Haha, so I guess we're supposed to actually answer a few questions on our blog. Oops! But I maintain that it's not my fault ... I got an email telling me to do this this morning. So here I go!
Something that works best for my program ... I would have to say that I love the links. I think it's really cool that I can link other websites or webquests to mine so my students can use those as resources.
I wish that I could make this lesson plan something where I can use technology to enhance instead of only using technology in the lesson. Does that make sense? While I was writing my lesson plan, I came up with all sorts of things that I could have my students do that didn't involve technology, so I kinda wish I could have used that somehow.
The peer evaluation and planning sheet were very useful to me. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to set the webquest up or how many resources I needed and things like that. I thought the planning sheet did a good job at helping me see what I needed and giving me advice on how to make it better. Feedback is always a good thing.
I have learned that you have to really think about what you want the kids to know. You can't just make up a fun activity and do it ... the activity needs to mean something and there are a lot of ways to help that happen.
Uhh ... I hope this is what I was supposed to do! Later ...
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Lesson Plan!
Hallelujah! It's the end of the semester and I have FINALLY finished the last project for this class. I know, I know ... it's a fantabulous accomplishment. Just kidding. But I really have finished, and a few days early to boot! I hope you all (if anyone even reads this) are proud of me.
Anyways ... to the point of this entry. So I finished my project and it's quite fun (if I do say so myself) It's a lesson for fourth grade students about ... CLOUDS! So if you wanna look at it, here's the link:
http://ia.usu.edu/viewproject.php?project=ia:12976
Hope you like it!
Anyways ... to the point of this entry. So I finished my project and it's quite fun (if I do say so myself) It's a lesson for fourth grade students about ... CLOUDS! So if you wanna look at it, here's the link:
http://ia.usu.edu/viewproject.php?project=ia:12976
Hope you like it!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Digital Photos!
Today in class we made geometry photo things! (specific, I know) In my group, we took pictures of rectangular prisms, cylinders, squares, trapezoids, and pentagons. It was really interesting to go into IPhoto and ComicLife because I've never used them before. I think that doing digital photos in a classroom with young children is something that they will really enjoy because they can take the pictures and I'll upload them and stuff. I really liked this activity and plan on using IPhoto in my future classroom.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Games for Kids!
Today we looked at web applications and how we can use those applications in out classrooms. There were a lot that I looked at (and if you really think about it, they're just games) and a few that I really liked.
I was looking at games for fifth graders, and one that I really liked was found at www.history.org/kids/games/foundingFather.cfm. What I really liked about this one was that it taught about the founding fathers in a game show kind of a thing. It asks questions about a founding father (like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, etc.) and the children would have to decide who did that. This game would fit the fifth grade Standard 2: students will understand teh chronology and significance of key events leading to self-government. In my classroom, I would use this to reinforce what I was teaching my students about the founding fathers during this time.
Another fifth grade game I found was for math and it reinforces about the order of operations. The website was www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/alg.cgi. What I like about this game is that there are different levels, so the children can do it at their own level instead of having it be too easy or too hard. This works for Standard One: Students will expand number sense to include integers and perform operations with whole numbers, simple fractions, and decimals. I'm focusing on the performing operations part of this standard, which is one of the objectives.
All in all, I think that web applications are a good thing to use in the classroom.
I was looking at games for fifth graders, and one that I really liked was found at www.history.org/kids/games/foundingFather.cfm. What I really liked about this one was that it taught about the founding fathers in a game show kind of a thing. It asks questions about a founding father (like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, etc.) and the children would have to decide who did that. This game would fit the fifth grade Standard 2: students will understand teh chronology and significance of key events leading to self-government. In my classroom, I would use this to reinforce what I was teaching my students about the founding fathers during this time.
Another fifth grade game I found was for math and it reinforces about the order of operations. The website was www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/alg.cgi. What I like about this game is that there are different levels, so the children can do it at their own level instead of having it be too easy or too hard. This works for Standard One: Students will expand number sense to include integers and perform operations with whole numbers, simple fractions, and decimals. I'm focusing on the performing operations part of this standard, which is one of the objectives.
All in all, I think that web applications are a good thing to use in the classroom.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Cloud Webquest
Today in class we learned about webquests. I looked at a lot and I think they can be a very good resource for teachers in all grades. A webquest is something that the teacher can make and change so it applies to their grade and the level of learning that their students should get.
I am doing my webquest on zunal.com and I want to do mine on Fourth Grade Science. I'm doing Standard 2, Objective 1, Indicator a, which is about teaching my students to identify different cloud types. If I don't do that one, I will do indicator d, which is about comparing different kinds of weather phenomena. I might switch the indicator, but I really like talking about the weather, so that is what I'm going to be teaching.
To teach this, I have a main idea about how to teach it, I just need to decide which indicator I want to use. If I teach the different types of clouds, I was thinking of having each of my students choose a different type of cloud (or I could divide them into groups and each group will have a specific type of cloud) and do a presentation about that type of cloud. This would include information about: what this clouds consists of and how you can tell it apart from other clouds, and things like that. If I teach the weather phenomena, I would have each child (or group) choose two opposing weather phenomena and make a presentation about how they are different, what conditions they are made under and such.
I am doing my webquest on zunal.com and I want to do mine on Fourth Grade Science. I'm doing Standard 2, Objective 1, Indicator a, which is about teaching my students to identify different cloud types. If I don't do that one, I will do indicator d, which is about comparing different kinds of weather phenomena. I might switch the indicator, but I really like talking about the weather, so that is what I'm going to be teaching.
To teach this, I have a main idea about how to teach it, I just need to decide which indicator I want to use. If I teach the different types of clouds, I was thinking of having each of my students choose a different type of cloud (or I could divide them into groups and each group will have a specific type of cloud) and do a presentation about that type of cloud. This would include information about: what this clouds consists of and how you can tell it apart from other clouds, and things like that. If I teach the weather phenomena, I would have each child (or group) choose two opposing weather phenomena and make a presentation about how they are different, what conditions they are made under and such.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Website Valid! ... or not?
Today we're looking at different ways to find out if a website is valid or not. I think this is a very useful thing to know because as a teacher, I need to be able to tell my students if they can/cannot use certain sites. The website I devised to evaluate was a biography of George Washington. I would put the url here, but it won't let me.
The first evaluation site I used was WAVE, which can tell you if your website is accessible or not. All you have to do is type in the url and it will evaluate the site and tell you how many accessibility problems there are. The cool thing about my website was that WAVE could not come up with any accessibility errors. So, this would probably be a very good site for the children to use. The only thing I don't like about WAVE is that it's not foolproof. In order to make sure that your site is accessible, you have to check it out, even after WAVE has checked.
The next evaluation site I used was the Kathy Schrock guide. I used the elementary school level, since that is what I plan on teaching. It asks lots of questions, about the inteernet site, how you're hooked to the internet and what web browser you're using, then it gets into the details. The first part asks how it looks, talking about the pictures and spelling and author's name, among other things. Part two asks what you leaned from the page, asking if the title page told you what it's about, comparing the information you got to an encyclopedia, and asking if everything on the page (pictured and photographs included) helps you learn. I really like this web evaluation guide because it doesn't make the decision for you. It asks you questions that are necessary to know if you're going to try to decide if your website is valid or not, but it lets you make the decision. Based on this guide, I would have to say that the website I chose, the bibliography about George Washington, is valid.
From using these evaluations, I've learned that validity is more than how a page looks. It also includes accessibility to people with disabilities and to people from different places. Validity has to do with resources and details that can be verified from encyclopedias and other valid resources. Opinions are not a valid thing, the main thing to look at is good information.
I really like the idea of making sure that the websites used in my classroom are valid. Students can't always tell if something is good or not, but if I'm willing to take the time and effort, I can help them find resources that will help them do what they need. And the biggest thing I learned from this lesson is that I can decide if a website is valid or not.
The first evaluation site I used was WAVE, which can tell you if your website is accessible or not. All you have to do is type in the url and it will evaluate the site and tell you how many accessibility problems there are. The cool thing about my website was that WAVE could not come up with any accessibility errors. So, this would probably be a very good site for the children to use. The only thing I don't like about WAVE is that it's not foolproof. In order to make sure that your site is accessible, you have to check it out, even after WAVE has checked.
The next evaluation site I used was the Kathy Schrock guide. I used the elementary school level, since that is what I plan on teaching. It asks lots of questions, about the inteernet site, how you're hooked to the internet and what web browser you're using, then it gets into the details. The first part asks how it looks, talking about the pictures and spelling and author's name, among other things. Part two asks what you leaned from the page, asking if the title page told you what it's about, comparing the information you got to an encyclopedia, and asking if everything on the page (pictured and photographs included) helps you learn. I really like this web evaluation guide because it doesn't make the decision for you. It asks you questions that are necessary to know if you're going to try to decide if your website is valid or not, but it lets you make the decision. Based on this guide, I would have to say that the website I chose, the bibliography about George Washington, is valid.
From using these evaluations, I've learned that validity is more than how a page looks. It also includes accessibility to people with disabilities and to people from different places. Validity has to do with resources and details that can be verified from encyclopedias and other valid resources. Opinions are not a valid thing, the main thing to look at is good information.
I really like the idea of making sure that the websites used in my classroom are valid. Students can't always tell if something is good or not, but if I'm willing to take the time and effort, I can help them find resources that will help them do what they need. And the biggest thing I learned from this lesson is that I can decide if a website is valid or not.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Surveys and Spreadsheets
Today I learned how to use spreadsheets and surveys in google docs and excel. Being an early education teacher, I really like these ideas because I think they are good ways to teach the children about graphs. If you use excel to make pie charts or other kinds of graphs, you can just display it in front of the children to show that different information changes what the graph looks like. I also think it would be useful because you can just make a graph or chart in front of the children and show them that they are important because their opinions and views can change how the graph looks.
I also think the survey is a great idea, though I would probably not use it with the younger children without explaining it in detail first. I think it's a good idea, though. A good, quick, and easy way to find out how your students feel about things. I even think you could use it to give an at-home quiz, or one at the beginning of class to see how your students are understanding what you're teaching them. I think the surveys are a great idea.
Here is a survey I made about animals:
I also think the survey is a great idea, though I would probably not use it with the younger children without explaining it in detail first. I think it's a good idea, though. A good, quick, and easy way to find out how your students feel about things. I even think you could use it to give an at-home quiz, or one at the beginning of class to see how your students are understanding what you're teaching them. I think the surveys are a great idea.
Here is a survey I made about animals:
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