Week Eight Thoughts...

In my school district we have very strict privacy settings on all of our computers. Not only does our school board have a strong firewall in place, but each individual school can also limit the information we are allowed to access via the internet.

While this bothers some of the other teachers, I kind of like it. I don't know a whole lot about computer viruses and the like, so anything that can be done so that my computer won't get one I'm all for. I also know that at our board we have a technology specialist who can track to see each website anyone in the county visits, and how long they are on it.

While each of these steps is good, and I do like them, sometimes they can be a pain in the neck. One day while on planning I was trying to open a document sent to me by another teacher as an attachment. My computer WOULD NOT open it. I tried everything. I finally called on our school's tech specialist and she couldn't figure it out either. She told me it had something to do with the firewall at the board, although it had been sent from inside our own building. There have been other times too when I will show my kids something on-line, minimize the site, and forget to log off until the end of the day. I am constantly worried that I will get "looked upon" for being on the internet for so long during the school day.

Overall, our school itself didn't have one problem all year with any malicious software or hackers. I may not totally understand everything being done to prevent this, but obviously its working!!

Week Seven Thoughts...

This week we discussed educational software that can be used in the classroom. While my school is already out for the summer, the one thing we use daily is Accelerated Reader. From this software students can take reading comprehension quizzes as well as vocabulary exams after reading an AR book that is on their reading level.

This software helps teachers gauge how well a child is "getting it" when it comes to reading comprehension. Just because a child can read does not mean they are comprehending anything.

My kids have always liked this program. They can log into it at any time to see how many books they have read, and how many AR "points" they have earned. Each of our 5th Graders must earn 100 points by the end of the school year, and this year they all did!

The only thing that I don't really care for is the fact that students can only take each quiz one time. Say if in 3rd grade Sally takes a quiz for a book that was over her head and does poorly. She cannot repeat the quiz in 4th or 5th grades. Other than that I love AR!!

Week Six Thoughts...

This week we had to create WebQuests. Before this lesson I had never even heard of a WebQuest, much less seen one on-line. After doing a quick Google search I found a plethora of information about them, as well as many fine examples.

Although I had never seen a WebQuest before this week, I really like the idea of them. They are a great way to get students interacting with technology, and an awesome way for them to learn while still having fun! While the process of creating the WebQuest was long, and kind of complicated, I believe in the long run it is totally worth it.

http://questgarden.com/104/67/4/100608115949/

The above link is for the WebQuest I created. I wanted to make something fun, so my WebQuest is designed so students must research and plan a trip to Paris, France. While I didn't find the creation process too difficult, it was time consuming. Not only did I have to word everything just right so the students would understand what to do, but I had to make it look visually appealing.

I think the WebQuest I created is good, but I know it could be better. If I would have had time I would have tried it out with a group of kids to get their take on it so that I would know what needs to be changed. I already know I need to work on the "evaluation" portion of the WebQuest because I didn't really know what needed to go there. I mean, I knew what needed to go there, but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to see. Overall I really liked this assignment. I can't wait to show my co-workers the QuestGarden website, and show off my creation!

Lesson Five Thoughts....

In the past I have used online communication tools in my classroom, but the neatest thing I have ever done with my kids didn't happen in the actual classroom. Last summer when I was teaching in an Enrichment Program I did a project with my kids called "The Adventures of Marcus the Bulldog." We had a stuffed bulldog (a Webkinz) that we took everywhere we went, and when we returned to school we would post pictures and entries on our online blog. (I totally borrowed this idea from the book Flat Stanley).

I even took the dog with me when I went on vacation to Chicago and Gatlinburg, because many of my students had never traveled outside of our state. I would post on the blog while I was away, and my "sub" would pull the blog up on the Smart board to show the kids what Marcus was up to.

Not only did the kids love this project, but their parents did too. Marcus and his journal would go home with students on the weekends so that they could continue Marcus's story on paper. While these entries didn't make it onto our blog, (there were too many), we would read them on Monday mornings so that everyone would know what Marcus had done away from school.

I am not sure if anyone other than my students and their parents ever saw our blog, but that didn't matter to me. It was a way to bring different experiences to all of my students who otherwise would never get the chance to experience them for themselves. By blogging Marcus's adventures we could talk about different regions of our country and how culture plays a huge role in every ones lives.

If it were not for blogs (much like this one) I'm not sure this project would have been such a success. I can't wait to continue Marcus's story this summer!

I am also thinking about next school year, and trying to start my own YouTube channel for my class. I think that allowing the students to make their own videos will not only help drive certain concepts home, but showing said videos to other students is yet another way to explain certain topics. I'm working through the ins and outs in my mind, but I really think this may be a possibility.