Today, though, I finally came back to the heart of it. This morning's design session left me both intrigued and stressed. I've never designed a page before. Even when I was editor-in-chief of my newspaper in high school, I still used the templates in Quark that my staff advisers left for me: click here, drag here, resize this image, done. I consider myself a creative person, but I definitely don't have an eye for making a pretty page. I was so appreciative of all the resources both Tracy and all of you contributed during that session. I would love it if you have any more advice to share with me regarding design as this will be a task I will tackle single-handedly this fall. I'd like to get a good template in place before I go on maternity leave!
I had to take a picture of this because my friends make fun of me for reading the bottles of every health/beauty product I own. See, now I can use toothpaste as an example in class! |
Thanks for the validation. |
A really interesting aspect about today was how much more comfortable we seemed to be putting our work in front of others for criticism. I was unable to submit pages for the design session since I've never actually put out a paper, but I admired those of you brave enough to roll with the punches. I was nervous to share my writing last week, but after I saw that I wasn't going to get attacked, I eagerly pushed my article in front of anyone who would look at it today (thanks, Tracy :] ). I need feedback. I need the eyes of others to help me get better. And herein lies today's most valuable lesson: if I want my students to get better, they need to get used to putting themselves out there and welcoming criticism. But, I have to be the starting point. I have to put my writing or my layout ideas in front of them and show them how I can use their critiques constructively. I have to model how to use feedback properly.
It starts with me. And that's why I'm here.
Lisa Biber
Brodhead High School
Brodhead, Wis.
...and then I used a cliche in my blog post. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteIt's all water under the bridge. Glad the session was valuable.
ReplyDeleteSteve Elliott
Arizona State University
Phoenix