Inspiration and Microsoft Publisher

What?

Some of the new tools that we have used in the past week will be so helpful when becoming a teacher. We learned how to use the basics of Inspiration and Microsoft Publisher. The Inspiration program is quick and easy to create outlines for a class. You can become very detailed or stay as broad as you would like. You can create weekly lesson plans or a yearly overview of a single class. It was very nice to have my outline because it made my work easier and a lot faster. The tools on this program were clear and easy to understand. You could also use it as a technique for grading a class. You could start with your main topic and continue my adding skills they have mastered and what you haven't covered yet. This program can be great technique for looking back over your year to see the lessons you've done and where you would like to change. The other program we used had a variety of things you could use. In Publisher we used the newsletter, brochure, and flyer. What was so great about this program was the variety of things they had to choose from. You could use whatever was best for your interests, purpose and the audience you were targeting. The brochure was great for giving it to teachers because it was small but you could still fit enough information on it to get across your topic. This program was also very easy to understand and use. As a teacher you could put together a project for all your classes that is clear and easy for the parent, students, and other colleagues to understand. This is nice because you can do it in bulk. You could make a brochure and print out the amount you need whether it five or one hundred. The parent's newsletter is a great way to fit a lot of information without using tons of paper. It is efficient yet informational. The tools you used in this program were a lot like a normal word document which makes it nice because then you aren't learning a whole new program. As a teacher using your time wisely is very important, with this program you can do that. Everything you need to use is on one page. Also if you know the audience you plan on giving the information too you can use different layout that can be more professional or just casual.

So What?

Being professional is part of becoming a teacher. With this programs you can help accomplish this. Providing information that is clear for students, parents, and other colleagues is important. Another thing that is needed to help you become a good teacher is organization. With both of these programs especially inspiration you can be extremely organized and ready for class. Having brochures, newsletters, and flyers for the first day of class will help get your classes out on the right foot. It will give the parents a great idea of the professionalism you have and the qualifications you have as a teacher. Parents want to know their children are getting the best education possible and by communicating with the parents helps them feel more confident with your ability as a teacher. Providing information on a newsletter or brochure will have more affect than just calling or talking with the students or parent. You can have proof of a document that could really be beneficial if anything happened in your class. You can show the parents or students the information you gave them the first day of class and it can keep you safe when we live in a world were liability is a big issue. Also as a teacher time is of the essence. These programs help a teacher use their time wisely and for the best interest of the class.

Now What?

The best way to go now is to experiment. Get a lot of experience with these programs. This can help with time management. Since I'm becoming a PE teacher liability is extremely important. I plan on having a letter that will be sent home to the parents of what we will be doing in our class, the purpose of my class, and the goals I have in mind. I will also do the same thing with my students. Having documents will help me be liability safe. I also want to show professionalism and this is a great way to do so. I think that there could be other programs that each individual might understand better and will like better. I plan on doing my research to find programs that I will like. I really enjoyed both of these programs because of there simplicity. They were efficient and very easy to understand. I like to be very organized with anything I do. Finding a way to do this in my class will be essential for my success. I also like to be continually learning and with these organization skills I will always be able to look back and critique myself from week to week, month to month, and year to year. One area I would like to learn more about is knowing the best ways to use these documents to make my class run efficiently. I believe that these are techniques that can help me do so. I would like to put into practice the things I've learned with these tools. I plan on finding teachers who do use programs like these and the ones that don't and observe and evaluate the differences.