How Far I've Come

Well the end of class has come pretty quickly. In these short weeks I have gone from someone rather intimidated by technology to someone who is ready to meet the changing world with new hope for more ways of educating not only myself, but others as well. I have learned to set up a blog and continue to post to it. I now have an electronic portfolio with work that I have completed these past weeks. I have included my philosophy of education as well as disciplinary ideas for my classroom. I created a PowerPoint with some sound effects, made educational comics, and took a stab at scripting, designing, and directing an animated movie about therapeutic riding.

I think the greatest asset to taking this class was learning new ways to utilize the Internet. From making Webquest's to making comics and animated videos. These are all great ways to keep students engaged in thinking in new ways. I have made copies of many of the educational links that I used throughout class. As I am sure that I will revisit them to come up with further lesson plans and new ways to let students be creative in doing class projects.

I still live with dial-up connections that hinder my ease of access to many sites. This I still find frustrating in a state that continues to promise e-commerce for everyone. In spite of my dial-up setback I have persevered and found much that I can do in slightly different ways.

I am looking forward to one day having a laptop computer and I would also like to have a Kindle to download books and have them read to me. I don't own an ipod, but may look into one of those as well. I understand you can download some books and blogs there as well. I can see that future of the ever changing technology in making teaching an new and wondrous world. I believe that the future is one of open-minded ingenuity and will continue to embrace these ideas instead of shying away.

Google Earth For Education

I have been looking around on googleearth.com. This is a great site for educators. In social studies class I have seen the google earth application used to virtually travel to an area of the world that the class is studying. This seems to really drive home the lesson. Instead of just looking at pictures in a text book, you can travel the globe from the comfort of your school chair. This helps to envision what the world looks like now and not some time ago when a picture was taken.

I also found a literature link. Several books have been discussed and lesson plan ideas shared. I like this site as you can get a glimpse of the author and sometimes find a link to have a chat with them regarding their work. This is a great way to inspire young readers and writers and a new way to talk about literature. I can see this link used as a sort of WebQuest to find out more information about the author, other books that they have written, and finding ways of communicating with the author or others interested in the book.

I tired the math sites as well. I admit that math is my least favorite subject and I am always looking for help in this subject. The math sites are great for finding innovative ideas on calculation with more technical finesse like calculating seismic waves of a tsunami. You can also find help with algebra if seismic waves are too hard to cypher.

The Google Earth site has many applications that can be easily used in the classroom. I realize that it will be an invaluable site for teaching and teaching ideas. This site is updated with the latest technology continually, so will be handy for any activity you can think of.

Teacher Blogs

This week I visited many teacher blogs. These blogs sadly seem to be a forum to rant and vent about the teaching profession. Here I read about bad days, horrible students, and the woes of administrations that don't seem to work or understand what needs to change etc... I can certainly understand needing to vent, but some of the sites made me question my own idea of becoming a teacher. Then I found a few that mentioned being really happy in their teaching and enjoying a lesson that seemed to inspire their students to do work that they found challenging. I found a lesson plan to write a six sentence paragraph on any subject without using a word more than once. I love the idea and the teacher was in awe of what her students wrote. I'll have to squirrel this idea away to try myself. I am even considering trying it myself. I certainly have "buzz" words that I use perhaps too often. I think this could be a great way to try a different way to communicate.

The good thing about some of the blogs were links to other teacher sites. There were links for lesson plans and I found a few sites on poetry, which I plan to visit again. I also see a nice community between teachers that are willing to share their experiences, ideas, resources and communicate about everything under the sun. I also like that the people on these sites even though they make the occasional rant would like to inspire the young and teach them a subject that they have a desire to share. This is what I was hoping to find, a new community with other members of education that are willing to share their knowledge to the teachers that are new to the profession. I did find a few blogs from teachers that are working on their teacher trainings. I hope to be doing that in the next year or so. ...So I will continue to learn all I can and search the Internet for ideas and fellow educators experiences and cyber friendships.

E-Portfolios

This week I am working on making my e-portfolio better. I am adding content to the site. I have worked on getting some lesson plans on the site and tweeked my resume. I am currently looking at my documents to see if there is anything from past classes that I have done that I can add.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday. I am off to prepare some pies for tomorrow.

Vlog vs. Blog

This week we have been learning about vlogging. Which is a short video posted on the Internet. This can be used for educational purposes. Though there are many videos posted that are just silly ways for people to show themselves to the world if you are unfortunate enough to come across them. The vlog is somewhat intimidating as it can be rather personal with sound and picture of a person, place or thing. Unlike a blog that is just posted words and perhaps a still picture. The blog seems to have a new dimension of criteria. Sound is certainly an issue as well as a steady picture are needed to be effective, as dull sound and bouncing picture can be very distracting.

I watched several YouTube videos. Here is one from Ted Kooser poet laureate doing a reading of some of his poetry.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuoWarhWFXw
I did try to post a vlog myself. Though once again the slowness of my dial-up interferes with the loading of the video.

I can see the potential of use on YouTube for education as there is a category of videos posted that are just for education. This can certainly help with teaching a class and giving them a real feel for something almost like a field trip within the classroom.

Ken Robinson

I was amazed by what Ken Robinson said, and I agree whole heatedly. I remember sitting in on a Language Arts class where I enjoyed the teacher greatly, as well as the lesson plan, but I was distracted from the class thinking how can I write when I have no imagination anymore? I remember being the age of the students and I was much more creative and less inhibited by the consequences of my creativity. Now I feel ashamed if I have an original idea. How can that be - it must be something I heard from someone else.

There seems to be so many students that are completely lost at school. My son being one of them. Conventional wisdom can't touch anything inside him. He is a smart kid, but school has taught him there is no hope in the world for him. No job that will excite him. Academics don't do anything for him. He can compute math, read, and write, but has no drive to learn more. He thinks his only options for life are to be a logger or truck driver. Both noble professions, but not the end of his limit. As a parent I am angry that I see so many young men in schools with the exact same feelings. This is one of the reasons that I wanted to become an educator. There must be something we can do to help stimulate these kids and help them feel successful and creative.

I don't know what the answer is, but I feel the education system needs a revamping. So few children are supported in a way that helps them flourish and become what inspires them. Perhaps it's just fate that leads people to what it is that sparks the flames of desire in what they do. Some people intuitively know what it is that drives them and others must try several things before they get a feel for what it is that gives them purpose. The essential thing is to keep looking.

Bad Powerpoint Presentations

I have had the misfortune to sit through several pretty bad PowerPoint presentations. The bad points to these presentations were that the slide had all the information the speaker needed and simply read it out loud. The speaker did not add any further information to make the presentation interesting. Also the slides would be filled with text and no appealing images. I find when the slide is crammed with text I just look away, especially if the presenter is just reading the slide anyway.

I find the presentation more interesting when the speaker uses short points of fact and can continue to expound on this interesting information. I like pictures on the slide that help back up what is being spoken about and add some visual appeal. I have seen a few slides with random pictures that didn't seem to have anything to do with what was being presented. Also I don't personally like it when the speaker is continually busy flipping paper and losing their place or train of thought. It is better if the person practices giving their demonstration before the big day. Of course you can never be sure what questions may be asked. But so long as someone is actually asking a question, you know you can feel good, because you actually have someones attention!

My fist few attempts at making a PowerPoint presentation were lessons in humility for me. Naturally I didn't have the software on my computer and had to go to the library to make my presentations. My first attempt wasn't too bad. I did manage to copy the work and get it work for class. My slides had short bits of information accompanied by pictures that pertained to what I was speaking about. Although I was nervous I knew my subject and could handle any questions. I think that is key to making a good presentation. My second attempt was a great presentation on vampires and fashion. The problem was I couldn't get the PowerPoint copied correctly and it didn't work for my presentation. I made a last minute movie- maker display to use in my talk. Since I was rattled about the PowerPoint not working my presentation was not as good as it should have been. The last PowerPoint I made, I once again I ran into the problem of making my pictures fit on the slide and was pressured for time on the library computer. Although I have encountered problems in making the PowerPoint's I have learned from each experience and continue to make improvements. I am hoping my next attempt will run more smoothly as I finally have the software on my computer at home and I won't be limited by time at a public library.

Hans Rosling and the Gapminder

This week we watched a video of Hans Rosling giving a presentation about databases. He gave a great presentation with data collected about health, longevity of life and family size. The correlation of how this data is correlated with economy was interesting especially as he made the data into charts and movable graphics that were easily traced. It was amazing to see how poorer countries have changed over time. From the graphics it was clear that health care is a priority and wealth will follow. Strangely family size has decreased in the poorer countries helping the economy.

Using statistics hidden in databases can be helpful for further understanding of our world at large. The Gapminder project is a brain child of Hans Rosling to link information and search function into search able databases with Internet users and graphic statistics for education. This Internet use can level the fields in information on so many levels for all countries. The database tool can have many educational aspects for tracking different data. It was interesting to note that most people have a preconceived notion regarding the Internet and its uses. the sharing of information must continue for all to benefit.

Making and Posting my Rubric to my WebQuest

This week I have been busy trying to come up with my rubric for my lesson plan and WebQuest for mysteries. I went to the web site http://rubistar.4teachers.org
to make my rubric. This is a great site that help walk you through the rubric making process. This site has templates that can be modified to suit your needs. It was not that hard to post my rubric to my Weebly site. I converted the rubric to HTML and posted my page. It was actually that simple. I even managed to post the rubric from my home computer with dial-up connections.

Here is the chart ideas on my lesson plan using the Bloom's Taxonomy comparison:

• Knowledge in mystery genre (Knowledge)
• Comprehend story line and sequence (Comprehension)
• Apply knowledge and creativity to new story writing (Application)
• Compare themes (Analysis)
• Investigate options (Analysis)
• Design their own story (Synthesis)
• Compose possible solutions (Synthesis)
• Determine elements needed for a mystery story (Evaluation)
• Illustrate main ideas of the storyline (Application)
• Predict characters movements (Comprehension)
• Attempt to solve mysterious cases in creative ways (Application)
• Identify characters (Evaluation)
• Discuss knowledge with others and present work (Evaluation)
• Di scribe story, characters, setting, theme & possible solutions (Comprehension)

Here is the link to my rubric page- http://suesmystery.weebly.com/evaluation.html I'd love it if you left me comments about the WebQuest and rubric. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Bernie Dodge and the Pitfalls of WebQuests

First I must mention that I didn't have access to any high speed computers this week. So the seven and a half minute video that was posted for us to watch took me nearly a half hour to sit through! With the sketchy off and on speaking this is what I got out of it.

There are over three million WebQuests out there now and not all of them are good. Just finding a WebQuest that is worthy is now a challenge. Finding an appropriate subject with real world application is another challenge. When will the student ever use this? I thought about my subject of mystery novel genre and feel that deductive reasoning learned from reading mysteries is certainly a useful tool in real life. You may never become a detective but the skills can come in handy when deciding if someone is truthful or not. I also realise that my subject is probably not a new one. I am sure that there have been several WebQuests made with the same lesson plan in mind.

The next piece Dr. Dodge spoke about that was of interest to me was creating, predicting, and deciding. These three ideas come to the forefront of making a good usable WebQuest. I am reflecting on the questions I have posted on my quest and if they attain the highest standards for learning. Using the Bloom's taxonomy pyramid to be sure that the students can take away a higher form of learning from what I have posted and intend for them to do creatively and collectively.

Editing My WebQuest

This week I have been working on tweeking my webquest. It was nice to get some feedback from my classmates and teacher to help me see the quest form another perspective. Hopefully I have made adjustments that make the quest flow better and make more sense.

It was also beneficial to see a webquest that a classmate is working on. It makes me appreciate all the hard work we are all doing to come up with intelligent questions and clear instructions for the students to follow.

I think organizing the quests into sequential steps and areas of thought are some of the biggest parts in making the webquest coherent. It is not easy to keep your focus on each part and tying everything together. Remembering steps for the students to follow I found is the hardest part. Though I am happy with what I have so far. This is definitely a work that can be changed and enhanced as I learn more. I can see the webquest changing over time as I come up with new ideas or classes change. Not to mention if websites I have posted change.

My Mystery WebQuest

Well that was frustrating. I had just written a post trying to add the weblinks that I had posted on my webquest and the program shut down. I was saying that I had used a template form the Brain Dodge WebQuest site to make my mystery lesson. I was glad that I had done this as it kept me organized and was realatively easy to add the infomation I wanted in my lesson. Although I don't know how to make the template live. So I have been copying and pasting the information from the template to the Weebly site. Here is the link for the WebQuest I designed: http://suesmystery.weebly.com I would appreciate any feedback and suggestions.

I won't bother trying to post the sites I had listed on the WebQuest as they clearly shut the program down. Though the site that takes you to the authors biographys is: http://www.mysterynet.com/learn/teaching/mystery-genre.shtml
I enjoyed reading about the authors and learning things I didn't know about them.

Starting a WebQuest

I have been searching the Internet for ideas and information on teaching middle school age students about mysteries and the genre. I have found some useful information and other WebQuests. Though some of the WebQuests have been rather boring or overdone with background pictures. I am starting to feel a little lost in the process. I like a few of the links I have found very much. Someone else has already done quite a bit of work finding information and links to authors that I am interested in teaching. Like Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christy, & Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. One site has links to biographies on each that I think is useful. I also found the idea of the elements needed to write a good mystery as well as a link to two minute mysteries that other students have written. I like this site because the stories leave you hanging for the answer. There is a click button for you to check and see if you correctly solved the mystery or not and why. I like that feature and can see that being a useful thing for the students final projects.

I am feeling frustrated in keeping my subject organized and trying to picture what this finished WebQuest will look like. I guess I shouldn't worry about it now and just concentrate on finding further information that is useful for the lesson plan. I am sure it will all come together in the end.

WebQuest Continued

I continue to look for information on the Internet regarding Webquests. I have found a few informative sites. Here is a link to one: http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/webquest.html

I also found this great webquest about Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote such amazing stories and poetry. I thought this site was very informative and great fun in learning.
http://www.geocities.com/educationplace/poe/wqpoe.htm

Web Quests

I have just started to read about WebQuests. Yikes, again another anxiety producing site. I fear that I am going to have to make one! It does sound challenging and from what I have read so far really does sound like an interesting way to keep students engaged in learning. This application can be used as a learning tool as well as a tool to present what has been experienced and remembered from the lesson.

A WebQuest has a "hook" which keeps the participant looking, listening, engaged and learning. The hook may be a treasure hunt, a game or other activity that is embedded in the quest site. A scrapbook of ideas can be made collaboratively by the students that participate in class.

The WebQuest site must be age appropriate for the student's it is intended for.

I visited the web site posted to experience a WebQuest. The site was about the roaring twenties. I learned more about F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ty Cobb, and Ella Fitzgerald. This is really an interesting way to learn, because the student can choose the links that interest them the most and pick up knowledge along the way.

Creative Commons

I got a chance to listen/watch these informative sites that Lisa posted. The creative common video was interesting to watch, but a bit confusing to listen to. Although I did understand what was being said. That a copy write on your work is not that hard to get anymore. You can go to a site and sign up for a creative common copywrite and decide who and what can use your work and ideas. Music, pictures, art work, poems, and other written work can be copywritten in your name. This is really interseting to me as it was one of my questions at the start of our blogging and use of the class Wiki.

Web Page Design

Oh my goodness creating a web page is much harder than I thought even with templates. I took a class a few semesters ago where we had to design our own web page using HTML. This was so difficult using code to do everything. Yet now I feel like using these templates is hard. Each site is so different. Even though the sites are supposed to be easy to use I get lost with all of the button choices and not every feature seems to work with my slow dial-up connection. I have frustrated myself beyond belief with these sites this week. I am hoping that as I work within these sites I will understand what features work and how they are used etc...

Making Web Pages

Well I am quite apprehensive about making the three web pages we have to design for our class this week. The Google link Lisa posted doesn't work for me. So last night I visited the weebly site. I must say it didn't take me long to feel completely lost on this site. I could pick a layout. But I could not upload a picture or add any text. I am not sure why. I was getting frustrated. I am wondering if it is my computer as it hasn't been cooperating with me recently. I really think I need to call a tech person. There are days when all I can do is check my email which always seems to function properly, but I can't get on the Internet. Which naturally is anger inducing!

I have managed to visit several of the sites Lisa posted regarding good and bad web sites. I can clearly see that clutter is not appreciated on a web site a visitor is quickly lost in all of the photos and benign text. Also a good web page needs ease of navigation for the visitor to find their way around. Personally broken links to pages is a pet peeve of mine why have it on your site if you don't make it work.

Hopefully after work today I will find some time to try doing more on the web page design assignment. Have a great day.

Wikipedia Posting Edits

How interesting - I checked Wikipedia today to see if my posting had been edited, and it has been! My posting has been moved under the heading of Breed Development and has been added to. What I posted now says "Daniel C. Lindley, a native of Middlebury, Vermont, compiled and published a book of Morgan breeding stallions published in 1857. Colonel Joseph Battell, also a Middlebury, Vermont native, published the first volume of the Morgan Horse Register in 1894, marking the beginning of a formal breed registry".

Someone else has added More information regarding Colonel Battell donating his farm at his death to the United States Government which later donated the farm to the University of Vermont. Where Morgan horses are still raised and trained today.

Well I am impressed that my addition was actually read and responded to.

Wikipedia Posting

Well I tried my hand at posting on Wikipedia. I joined as a member and added my two cents worth of information after visiting the website "HowStuffWorks"http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wiki.htm . This site suggested that one experiment with posting on the Wikipedia site to gain experience, so I did.

If you go to Wikipedia and type in Morgan Horse and look under the heading Breed History and Justin Morgan, I added the following information: "Daniel C. Lindley, a native of Middlebury, Vermont, compiled and published a book of Morgan breeding stallions in his book, Morgan Horses: A Premium Essay written in 1857. Colonel Joseph Battell, also a Middlebury, Vermont native started the publication, The Morgan Horse and Register in 1894 and so the Morgan registry began". I am going to keep an eye on the site for a few days and see if anyone changes or deletes what I added. Should be interesting and a good learning experience.

More On Wiki's

I have been searching the web for more information on wikis. I found the site "HowStuffWorks" and found some interesting things about wiki's. This site even tells you to experiment with the wikipedia site by posting something and seeing if the information is accepted, rejected, or edited. I will visit the wikipedia site later to see what I can try to add or edit on the site.

Here is the "HowStuffWorks" site if you would like to visit it. The vandalism and edit wars page is very informative.
HowStuffWorks "How Wikis Work"

Learning About Wiki's

I have been visiting sites about wiki's this week. Did you know that the word "wiki" is Hawaiian for quick!

The interesting thing about wiki's is that people can edit what you have posted and continue with different train of thought on the same subject. It also seems that the old posting is not lost, just revised. The wiki can be an interesting tool for teaching. An entire class could work on a project together adding and sharing their ideas and information in one place.

I think it will be interesting to actually work on one to get experience of how they work and what I like and don't like first hand. As I learn I will share my feelings!

Amazing that none of the libraries in my area are open at a time that I can use them. I did make it to the Orford, NH free library on Sunday to try and take the Bb Tutorial. There is too much video for my dialup at home. Low and behold there is no high speed at this library in Orford either! But I managed to take the test anyway!

Further Reading of Week 1 Assignments

I have taken online classes before, but never realised that there was a tutorial for blackboard. I think it would have been nice if someone had mentioned it before now. After the two classes I am taking this semester I only have one more to take before graduating!

I also had no idea that there was any such thing as National Educational Technology Standards. I have clearly been missing something. Information that could be valuable in helping me with the classes I am taking as well as prepare me for the classes I wish to teach.

The Internet is truly an amazing tool for helping one learn new and wondrous things. I am still flabbergasted at all the Internet offers in self tutorials.

First Post

Wow! I can't believe that I have actually created a blog. I really had no idea I could do such a thing! I am amazed with my new ability! This class is already helpful.

My personal goal for this class are: To learn all I can about the technology I have available to me. The computer in front of me really is a wonder I know very little about. I can't wait to learn more about the things I can do with it.

I am nervous because I feel so far behind the eight ball already. I mean it seems that the children that have grown up with computers know so much more about them than I do. I go to them for help, because they just know what to do! Seems odd to take direction from someone I am supposed to help, but I remain humble in the hands of technology.

Our personal Internet Detective tutorial was interesting. I liked the walk through and quiz's. I did learn different ways to detect a bad site. Who knew there were clues right in the URL?
I also realize dates on the website are important as well as if the information posted is fact or opinion and whether the post is biased or not.