http://www.zunal.com/webquest.php?w=56540

I enjoyed coming up with ideas for the Webquest and I felt that Zunal, the program I used, was very user friendly and easy to understand. I loved the explanation of what needed to be put on each page and the option to add pictures. The planning sheet really help to clear up in my mind exactly what I wanted to happen in my Webquest and how I was going to tie everything together. The peer evaluation was helpful to both receive and to do because when I was checking another Webquest I realized things on mine that needed improvement. I learned that in order to really put a great lesson together you need to have a plan. I think it would've been very difficult to make the Webquest on the spur of the moment. So for note to self if I ever want to use a Webquest in my classroom someday I will need plenty of time to prepare it and make it all work together.

Digital Photography!

I really think that in older and some younger grades that digital photography will be a fun way to help them lean! It's a hands on activity that allows them to express their creativity and learn a the same time! Also I think it'd be a great idea for a teacher to keep a running digital record of the years activities in photos! Then you could put them on a disc or into a slide show for each student to have and to remember the year!

Math comic book page! Nick Baker was the author of all captions!!

Web Applications!!

The web application provided to explore were great! I played around a lot with the colonial website and on the Nasa under the kids section. The colonial one would be great in educating students on how life was during that time from the type of clothing worn, careers, classes (ses), and everyday life. I think if you had discussed with your class about the colonial period and perhaps read some information from their text books. Provided them with a some background knowledge and then let them explore the website putting a visual and interactive part into their learning to help concrete it and increase comprehension. I explored the NASA website and found a great interactive games for students. I played one that had to do with the solar system, it asked questions about the planet and as you got them right a comet got closer to the sun. Once again if students had foundational knowledge of the planets, their order, and a little about each planet they would be successful enough to continue playing but they'd also be challenged and learn what they didn't already know.

Instructional Architect

Instructional Architect will be an incredibly helpful teacher resource! I found so many lesson ideas and resources that it would make it must simpler and more efficient to use technology for my students and me. I am thankful that we had someone to explain how it works because otherwise I would've been lost, but her instructions and information were helpful. I hope to be able to use Instructional Architect and contribute to it in the future!

Web Quests!!

Until today I had no idea what a Webquest was or what you could use it for. I think it is a great way to allow students to use there technological skills and complete an assignment linked to curriculum. It also is a great way to keep control of where the students are searching and web and the information they are browsing. I think when you add the technology into an assignment the students interest immeditely is increased and then if you can combine it with an project that engages them and is hands on or kinesthetic it can create a great way for the students to learn and have fun doing it!

For my "webquest-to-be" I'm studying the Civil War. I have found several websites that discuss the events of the Civil War. For their task the students would need to choose several events that they found most interesting and create a picture time line of the events.

Web Site Evaluations!!

The internet is so big and so vast that I often find myself lost and confused about what is legitimate and what is just plain crap. Through the years I've learned how to look at websites and decide if I can trust the information presented or if I should find somewhere else. As with everything students are learning things for the first time, they need to be taught the proper way to do things and the more strategies you can give them the better.

Today I pulled up a website called Facts about the Moon for Kids. It is produced by Woodlands Junior High School. When I checked out the website in the accessibility checker it only had 3 errors. I thought this was a lot but as I checked out other websites I soon realized that there were not many websites that had only 3 errors they often had many more. So as I checked the same moon website on another evaluation form and it checked out there as well. The information was current and up to date, the presentation was simple to use but eye catching and intriguing just the same. There were fun and easy to use interactive models that students would easily be able to use and enjoy. Overall I found that the site was great and it would be a perfect one for kids to explore and learn about the moon!!

As they worked through the website though it would be a great example for teaching them how to find good websites and what aspects to look for and to avoid.

Spreadsheets and Google Surveys!

I think that knowing and being efficient with using spreadsheets can make a teachers life much easier. As teachers we are not only expected to document grades but also to collect data. As teachers enter grades any shortcuts to save time would be excellent so knowing the shortcut functions will save time. Then being able to change them into graphs and present visual data to others will help keep this organized and simple.

Survey...