In the past I’ve used Microsoft word for just about every class I’ve had. It seems that I would always have some sort of assignment that I would need to type up and submit. Although, until this past week I have never really used many features included in word, and I haven’t seen my teachers use anything too creative either. My teachers have only ever used Word for typing documents, and captioning photographs. I’ve realized that most of the knowledge I have on Word is fairly basic because I have never been exposed to anything other than essay writing in Microsoft Word. After reading chapter 9 in Tech Tactics, I thought of some new ideas on how to use word to the best of my ability. As a teacher I will use MS Word to create newsletters with borders and clipart that are visually appealing for my students. I think that this could help spike the interest of certain subjects that normally do not garner much excitement from students. I will also use color, interesting fonts, and graphs in Word for my future students. In addition I will create interesting calendars that outline future events and due dates for my class.
Copyright and fair use of materials is an extremely important topic in education. It is vital that teachers stress the importance of correctly using others works. All of my teachers in the past have explained to use why we need to use our own material, or correctly cite others. I have been in classes before where my peers have not followed the correct guidelines and knowingly stole other people’s material. Every instance of this that I know of has been dealt with appropriately and the student received zero credit. As teacher I will help my students understand the need to correctly use materials that are not your own, by practicing the habit myself. I will always the fair use of materials, or I will create my own materials.
After reading chapter 9 from Tech Tactics and working on this weeks assignment, I have acquired new skills in Microsoft Word. I can now create a document that has a border, import information from a spreadsheet, and scan text and use OCR to transform it. Before this week I had no idea that I could include a border to documents in Microsoft Word. I also wasn’t aware that I could import data from spreadsheets so easily! I really like that I can add so much color and creativity to documents that I create, that was my favorite part of this weeks assignment. Although, I did not like having to create a permission slip in my document. Partly because I had trouble figuring out how to include the border into my document correctly, but also because I had to include a functioning email and hyperlink and I really didn’t think it was necessary. With the document I created the permission slip needed to be printed and signed, so that meant that the hyperlink and email didn’t really need to be functioning. But I can easily improve my border-making skills by practicing them! From now on, I will add more borders to my documents so that in the future I can easily perform this task. What I learned from this assignment will definitely carry over into my future career. For instance, I will know how to expertly create newsletters, flyers, calendars, and more. This will help my students, and there caretakers know what is expected of them on a regular basis, so that they can perform well in my class. I even think that I will use these skills before I enter the workforce, I might even design a newsletter and send it home to my family to let them know how I am doing this spring semester!
P.S. Here is my Word and Graphics #1 Assignment!
Blog Posts that I’ve responded to:
https://rachelsinclair4.wordpress.com/2015/01/25/post-2/
ach13b 
I agree! My teachers only really used Word to type documents but never to do the thing’s I would do as a teacher. I would like to be creative and create things that are appealing to my students but I feel like my teachers never even tried. When it comes to the copyright and fair use of materials, I feel like teachers shouldn’t just talk about it but definitely stress the importance of using someone else’s work. I also believe that teachers should stress the consequences of stealing someone’s work and not citing.
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I’m glad you found this assignment helpful! Word can do so much more, and I would encourage you to keep exploring if you are interested 🙂
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I also have very basic knowledge of microsoft word. Just typing and changing fonts! But through this class and the college experience in general i have learned many new skills that I will be employing for the rest of my career as a student!
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First of all, I really enjoyed your Words and Graphics 2 assignment! You made good use of the month and incorporated Valentine’s Day into it very well! I also was interested in your idea about creating calendars and other updates for your class that use exciting features such as different colors and graphics! I think that helps make the classroom more enticing to students and gets them wanting to learn and be there!
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Well, I’m impressed. Your Newsletter makes mine look like Junk. Way to go!
I’m on board with you as far as Copyright and fair use are concerned. These are important topics that can really put someone in a bad spot if they don’t pay attention to them.
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