Graphic Design

Incorporating graphic design into the classroom is important regardless of the grade being taught. I currently teach 10th grade English for both general education students and in a special education instructional setting. In these classes, students are often involved in creating presentations and delivering speeches with visual aids. Prior to this module, I was aware of the statistic that 93% of communication is nonverbal, but I was unaware of some of the other statistics mentioned in The Power of Visual Communication Infographic, specifically that 80% of what we see and do is retained versus only 20% of what we read and only 10% of what we hear (2017). Considering this information, in order to maximize student engagement and retention of meaningful information. The use of infographics, images, slide presentations and other visual media is key to providing the best educational learning environment possible. By incorporating as much visual media/learning as possible, I will better reach all students and especially the students who lose focus easily. With this said, I think it is important to maintain a balanced learning environment and incorporate reading and listening skills when appropriate.

Considering students absorb most of the information presented visually, I plan to use more visuals in the classroom. Up to this point, I feel that I have incorporated visuals effectively in my teaching, but not enough; specifically, at the beginning and ending of class. Moving forward, I would like to have the target or agenda presented visually(besides just in words) as compared to how I currently present this orally. I would like to do the same with the ending of class. Instead of saying what the homework or assignment is, a prepared slide with images might better help the students remember. During actual lessons I incorporate lots of visuals as I am a visual learner. I will continue to do this with sufficient modeling and examples for students to reference. I need to work on a theme or slogan for my class, maybe something like... Less speak, more do, more see.

In 10th grade English we are currently working on reading Unbroken. Students were assigned partners and specific chapters to read and annotate (special education instructional setting). Once students have read and annotated, they will present their chapters to the class using Google Slides. Students are to include key people, facts, details and problems as well as make the presentation visually engaging. We tell students a visually engaging presentation has less words and more images and creativity. Based on the information I learned from Why Teachers Should Care About Typography (2013), there are several guidelines I will ask students to follow:

• Use a variety of font sizes, font colors and font weights. 
• Make sure the font is appropriate to the content and easy to read. 
• No more than 2-3 fonts per slide. 
• Space type to make it reader-friendly. 
• Do not use large segments of all capital letters. 
• Play with the colors. Make sure text color complements background color. 

If students keep these guidelines in mind, I expect their presentations will be fun to create, engaging for the audience and an experience that promotes learning.