WP/DTP

Creating documents for students and parents is large part of a teachers job. Because this is true, a good deal of time is spent creating visually yet meaningful documents to present to them. While this seems like an easy task, it however, is not so simple.

As a middle school teacher I have learned that students of this age respond better to visually stimulating documents. For instance, when I create a simple worksheet using a word processor I always change the font and put a little graphic somewhere on the worksheet. Believe it or not, students respond well to these simple, yet meaningful changes. They, at the ages of 11, 12, and 13, are not always concerned right away with the text that is on a document, however, if you can grab their attention right away, there is a better chance their response to the assignment will be a more positive one.

While students need to be visually stimulated, you also do not want to take away from what the meaning of the assignment is. As I stated above, I make small changes that will grab their attention but I am careful not to make it too busy as to distract to the desirable outcome.

In terms of creating items for parents such as newsletters, I tend to some of the same things such as insert graphics, change font, etc. Depending on the purpose of the assignment I may include more graphics and pictures if the document were a monthly newsletter. If it were a document such as a permission form or some kind of reminder, I would most likely change the font as this would be a document that were straight forward.

When making items such as those for parents, however, it is important not to get carried away as there is always meaning in the reason for sending a document you create home. One thing that might distract from the meaning of a report home or a permission slip is to change the layout and make it more "fun" when the goal is to get a signature or whatnot. If creating a newsletter or something fun, I believe a distraction is too much information in one area and this is where using a desktop publishing is most important. You also want to make sure you use readable font as some guardians of students may be their grandparents. It is crucial that all documents are legible.

Creating documents is an everyday task for a teacher and dependent on the desired result it is important that things such as font, graphics, and layout are taken into account and used properly so that your result is a positive one.