Here is my web quest! Thanks!

Comic Life

I would use this in my classroom for different lessons. If I were to teach third grade science and we were talking about plants I would have the students go out and take pictures of different plants. The standard that would be used for this topic is Standard two in third grade science. It says students will understand that organisms depend on living and nonliving things within their environment. This would be a fun activity for the students to do. It is easy to use and fast. 

In the future I would love to teach upper elementary grades. Fourth-sixth grade is what I am thinking. Looking through the websites I found some really great things that could be used it teaching. While I was looking at the websites I found this site, http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/, It is about plants and it is quite interesting. The standard for it would be Standard 5 in the science for fifth graders. It states Students will understand that traits are passed from the parent organisms to their offspring, and that sometimes the offspring may possess variations of these traits that may help or hinder survival in a given environment.

This website is easy to understand and to navigate. It has really good graphics that can help the understanding of a student. 

The next thing that I found was a tour through a volcano lesson. The standard would be number 2 it states,Students will understand that volcanoes, earthquakes, uplift, weathering, and erosion reshape Earth's surface. 

The site is http://www.tramline.com/tours/sci/volcano/_tourlaunch1.htm. 

This website is awesome for learning about volcanoes. It goes through what kind of volcanoes there are, hazards of volcanoes, volcanoes on other planets and stuff like that. This is a graphic website with a lot of helpful pictures. It is east to understand because it takes your right through the tour. 

WebQuest Info

Standard:

Students will understand that volcanoes, earthquakes, uplift, weathering, and erosion reshape Earth's surface.

Objective:

How volcanic eruptions can affect the earths surface.

Task:

The task that I will have the students imagine that they are moving to Hawaii. Their family has to find a place to live that would be safe and out of harms way of a volcano. The students will navigate through the IA to figure out where they would build a house.

Grade: Fifth

Website Evaluations

An elementary school web site

          http://www.ccsdut.org/Providence.cfm?subpage=24

         A web site that provides lesson ideas for teachers

         http://www.pecentral.org/

An informational web site that gives basic information about an elementary level topic

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/index.html

An interactive web site that allows students to practice a specific skill or knowledge concerning an elementary level topic.

http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-games/usa-capitals-map-game.php

 

This is the evaluation of my choice.

http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/tnl/detectives/eval_form.htm

I really like www.bv229.k12.ks.us website for the evaluation. It was helpful to go through the form and click on the stuff that applied to the website. The forms that I used were helpful because I was able to go through and look at specific things. With the websites that I picked I didn’t find anything that was hidden. I am sure with other sites there could be hidden secrets but the websites that I picked were .edu, .org or a game website which is for kids. The value of using the web site evaluation is finding the difference between a good site or a bad site. I was able to go through and find out what to look for with the form. I really like the evaluation because I now know what I can do personally to find a good web site. I now have the knowledge of teaching my students how to find web sites with honest information. I feel that there are times that a formal evaluation wouldn’t be needed. I think it wouldn’t be needed for some web games but they would have to be looked at by me first before the students can play them. As far as information goes I feel that the web site needs to be evaluated. 

Spreadsheets

I think that spreadsheets are awesome. Once a person knows how to use the spreadsheet they are very handy. They would be great in a fifth grade class for figuring percentages, averages and general math. It can be used for making charts and even advertising. I think that using spreadsheets in google docs is really useful because you can communicate with people through the computer, not even at the same time. There can be several people involved in a spreadsheet at the same time. We learned how to do surveys Friday in class through google docs and they are awesome. They would be good in a fifth grade class because the students could do personal projects with the help of their fellow students.

Collaborative Writing

I think that collaborative writing is awesome. I think that google doc is something that everyone can use. As soon as I familiar with the program I could work it easily. I feel that elementary students would be able to use it as well. The younger ones might struggle, but the fourth and fifth grades could do it. I want to teach fourth or fifth grade and they could use it in different ways. They could use it to write stories like we did today. They could use it for group projects, sharing information or as a study tool for the project. There are so many ways this could be used and having access to it would be great. It is something that the students would be able to use for the rest of their lives. I just barely learned it but I will use it in the future for sure.

Untitled

This Valentine's Day stinks! Bertha yelled to herself in the mirror.

"You are ugly and no one wants to give you a Valentine.  Even Timmy the neighbor boy gave you a weird look when you gave him your handmade, doily backed Valentine," She said.

"Ugh!  But why does he have to be so perfect?  I've loved him for oh so long and all he ever does is look googely eyed at Helga down the street!"

"What does Helga have that I don't?, I guess I will just have to wear my pink retainer valentines day so he will look googely eyed at me!" " I can just see him now. He will look so cute in his overalls and his earmuffs. Oh, how I love his earmuffs.  They make his eyes look even more googely.  I don't know what could make me love him more...maybe if he had the courage to wear my pink, fuzzy earmuffs.  As Bertha walked out the door, she knew what the day would have in store.  She would get the courage to ask Timmy to be her Valentine and ask him to wear her pink, fuzzy earmuffs.  Suddenly, she knew it was going to be a great day! I got to school and there he was... Oh so dreamy! The glare of the sun was reflecting off of his braces. What a HUNK! I felt for him like I have never felt for any other person. Well except my dog Duke! But still, it was love!   As she arrived at school, she saw the telltale purple fuzzy earmuffs of Helga, her greatest enemy...on the head of her greatest love, Timmy!  Fury welled up in her heart, and she knew vengance would be hers.  "I WILL GET HER!!!" Bertha screamed in her heart.  This would not be the last time they felt the fury of Bertha Barbara Baxter!  She would get BOTH of them!!  To be continued.....

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day
is officially single awareness day! I have given up on boys.I have
given up on boys. It is not my fault I am hard to love. I am needy
and overly sensitive which is apparently not attractive to the
opposite gender. I just want someone to tell me I’m beautiful.
My mom always tells me I’m beautiful, why don’t boys
think so too? It’s because boys are dumb and they don’t
see inner beauty. It is because girls are needy and should know they
are beautiful before someone has to say it to them. Girls are not
that needy it is just that guys don’t notice us for our true
beauty. Most guys are so stupid that they can’t see anything
past outer beauty. Yes, boys are stupid, they always want a stupid,
shallow, skinny girl who can only look that way when airbrushed! Even
though boys can be stupid and only want girls for their shallow
skinniness there are a few who actually have feelings. These are the
ones that decorate your bedroom and send you roses on valentines
because they want to. They love you for who you are…. Remember
these boys are few and far between.

Second Grade Math- Subtraction

Lesson Plan #1

YETC

Today in class we visited the YETC lab. This is a great lab to come to for technology resources. I learned that I can bring in VHS and transfer them to DVD. I learned about online books that do not have the copyright anymore. I can put these books on my flash drive and use them when needed. I also learned how to get things from YouTube by using the Video Download Helper. I can put all of these things on my flash drive or and ipod. I also learned that I can come here even after I graduate to use the resources if I am an alumni. Coming to this lab today has opened my eyes to what kind of technology is out there and how I can use it in my own classroom.

UEN Resource

I just learned about UEN and I think that it is a really good resource for teachers to use when it comes to planning a lesson, writing rubrics and being organized. Planning lessons for teachers is made easier by the UEN resource. It breaks down the lesson plan by each category and allows you to do cool things, like, having guest speakers via the Internet using Wimba. I think that writing rubrics can be challenging but with the use of UEN resource it is made a lot easier. The resource has a calendar so as a teacher I can plan things weeks in advance and be organized with it. I will be able to keep my lesson plans organized as well as come up with ideas for teaching a lesson. I know that I will definitely use this resource in the future it will help be a better teacher.

Blogging about blogging

I think that blogging is a great way for teachers to interact with their students. A teacher can add articles or assignments for students to read and comment about. Also, if the class goes on field trips or does a fun activity they can put proof on the blog of what they did. I also think that blogging is a good idea for parents to know what their students are doing in class. If a teacher puts assignments, activities, and pictures of the class on the blog parents can be updated. I feel that it is important for a teacher to set the blog to private and only have class members, parents, and faculty be able to access it. Over all... blogging is a good thing as well as technology.