WebQuest

Now that I have been working on my WebQuest for a couple of weeks, it is beginning to look the way I had envisioned it. There are things that I like about the creation process and things that I do not.

I enjoyed...

• having a template with separate pages already set up
• easy to follow guides and check points to enhance the experience 

•  easy to change customizable backgrounds and fonts 
• ways to import videos and pictures directly through the site  

Causes of frustration...

• needing to save after every change
• the location of save button... out of direct view

                    (those two are cause for me having to spend lots of extra time putting information in        several times)

• size limitations of photos
• no preset design layouts

I still have a lot more work I would like to do on my WebQuest as I have been toying with the look and content to see what I like and what works best. I hope to add many more links and interactive pieces to engage students and make the lesson fun!

Digital Natives

This post is in response to two articles I read about the current generation of students and how we should be teaching them.

     The first article I read on this topic is titled Digital Natives Digital Immigrants and is written by Marc Prensky.  This article was my first introduction to thinking about the current generation as people who speak another language.  At first I thought this was strange and didn't think I would agree with Prensky's view, but as I continued to read, I found that he is on to something. The new generation is the first to grow up with technology at their finger tips and are surrounded by it at all times. While most of us have had to learn how to use technology as we have gotten older, they have grown up knowing how to use it from a very young age.
     I found Prensky's solution to teaching this generation interesting and thought-provoking. He suggests that teachers should create computer games instead of lessons. This sounds really intriguing and engaging for students, but an extensive undertaking for teachers. One aspect that I am not fond of in this teaching model is the amount of time we would be having students work on a computer, staring at a screen. I also am curious what class time would look like in this model. Questions that come to mind are would there be any class discussion, would all lessons be taught through computer games, and would textbooks become obsolete.

     The second article I read is a follow up to the first article. This one discusses the neurological differences between the new generation and other generations as well as provides evidence to support this model of teaching and insight to how to make it effective. I found this article rather interesting. The thought of having computer games be apart of homework is an amazing idea. I know that students spend lots of time watching TV and playing video games on the weekends both because I know other children, and because I do it myself. Having games instead of worksheets could provide a tremendous boost to the percentage of students who complete their homework. I can really only see benefits from transforming homework into games. Especially after learning that these students' brains have developed differently. This model definitely seems like the way teaching should evolve, and I hope that there can be support and knowledge to help get it there.

Copyright

This post is a response to a quiz on copyright laws.

I did pretty well on the quiz. I felt like I knew most of the answers and was confident in my knowledge on the topic. There were only a few questions that I guessed on and got wrong.  The few questions about who would win lawsuits, stumped me.

I was surprised that a student couldn't use a copyrighted  picture on the school website even though he gave credit to the source. I had thought that as long as credit was given to the creator, the art could be used. I also found it interesting that a student could download a copyrighted picture from the web and use it in his project without an issue.  I had thought that he would need to cite the source, which the situation does not say that he does.

This was a very interesting quiz to take. I found that I did pretty well on the quiz and felt confident in most of my answers and knowledge.  However, I did discover that I still have more to learn and need to keep looking into copyright laws.

WebQuest Project

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1. Topic and grade
      My area of focus is Language arts with a specific focus in affixes
      This is a second grade standard

2. Standards covered

      Common Core: Reading standard for fundamental skills RF grade 2 3.d

      ISTE: Collaboration and Communication 2.a 

3. Final Product

     After completing this WebQuest, students will be able recognize, decode, and know the meaning of common prefixes and suffixes. Students will demonstrate their mastery of this standard by completing a word journal that categorizes words by their respective suffixes and prefixes. The last step to this project will instruct students to add 10 more words to their journals and share their words with the class. 

Scoring Powerpoints

This post is a response to reading This article on Powerpoints.

      PowerPoints can be wonderful tools to boost a presentation and keeps the audience's attention.  They can also be distracting and too complicated. This article had several good points to help keep PowerPoints on the helpful side of presentations. One thing the article discussed was making the content worth 80% of the final grade.  I like this suggestion for a couple of reasons.  Like the article says, it takes the student's focus off of the fancy effects and keeps them focussed on their topic and research.  I also think that the appearance of the presentation should be a factor as it is an important piece to the presentation and also a good skill to have. I also agree that teachers should create a rubric with clear expectations for the presentation.  Students should have a clear picture of what they need to accomplish with their presentation.

      One thing that I did not agree with the article on was the idea of providing a very strict rubric that dictates what the PowerPoint should look like.  PowerPoints are blank canvases and can be molded into very creative presentations.  I believe that by creating too strict of a rubric, the creativity is taken from the students. This creativity can also be taken by providing examples of presentations.  I feel that examples can be helpful, but they need to be diverse and there should be several of them.

     I feel that this article brought up several good points to keep in mind and has sparked thoughts about how to introduce PowerPoint presentations for my students.  I found that there is much more to think about than I had originally thought.  I can't keep track of the number of horrible PowerPoint presentations I have seen and now feel better equipped to create better PowerPoints myself as well as help teach my students to create better presentations.

Getting to Know You

Here's the skinny on me.....

1. At home: I am a roommate to 3 other God-loving ladies. The cargiver for a goldfish and co-caregiver for an organge cat. I am a girlfriend. And an only child (excluding my 2 adopted doggie siblings).

2. At school: I am a grad student at APU. I am a hopeless procrastinator, becuase I have a need for the thrill of meeting the deadline.

3. Out and about: I am an employee at Lindamood-Bell as a clinician as well as at Real Connections Child Development as a Floortime Player. I am very social and am prone to procrastinating on responsibilities when social events arise. I have a deep love for the beach and sunshine.

4. Something unique to my life is: I am a Navy brat and as a result I attended 3 seperate elementary schools, lived in 3 states, and resided in countless homes.