Sharing our WebQuests

Today we shared our final designs for the WebQuest.  Everyone had different ideas, and they all turned out really well.  It would be hard to use something like that in a PE class, but it would be fun to try it sometime and see how the students react.  Monday will be our last time meeting, I enjoyed the semester and will use what I learned in my classrooms.

Making the WebQuest

Today the only thing we did was work on our WebQuests.  Nick and I got ours done, thankfully, because it would have been hard to do it over break.  I'm looking forward to presenting ours because I think if it was actually for the students it would be a lot of fun.  It was fun making it, too, because we got to look around the internet for pictures, and really just be creative with everything to make it interesting for would-be students.

More WebQuests

Today the first thing we did was watch another video of a teacher using technology in her class.  We filled out a worksheet answering questions about the video.  Then we talked about the WebQuests we found during the week and talked about some that would be fun to do.  Last, we got together with our partners and started brainstorming topics and what would be good to do.  Nick and mine should be fun, mixing in both of our majors to make the WebQuest.

WebQuests

We started today's class off by discussing our observations of technology in the classroom.  I liked this project because I got to go back into my high school English class and visit and observe.  Even though the teacher didn't use much, it was fun to see the assets in the classroom.  Then we were introduced to the WebQuests and what we need to do for our projects.  Mrs. Day showed us some examples and then we had to look around the internet for a WebQuest that we liked. 

Project 7

On Monday we talked about project number 7, where we had to search 5 websites and get information on them.  We talked with partners about what was good and bad in our websites, and whether they would be any use in the classrooms.  Then we talked about the project due next Monday, which is an observation of a classroom, and filling out the worksheet discussing the technology in the classroom and how it was used.  Last we watched a video of technology being used in a classroom.  We had to answer questions about the video and turn it in.  We then finished the video and were told to read chapter 6.

Chapter 5

Today we discussed how using google and all the other web browsers can help us in the classroom.  The internet is so detailed today that you can find anything you need with just a few simple keywords.  We also talked about our next project, which involves finding websites that we think will be useful to us in the classrooms.  We have to write down basically how good the website is and if it will really benefit the students and us at teachers.  Last we all got a "review" sheet for chapter 5, helping us understand more about the search engines and what they really do for us.

Tech in the classrooms

In class on the 11th we shared our second Wordles of the semester.  I thought these were a lot more creative than the first set, because everyone knew what to do.  The Wordles were to be used in a lesson plan that we each made, specific to the grade level and subject we want to teach.  This made all the Wordles different, and it was pretty cool.  Next we were assigned our next project, which should be a lot of fun.  We have to go observe a class for about an hour and answer questions and write down what and how technology was used in the lesson for today.  Last, we read a four page writing about how a third grade teacher has been influenced by technology and how she has really started using it to enhance the learning of her students.  We then reflected on the first time we can remember technology in the classroom.  Mine started around 4th or 5th grade, but even then we didn't have much.

P.S. (sorry to Nick and Mrs. Day about the tardiness....)

The Lesson Plan

The first thing we did today was discuss our homework in small groups.  We were divided by birth month to make it easy and answered the questions.  Then we got to talking about lesson plans and what the most important aspects are in a lesson plan.  Following that we paired up with someone teaching the same grade level and discussed how to use a wordle in the lesson for the particular grade.  For instance, mine is secondary, so I talked about how I could use a wordle in a lesson for teaching volleyball.  Then we talked about next Monday's assignment and before we could leave we were given a question and an answer from our reading and had to match them with corresponding answers and questions that someone else had.

Active Learning

Just as it says, active learning.  One of the best ways for students to learn is the classroom is to get up and physically do something that is related to the subject.  An example given today in class was talking about math, you can go outside and measure shadows of trees and then measure your height.  This will let the students get out of the classroom, actively measure two things, then do the computations of predicting the tree height later in the classroom.  In the last part of class we were given an example of one of the many ways to make a lesson plan.  Every school has a curriculum and as educators we have to teach lessons organized on paper sometimes.  Lastly as time was running out in class, we discussed was of assessing students progress in class.  I suggested quizzing or asking questions at the end of class, but there are many ways of doing this.  One way, which is how we will be assessed in this class, is using class participation and projects grade us.

Technology and Teaching

Today was all about the use of technology in education.  We talked about how to use various devices in the classroom such as a flip video cameras or even the new iPads.  I have an iTouch and I think it would be fun to incorporate something like that in my classroom.  It would keep the kids interested and hopefully teach them different things, too.  For the majority of class, we were given scenarios and we had to go to the corner that described what we thought: strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree.  As we all grouped up, we had to say why we chose that side of the argument.  This gave to full spectrum of what we all want in our classroom and schools.  At the end of class, we watched the "Did You Know" video from last year.  It gave ridiculous numbers and percentages about the growing use of technology in today's world.  Pretty amazing.

The TED Projector

What an awesome piece of technology.  I already want to go online and order one, but I know I have to wait.  The "Sixth Sense" is almost too good to be true.  But you have to think about the flip sides to everything.  What if you walk up to someone and it gives you incorrect information?  Or what happens when you start relying on this thing for everything in your daily schedule, and the batteries die?  Too much? I don't think so, because it's the same as if your batteries die on the iPhone.  However, this is a wonderful piece that I think can really help students learn about the environment and economy with 'outside the classroom' instruction.