Monday, December 1, 2008
Technology for Teachers Wrap-up
This course had forced me to face my fears about technology in the classroom; there are so many options available if the classroom has the hardware and Internet connections in place. I had my share of frustrations and computer-induced brickwalls (like this afternoon when my name and account at QuestGarden was deleted) but I also feel like I can talk techno-speak better than I could back in August when this course began. My blog was a great forum for me to get my thoughts out of my head and I liked the lesson plan possibilities I explored (as surfer and creator). It gives me courage to play more with my new laptop and become more familiar with the tools that can be an asset to me if I give them a chance.
WebQuest Lesson Plan: Aloha Hawaii
Check out our social studies lesson titled "Aloha Hawaii" for 5th graders at
http://questgarden.com/73/92/1/081121075235/index.htm
My friends Lyn Manning and Kelli Valdez and I compiled a fun lesson for 5th grade students to learn about Hawaii using the WebQuest site. It is a jigsaw activity where first the students research websites on their assigned topic (climate and geography and tourist attractions were mine, as well as the teacher resources section on student created sites on geography), then they are reassigned with TOPIC EXPERTS from other groups to create a travel brochure. On presentation day the students board a plane, listen to ukelele music and hear climate & geography information as they fly into the airport. The tourist attraction group then shares favorite sites to visit, ambassadors greet and share state history and state symbols. Then they enjoy a luau to appreciate the Hawaiian culture, and on the return trip the students as an extension activity make a postcard of their favorite parts of the adventure.
We spent five separate occasions (several hours) together setting up our accounts, sharing websites, refining the process and tasks, refining and changing links some more, and getting it ready to post. We got nervous when the grade level measurement feature was high (due to word volume on a page?) and tried to whittle down our text where we could without sacrificing web links. This afternoon as we pushed the Publish button (after Kelli lost her hula links and other frustrations when we were trying to add things to the lesson from different computers at the same time), my name was dropped from the lesson entirely. None of us knew what we had done to bring that about and were unsuccessful at trying to get my name as collaborating author back on the lesson plan. This project reminds me that I am a digital immigrant who is trying to use cool new techno-gadgets but ends up IN TEARS when it does something I don't even know how to fix.
I enjoyed viewing other lessons on WebQuest and will try to find ways to utilize these interactive lessons in my classroom. I enjoyed especially my surfing for tourist sites and volcano sites; I really liked finding the student authored sites about natural disasters, pele, and wayfinding. I'm sure students would be interested in exploring these as extensions to the lesson we created, and then create their own about features here in Cache Valley.
My favorite part about this activity was working with two women I admire. They are moms like me with chaotic lives (you wouldn't believe if I told you) and still manage to be at the top of the class in an extremely competitive group of courses. I learned a lot working with them about making our lesson language appropriate for our target audience and how to find "gif" sites for animated cliparts (we loved but couldn't get to work on our lesson pages). Group projects really are a way for students to teach each other and pool talents and expertise to produce a meaningful end product.
http://questgarden.com/73/92/1/081121075235/index.htm
My friends Lyn Manning and Kelli Valdez and I compiled a fun lesson for 5th grade students to learn about Hawaii using the WebQuest site. It is a jigsaw activity where first the students research websites on their assigned topic (climate and geography and tourist attractions were mine, as well as the teacher resources section on student created sites on geography), then they are reassigned with TOPIC EXPERTS from other groups to create a travel brochure. On presentation day the students board a plane, listen to ukelele music and hear climate & geography information as they fly into the airport. The tourist attraction group then shares favorite sites to visit, ambassadors greet and share state history and state symbols. Then they enjoy a luau to appreciate the Hawaiian culture, and on the return trip the students as an extension activity make a postcard of their favorite parts of the adventure.
We spent five separate occasions (several hours) together setting up our accounts, sharing websites, refining the process and tasks, refining and changing links some more, and getting it ready to post. We got nervous when the grade level measurement feature was high (due to word volume on a page?) and tried to whittle down our text where we could without sacrificing web links. This afternoon as we pushed the Publish button (after Kelli lost her hula links and other frustrations when we were trying to add things to the lesson from different computers at the same time), my name was dropped from the lesson entirely. None of us knew what we had done to bring that about and were unsuccessful at trying to get my name as collaborating author back on the lesson plan. This project reminds me that I am a digital immigrant who is trying to use cool new techno-gadgets but ends up IN TEARS when it does something I don't even know how to fix.
I enjoyed viewing other lessons on WebQuest and will try to find ways to utilize these interactive lessons in my classroom. I enjoyed especially my surfing for tourist sites and volcano sites; I really liked finding the student authored sites about natural disasters, pele, and wayfinding. I'm sure students would be interested in exploring these as extensions to the lesson we created, and then create their own about features here in Cache Valley.
My favorite part about this activity was working with two women I admire. They are moms like me with chaotic lives (you wouldn't believe if I told you) and still manage to be at the top of the class in an extremely competitive group of courses. I learned a lot working with them about making our lesson language appropriate for our target audience and how to find "gif" sites for animated cliparts (we loved but couldn't get to work on our lesson pages). Group projects really are a way for students to teach each other and pool talents and expertise to produce a meaningful end product.
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