- The first webquest that I chose is called Environmental Awareness: Junk Mail Overload. It is analyzing junk mail and how much stuff people throw away. Students have to come up with solutions to an environmental problem. It is a retelling, persuasive and analytical task.
- The second web quest is called Climate Change: a Hot Topic... Cool Solutions. It is all about students understanding the impact that they can have (good or bad) on their communities by the actions that they take. This webquest is a mystery, persuasive, analytical and scientific task.
- The last webquest is a very simple study of the Water Cycle and it is just an easy way to introduce the conversation to the class of earth cycles. This webquest is both a scientific and an analytical task.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
My Contributios to the Webquest Wiki
I contributed to the webuest wiki by adding three great webquests that I could very easily integrate into my classroom, or even just take the tasks and use in a unit. I liked them because they were very real world and they are very important topics to me and the things that I plan to teach about.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Chapter 10. Going Beyond the Classroom
The chapter this passage comes from explains that students can really learn when they are given the opportunity to see things outside of the classroom. Mahogany says, “In ninth-grade science, two times a week we went out to clean up a park with a pond in it. We learned about fish and their environment” page 176.
There is nothing like combining learning with community service. There are so many great things that can come from helping other people, cleaning up the environment that you live in while learning outside of the classroom. I am very passionate about environmental issues/problems and I will enjoy taking my students outside to learn a lot about the environment. There are so many things in science that can be taught outside of the classroom. The value of helping other people can be taught inside and outside the classroom, but the important thing is, that it is taught.
Chapter 9. When Things Go Wrong
“Without giving up their human side, teachers have to put aside their fear and do the job, even as their teenaged students test them again and again.” Then Mika responds with “We’re just gonna crush your hope and pride. Teachers need to get a harder shell. After that, students won’t see that you’re scared” (page 168).
I do not think that teachers need to ‘get a harder shell’ because they are afraid that their students are going to ‘crush their hope and pride’. I think that is a terrible thing to say. You have to make yourself a littler vulnerable to your students, or else why would you want to be a teacher? You do not want to show your students that you are scared to teach, but a teacher should never be in fear of a student. If I have students that are deliberately trying to ‘crush my hope and pride’ I have chosen the wrong career. I think it is important to find the balance between the two extremes of friend and authoritarian, especially in the first few years, but there will be no student allowed in my classroom that makes me fear being there, for any reason.
Chapter 8. Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English
“My first English teacher in middle school saw me and my friend dancing and she made a class after school for us to teach samba to English-speaking kids. Teachers can make connections for us if they know what we can do” Elaine, page 135.
There are sure to be a handful of English language learners in every class or year of students. It is true with all students, as much as it is English language learners, get to know them, make connections, and allow them show off ‘their stuff’ (what they are good at, things that they like, a unique family tradition, culture difference…etc). If there is a way for your students to teach each other something, give them that outlet. I was able to teach dance in high school, not at school but at my studio and it encouraged me want to become a teacher. I love to dance and that is why this passage caught my eye.
Chapter 7. Teaching Difficult Academic Material
“When things in the textbook seem really boring, do activities that force us to get involved and make connections. In my ninth-grade science class we read about how resources were divided among the world, and he had students act as countries and divide up popcorn in amounts that represented their country’s share of the resources. We have to organize to get enough popcorn for our countries” – Daryl, page 135.
I personally just like this idea. It is an effective way to teach about resources, the problems that this country is facing and the dent that it is making on the world. It gets students up and moving, communicating and visualizing the sharing of resources. Because I am a science concentration, I find that there are not a lot of ‘motivating stories’ about science classes, it catches my eye when I see one, and I use it. Science textbooks are incredibly boring, doing activities like this one can help teach something that is not in the textbook, or can be used to supplement or replace reading for people who are more visual or kinesthetic learners. I also did it in middle school, and it was really fun.
Chapter 6. Motivation and Boredom
Porsche, on page 119, gave a great reason to motivate students to free write or keep a journal (or blog!) “I wanted to write a poem in my English class after I saw that movie American History X. It was so sad that I just had to write about it because it really made me think bad things, so I had to write it down instead of saying something to someone.”
First of all, if you have not seen this film, see it, rent it, borrow it, buy it, Netflix it or steal it. It is a brilliant film and every teacher-to-be should see it, especially if the Freedom Writers Diary touched your heart… at all. Porsche had a great reason to want to write something down. However, if there is nothing that you feel you need to write about in the classes you are teaching, do not expect your students to have anything to say, but if you do, they do, so have them do it. A journal can be a great tool for communication between student and teacher about understanding concepts, or it turn into time consuming busy work.
Chapter 5. Teaching to the Individual, Working with the Group
This passage is a quote by Vance that is on page 88, it is a story about why he lost his motivation to participate. “I never liked chemistry or physics or anything, but one day I brought in a Stephen Hawking book on the history of the universe–I asked the teacher about it. He was talking about light, about how it’s in packets, and how you can use light to turn chemicals into certain things. So I asked: “Couldn’t you theoretically turn something into anything?” And he said: “No. That’s science fiction,” and went on with his class. And I’m thinking: “But Stephen Hawking said that – this is the only thing I have to contribute – I practiced all night to say this–” And so I just put my head back down on the desk.”
I just want to take this opportunity to defend Vance. First of all, Stephen Hawking is a BRILLIANT MAN. He knows more about science theory and math theory than twenty five of Vance’s teacher put together and then some; I would put money on it. Why not dabble in a theory for a second? He would have explained something about theories to students, that they are just that, theories. He could have asked Vance to give a context to his statement and then try to prove it. Open the theory up to the class and play devils advocate, ask questions, get them to think, discuss, debate, fight…anything, make them think for themselves and ask them to explain why. Getting students to think for themselves, believe in something and be able to support what they believe in, is more important to me than anything I could teach them about chemistry or physics.
Chapter 4. Creating a Culture of Success
Chapter four is about things that we can do as teachers, to enable students to succeed. It is full of graphic organizers and evaluations. On page 71 Mika says, “I don’t like when people stare at my grill. My teacher came to me and said: “I don’t understand your frustration, but I’m not going to leave you alone. You have to write down what you have to say, so that by the time we get to you, you have something to say and you won’t have to make anyone wait and look at you.” So now that’s what I do, and it was one of the most important things I ever learned in my high school career.”
I can honestly say that I am not a big fan of the teacher’s attitude in this statement, but I like the simple, but effective idea. Mika might have trouble participating in class, for whatever reason. In an effort to get her to participate, the teacher gave her a way to organize her thoughts. He or she solved the problem by encouraging Mika to organize her thoughts and then write them down, that way she never felt like she was being put on the spot. This technique could help her to build confidence to ask questions, speak up and participate in class, outside of class or even in other situations in the future.
Chapter 3. Classroom Behavior
What jumped out to me in chapter 3 under the headline “What Lies Behind Classroom Disruptions” is when Vance says, “It’s not that we’re going to string teachers up, but most teenagers are insecure about something, and we’ll take it out in different ways–we’ll try to attack before they can attack us.”
I think that what Vance said is a perfect explanation for why kids act out, because it’s truthful and real. He is not blaming it on other people, or certain circumstances except his own insecurities. Teachers do not have the ability to control our students’ insecurities, but we have the responsibility to help our students deal with them, understand them and possibly overcome them. However, along with that responsibility, we must have an environment and attitude that prevents any more insecurities from forming in our classroom, from circumstances that we can control within our classroom.
Web 2.0 Educator
The web 2.0 educator that I chose, is Wes Fryer. His specialty is pod casting. He is doing his graduate work on it at Texas Tech University, where he is getting his doctorate in curriculum and instruction. Even though his specialty is pod casting, Wes Fryer is so much more than a pod casted voice, or a pod cast writer. He is truly a web 2.0 educator. Mr. Fryer has a passion for teaching teachers how to use technology and learning everything he can about using technology for his students. He contributes to several educational blogs about technology and I chose to read the one that he collaborates on with seven other educators. It is called the Infinite Thinking Machine.
What I really like about Wes Fryers thoughts on education and technology are that, everything that he does is innovative. He never stops thinking or searching for things to tell people about. It is clear that he is very passionate about teaching, especially teaching teachers how to use technology in their own classrooms. He finds that it is not usually the fault of the teacher that they do not use technology, just that they do not have the confidence or the resources to successfully integrate it. Some of the things that he does is so new, but I think that it is always good for teachers to try things. As they become more comfortable with the program or technology, they can integrate that technology in their classroom slowly if need be. He is very big on digital storytelling. He thinks that teachers should spend more time having fun teaching their students and learning with them, rather then preparing to present the same old boring information. I can understand that as both a teacher and a student. Teachers have to take time to create boring presentations and boring labs etc., however, they could use that same time to make more engaging presentations and labs. Teachers would enjoy teaching so much more if they did this, because students would enjoying learning.
The coolest technology that I came across when I was reading Wes’s blog was; Google Docs. Google Docs allows people to make word documents, PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets online. It allows multiple people to access a document simultaneously, so students, teachers, colleagues or people from all over the world, (or even in a separate room) on a different computers can still collaborate on a project. I think this is absolutely brilliant. You can use the same email address that you used to sign up at blogger (which is a ‘Google’ email account), and all you do is sign in, and you can get started! So now, there is no excuse for not being able to get together to do a presentation. Because of this technology, you can be on separate computers and still finish the presentation. It might even be better to use Google Docs, even if you are sitting next to each other, just to be able to work together on the project, but still be on separate computers.
Focus the Nation
For my Focus the Nation event, I attended the showing of An Inconvenient Truth. I learned that since 1880, the hottest ten years on record, have occurred in the past fourteen years. That number alone should concern everyone, especially Americans, to raise awareness of the climate crisis we are in. I was aware that the
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Type I and type II technology
• Type I
Type I technology is like when technology is used just to duplicate other means for retelling information. It is more of a time saver than an instrument for instruction. When I think of type I technology that was used when I was in high school, I think of the overhead projector. The information that was put on an overhead projector was information or problems that could have been used on the whiteboard, or could have been put on a handout, but the teacher chose to write it on the overhead because it was easier for them. When I was in middle school, I remember having times in the Mac lab during our foreign language classes, where we would play a ‘game’ that was a foreign language quiz. It would show a picture and we had to choose the one that matched in the list of words. This also could have been done on paper, or in a class discussion. I believe that we did it on the computer because it is a lot easier for the teacher because the computer grades, and then gives the score to the teacher. The last type I technology that was used in some of the classrooms I was in. I was in a chemistry class that had the oldest textbooks I have ever used. There were times when the teacher would have to correct the information in the text, because it was beyond outdated, it was wrong. Instead of using the computer (there was at least one in every classroom, every teacher had one) to give us better information, he would just tell us. The teacher would only use the computer to do attendance or check their email. It was never used to correct the textbook and or give us newer information.
• Type II
To me, type II technology is technology that is new and interesting to use in the classroom. It is more of a teaching tool than it is a thing to make the teacher’s job easier. A type II technology that I used to love to use in the classroom was always when teachers would show movies to show things that we could not have understood by reading. It was great in history classes because for some people it was nice to see things, instead of reading about it, for the visual learners. It was always great to use the fancy graphing calculators. I think of calculators as a type II technology because, they enable the teacher to do a lot more things with the students. It is more than to make things easier, but it can also show students a new way of thinking about math. It helps with critical thinking skills to know that there is always more. Things are usually more complex than they look, and with a subject like math, it is great to know that it is useful and can be applied, but it never stops. I love PowerPoint presentations. They are a great tool to engage students to combine visuals, text, notes to be taken, music and audio clips etc. It is more than an information organizing tool, but it is a way to engage all kinds of different learners in one lesson and one presentation, without eating up a lot of time.
My MEL Experiences
• Student / Teacher Relationships: When I was in high school, I always had a teacher (who was also my track coach) who was very encouraging about the fact that I wanted to become a teacher. At first, I did not want to concentrate in the same field that he was teaching and kept jokingly telling me that I would change. Eventually, he was right. Sometimes I think that I chose to teach science because he was so encouraging and he took everything a step further by offering independent studies to me. He was always available for questions and for advice when I needed it, without ever being too preachy or too fatherly. He encouraged me to challenge myself in the field and to take my learning a step beyond, because I was going to be teaching and it was very important to be knowledgeable.
• Hands On: I had many hands on experiences when I was in high school. The best one would have to be when my history teacher let us create our own societies…outside. There were several components that we had to establish, like how we were going to live and where. Other than that, we could be anything that we wanted. He staged several problems that would occur when societies get started, like conflict over resources and land. After was all said and done and we had waged a virtual war, we reflected on how this all connects to the first settlers in
• Autonomy: In my AP literature class, we were given free range about any of the books that we were going to read in the class. We had to read some on our own and some as a class. The books that we were going to read as a class was something that we voted on and some of the ones that she (the teacher) liked the best, included watching the movie that went along with the book as we read, if we thought that it would be particularly difficult to understand. It was great to have that choice to be able to do what we wanted. I definitely learned more when I had the opportunity to make connections to my interest and not just the teachers. However, sometimes it was nice to choose the books that she liked because she was very captivating and taught it in a way that gave us reasons to like it as much as she did. We appreciated the books a lot more when she was enjoying them too.
• Avoid Rewards: I cannot remember having any teachers that were particularly rewarding with physical means. They were usually more vocally rewarding and encouraging more so than giving out candy or homework during classes. However, I can imagine that giving rewards for a job well done does not encourage learning or digesting of information. It means quick minds answered the question faster than anyone else did because he or she remembered where to find the answer. It also keeps that one student on top and confident while the other ones, who know the answers and the material but are not the first one to put their hand up or to offer to go first, losing their confidence in what they know. This can also hurt the class dynamic of community learning and participation. People will rely on the highly decorated student instead of everyone to help to facilitate conversation or be a team player in a project.
• Context: When I was a senior in high school, I did an independent study where I did the Nezinscott River Project with the Maine Geological Society. We studied the river that flowed right next to the school and how its changes and existence affects the school and the community. It was great to work with scientists who were doing such cool research in the community that I was in and to learn all of the geology of the area. Considering that I wanted to teach earth sciences, I learned a lot. My mentor teacher set this up for me to teach me that I have to know my stuff to teach, I can’t just have read books, I have to hands on learn things in the real world to be able to connect with my students.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Learning Styles Inventory
Style Scores
Visual | 12 | |||||||
Social | 19 | |||||||
Physical | 9 | |||||||
Aural | 20 | |||||||
Verbal | 15 | |||||||
Solitary | 7 | |||||||
Logical | 5 |
Chapter 2: Respect, Liking, Trust and Fairness
• Chapter 2
The part that I liked in chapter 2 was on page 27 and it said, “if someone gives you a bad grade, they should tell you exactly why. We have this Spanish teacher that grades Latino kids so hard it’s impossible for them to get As no matter how hard you try.” – Diana. It is all about the respect that comes out of grading students fairly.
My first thought was ‘I cannot believe that there is a teacher that would do that’. I thought more about it and I feel like on top of the importance and the positive outcomes of grading fairly. It is not always important to treat people the same because students have different needs. I personally like explanations for things that are happening, good or bad, so it would be good to give students that outlet to be able to ask those questions and for me to give them answers and explanations for doing what I was doing before the lesson, and then again after.
Chapter 1: Knowing Students Well
• Chapter 1
The part that I thought was most enlightening was asking students about their schedules. The explanation is on pages 12-13. It has a detailed schedule of one student’s activities that happen in one day and a method for asking every student to explain their activities in a single day.
I think this is important because it would help me understand what a reasonable amount of homework to give is. This would be based on the amount of time they have to complete it and do it as I expect it. It would help me gauge how much time that I should give them for class time to complete assignments well. It would also show my students that I care about their learning and not their completion of busy work. I can emphasize that I too, value family time and the importance of extracurricular activities for the social and emotional health of my students.
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