Saturday, October 25, 2008
WebQuests
I found creating a WebQuest to be very easy. I used PowerPoint to create my WebQuest, which was great! Since I was comfortable with PowerPoint, I was able to create the WebQuest fairly quickly. I created a WebQuest on land biomes and I was so happy with how it turned out that I decided to go ahead and use it with my class.
I signed out the laptop cart from our media center. I attempted to bring the 500 pound cart over to the POD with a couple of students holding the doors. When I could not get the cart over the door frame, I pushed harder. Then I conned a colleague into helping me. She pushed, I pulled. We pushed and pulled so hard, a wheel fell right off. With one wheel missing, the janitor had to assist with getting the cart to the POD. That is when the second wheel fell off and I had to send the kids away. We were eventually able to get the cart to the POD.
Eventhough this project got off to a rocky start, it turned into something great! The lesson went fantastic, the kids were very engaged and they learned a ton! The only problem I had, if it can be considered a problem, was that one student (who was sitting right next to the principal) decided he would leave the webquest and go Google his own biome websites. He did go to a great biome website and he was excited about learning. What this showed me is that in future webquests I should consider adding a link to a search engine where the kids can find their own sites to read. I think by allowing them to find their own site, they would feel even more ownership of the information they find. This would require closer supervision, to ensure they do not go to inappropriate websites or sites that don't have great information.
I will definitely do more webquests in the future, especially since my kids will never leave me alone until we do!
I signed out the laptop cart from our media center. I attempted to bring the 500 pound cart over to the POD with a couple of students holding the doors. When I could not get the cart over the door frame, I pushed harder. Then I conned a colleague into helping me. She pushed, I pulled. We pushed and pulled so hard, a wheel fell right off. With one wheel missing, the janitor had to assist with getting the cart to the POD. That is when the second wheel fell off and I had to send the kids away. We were eventually able to get the cart to the POD.
Eventhough this project got off to a rocky start, it turned into something great! The lesson went fantastic, the kids were very engaged and they learned a ton! The only problem I had, if it can be considered a problem, was that one student (who was sitting right next to the principal) decided he would leave the webquest and go Google his own biome websites. He did go to a great biome website and he was excited about learning. What this showed me is that in future webquests I should consider adding a link to a search engine where the kids can find their own sites to read. I think by allowing them to find their own site, they would feel even more ownership of the information they find. This would require closer supervision, to ensure they do not go to inappropriate websites or sites that don't have great information.
I will definitely do more webquests in the future, especially since my kids will never leave me alone until we do!
Digital Books
Here are two books I created with Tarheel Reader. There is one book on Weather and another on Trees. This program was very easy and enjoyable to use. I love that if I can't find a book that is easy enough for my struggling readers, on a particular topic, I can create a book that can be read on their own or be read to them. I anticipate using this program with my kids, to create class books.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Facebook vs. MySpace
So, with much reservation I tried out both MySpace and Facebook. I found Facebook easier to use, mostly because it didn't have as many features as MySpace. I found them equally easy to find and add friends. I also liked Facebook because it showed me people I actually did know. I would have no problem continuing to use Facebook for some time. I can also see how it could be a useful tool for networking or keeping in touch with colleagues, friends and family. However, I quickly discovered this is a social networking site that is definitely NOT intended for kid use...
So here is the disaster that caused me to realize I would NEVER absolutely NEVER use these programs with my kids. I was looking at a close friend's MySpace page (I should mention I was using my school issued laptop). While looking at her page, I saw her sister listed on the side, so I went ahead and looked at her page as well. It so happened that her page was public. Then I decided to look at my friend's new husband's page, to get to know him a bit better. However, his page was not public, so I was not able to see it. But, never fear, MySpace always suggests public pages that you may want to view and they provide pictures of these random people. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can try going to one of our MySpace pages, before adding us as a friend. So anyway, one of the pictures was a close up a male body part that need not be photographed outside of National Geographic or an adult film. I know that MySpace has precautions set up to avoid this problem, but OBVIOUSLY it doesn't always work. Therefore I would never, ever use this at school with my kids!!
So here is the disaster that caused me to realize I would NEVER absolutely NEVER use these programs with my kids. I was looking at a close friend's MySpace page (I should mention I was using my school issued laptop). While looking at her page, I saw her sister listed on the side, so I went ahead and looked at her page as well. It so happened that her page was public. Then I decided to look at my friend's new husband's page, to get to know him a bit better. However, his page was not public, so I was not able to see it. But, never fear, MySpace always suggests public pages that you may want to view and they provide pictures of these random people. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can try going to one of our MySpace pages, before adding us as a friend. So anyway, one of the pictures was a close up a male body part that need not be photographed outside of National Geographic or an adult film. I know that MySpace has precautions set up to avoid this problem, but OBVIOUSLY it doesn't always work. Therefore I would never, ever use this at school with my kids!!
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