Visual Literacy
A large amount of information we receive is visual in nature, based on images we see. Visual Literacy is important in education, we need to teach our students to analyze and think critically about the messages they are receiving from images; teachers also need to consider the visual aspects of our presentations and lessons. Utilizing visual literacy skills as a teacher can improve student learning.
Infographic supporting our upcoming Family Math Night at Mountain Valley School
I created an infographic to advertise our upcoming Family Math Night at MVS!
It's going to be exciting to engage families in such a fun and meaningful way!
Visual Posts for MVS Social Media celebrating our recognition as a Colorado Healthy School Champion
I created these posts for Mountain Valley's Facebook and Twitter accounts using the same image and filter for consistency. The Facebook post included the press release regarding our recognition as a Healthy School Champion. I was amazed at the increased attention these posts received simply by including a visual aspect compared with posts we have made in the past without the visual element.
Infographic to explain new Professional Development plans for Mountain Valley School District
Mountain Valley School District plans to individualize professional development in a meaningful and hopefully inspiring way beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. We hope to encourage and incentivize teachers to seek out professional development that is particularly relevant to them. In addition, we want to encourage accountability for teachers to use their new skills in the classroom and share their learning with their peers. To support and reward teachers who are working hard to improve their practice, Mountain Valley wants to send these innovative teachers to national level conferences. We plan on using a badge system to track and encourage Mountain Valley teachers. I created this infographic to explain our initial plans regarding a new badge system and professional development.
Reflection
The Visual Literacy unit was fun! I enjoyed learning some basic design skills and have applied my new skills in some practical and meaningful ways already!
I'm still shocked by the difference in traffic to our MVS Facebook page as a direct result of creating a visual post. It's particularly interesting when you consider that our neighboring school district, which is 30 miles south of Mountain Valley and serves a much larger community, also received the Healthy School Champion award but has received much less local feedback. People are visual; we like images. I need to remember this when interacting with students, teachers, community members, or any other larger audience.
I shared some of my learning with my Financial Algebra students and had them create an infographic explaining their learning on our recent topic of math and vehicles. They created great infographics explaining different calculations related to auto loans, fuel efficiency, and insurance costs. I was so proud of their learning and creativity. In the future, this will become a regular means of assessment in this class!
Overall, visual aspects have important ramifications for all interactions with my students and the global community. Utilizing my new visual literacy skills can improve the attention and retention level of my content. This is important to think about whether collaborating with teachers and other professionals across the world, designing video lessons to be used by students outside of class, or working to help my students create dynamic project-based learning presentations.