felt that the colors and images were a bit to "busy" for the document and distracting. I keep the image the same except I shrunk it down to allow more room for additional text and explanation. The smaller picture and additional text allow the document itself to be more concise and more appealing to the eyes of the reader.

I really do not use flyers or newsletters often. This is a new experience for me. I can see the benifit of sending a newsletter home but I wonder how many would make it home to the parent. Handouts I give the students are found all over my classroom at the end of the day. I have had a few parents interested in what we are doing but I find a lot of the students do not want their parents to know what is going on in their school life. In high school the "privacy thing" is really important to many students. They like to keep their life outside home to themselves. Even with handouts I give them, several of them do no think twice about leaving them in the room for the custodians to throw out.

Parents with students at the high school age seem to be less involved than they are when the students where in elementary school. They are allowing their students to become adults. When students are younger, I see the need for flyers, newletters or calenders. I also see the need for them in certain high school classes such as band to allow the student to keep track of practices. As for what I teach, I may try a newsletter next year or a calender for the students so they know when subjects will be taught. I really do not think that many newletters will not make it to the parents but I could try it to prove myself wrong.