ActivInspire--My Experience So Far

We have started to work with ActivInspire and at first I felt very overwhelmed. After having two classes to practice with it, I feel like I am starting to get the hang of it. Dr. Obannon said that it is something that you have to mess around with and play with and once you do this, you will feel like you understand how it works.

I feel like since this there are so many different options you can choose from, I will have a hard time deciding on which interactive activity I want to do. I can choose from pull tabs, fill in the background, erasers, ordering, matching, making patterns, etc. This will be the hardest part for me because I am the most indecisive person known to man.

I still need to decide on a topic and lesson area that I want to focus on. I have already used Science in this class, so I will probably choose something Social Studies, Math, or Reading based. I am not sure which grade level I would like to do, but since 4th grade was my focus for my Inquiry Based Activity, I will probably do 1st or 2nd.

I am glad the midterm is over with. I scored a 94% and I am very happy with this grade. This is evidence that I am understanding what we are learning and that I am finally starting to get the hang of how to use technology.

Digital Images

 

I didn't know much about digital images on the web and what is considered legal and what is prohibited in terms of using people's photos. I think this is something that everyone needs to know before they use pictures off of the web. I'm glad we were introduced to websites such as www.pics4learning.com because I only knew to use Google images when I needed pictures. Pics4learning contains tons of free photos for educational purposes, and this is exactly what I will need in my classroom one day.

It's important to know how to resize pictures: go to Tools and click Adjust Size. Simply dragging the arrows does not officially change the size of the picture. You can only make pictures smaller--if you make them bigger, they will be blurry. It's also important to name the images you save so when you go to upload them, they are easy to find.

I chose to make a slideshow of sunsets from around the world. The pictures are absolutely beautiful. I found them on Pics4learning, and they are pictures from places such as Santorini, Laguna Beach, Peurto Rico, etc. It was nice to look at these pictures on such a gloomy day outside. I put a caption for each photo and included atleast 3 tags for each one. Putting the slideshow in my website was not as difficult as I expected--you just go to Insert and click Picasa Slideshow and voila!

I will use photos in my classroom a lot. I think it's important for children to have a lot of visual images to look at when they are learning. If we are talking about another country, they need to see the geography and the way the people live there. If they see it, they will be able to remember it better and will feel more connected.

Resource Wiki

I thoroughly enjoyed making the Resource Wiki. I can honestly say I was very lucky because all of the team members in the Elementary Resource Wiki worked hard and diligently to help create it and it looks amazing! I will now be able to have a place I can go to if I want to find online resources for certain subjects, or if I need to find a good teacher website. If I want my students to play a game that will help them learn, I can go to the Games page on the wiki to find some great websites. I really like WebQuests and so having many to choose from and look at will be helpful in my classroom.

I think it's interesting to see what the girls in my Resource Wiki thought about websites without having to meet up with them. Even though I have only met a few of them, I feel like I know everyone just through the wiki. I hope the sources I posted can help the other students in TPTE with their learning. I enjoyed this group project because everyone worked hard and wanted to help each other.

I can see myself using a Resource Wiki in my classroom one day, especially for a group research project. Students can post websites and sources on the wiki for others to look at outside of school without having to take time from the class period to do the research. Students won't have to meet as a group as often because they can discuss through the wiki. I can keep track of their progress by looking at their wiki, as well as be able to tell who has done a lot of work and who needs to bring more to the table.

I am glad we got to learn about Resource Wikis because I know I will use them in my classroom one day.

Wiki Evaluation

I found a wiki made by a 3rd grade teacher for her class, titled "Melville Grade 3 Mpolselli." The point of this wiki is to have a central meeting place throughout the year for the students and parents. Parents are able to keep up with what is happening in the classroom. The teacher, Mrs. Polselli posts each unit of study with the curriculum and includes resources and websites so parents can learn more. For example, the students will be reading "The Chalk Box Kid" by Clyde Robert Bulla and Mrs. Polselli added a link that has activities related to this book that parents and students can do at home. This way, the parents are involved and know what is going on.

Something I thought was interesting was that this teacher rewards students with a homework pass if they visit any WebQuest or link through her website and play the games or activities provided there. They can either print out the activity and turn it in or have parents write a note or email her saying the student did this. This is a great incentive for students to become familiar with using online tools!

One of the projects assigned is for the students to make their own book using 3 resources. The librarian helps the students make the pages of their books on the computer. Mrs. Polselli included these on the wiki and I think this is a good way to showcase student work.

On the left side of the wiki she has an assignments tab where students can go to see what is due for the week. She also puts up study guides for tests. My favorite part of the wiki is the student spotlight tab where each student picks their favorite website for a subject and posts it here. One student, Adam, included a math websites titled "Math Magicians." This gives students the freedom to search the web for websites they enjoy and to share it with their classmates. This is a great idea and I would like to use this in my classroom one day.

I really enjoyed searching for other wikis on the internet. This helped me see how teachers use them in the classroom and I was able to find ideas I can use in my classroom one day.

Inquiry Based Activity

This assignment was a little harder than I expected. I chose to do an activity for 4th grade involving the Water Cycle. The students could work in pairs. After looking at countless websites for videos and games, I was able to choose a video from Scholastic that explained the Water Cycle very well. I thought the video would be interesting and engaging for 4th graders because it involved 2 boys talking about their soccer game being rained out. I also found a game the students could do that would help them become familiar with the vocabulary words such as precipitation and evaporation.

I provided a website for the students to go to after they watch the video and play the game. I created questions based on this website. I used multiple choice and had one fill in the blank. This part was harder than I thought it would be. I had to read information about the water cycle and then formulate questions that the students could answer. It is more time-involved than I expected. I also included an extra-credit opportunity in which students have to draw the water cycle and label the parts.

Something I had difficulty with was finding a website that was the reading level of a 4th grader. Since it's been awhile since I have been in 4th grade, it was hard to remember what 4th graders are capable of. I am observing a 4th grade classroom right now, so I was able to think about these students and try to imagine if they could complete the worksheet. I didn't want the assignment to be too difficult, but I also didn't want it to be super easy because the students would get bored.

Overall, I liked creating an Inquiry Based Activity and plan on using them in my classroom one day.

WebQuests

I was unfamiliar with WebQuests before we began the lesson and so far I think they are my favorite tool. They are ways for a teacher to create and organize a group project for the class and allows access to the students. Included are the Introduction, which talks about the overview of the assignment. The Task lets the students know what they will be doing, what materials will be involved, and what the groups entail. The Process lists the steps the students need to take to reach the desired outcome. An Evaluation lets the students know how they will be graded and on what. The evaluation is pretty much a rubric. It shows how many points each aspect of the assignment is worth. The Conclusion explains what the final product is and in my opinion, is a "happy" page because the project is finished! The Credits are for the teacher to show what people contributed and other websites he/she used. The Teacher page is all about the teacher.

Using these steps, the WebQuest can be organized and easy to read. However, in class we looked at some WebQuests that were not up to par (like this one). As a teacher, I need to make sure there are no dead links on my WebQuest. I also need to include pictures and make it easy to read for my students or they may miss something important. Group work is one of the most essential aspects of a WebQuest, and if the assignment would be better done individually, then a WebQuest isn't necessary. The project needs to be time-efficient; if it is a waste of time then students will not be interested and I will be frustrated with time lost. It also needs to promote critical thinking. Students should have to spend some time thinking and coming up with ideas. This WebQuest includes all of these elements.

Most of all, the WebQuest needs to be engaging. Students should want to participate in it and be involved. It teaches them how to follow directions, how to work collaboratively, and how to look at a rubric and know what is expected.

I will definitely be using WebQuests in my classroom one day.

Website Evaluation

Through this activity, I was able to meet the learning objectives of evaluating a website. It was a thorough process and it made me realize what items I need to be on the lookout for when I want to use a website in my class. Things like reliability of the author and bias of information are very important. If the author does not know a lot about a subject or if he posts false statements, I shouldn't bring his/her website into my class lesson.

I didn't realize how many steps there were when evaluating a website. There are 7 areas that should be obvious when it comes to educational websites: reliability of the author, reliability of the publishing body, bias of information, accuracy of information, currency of information, design of interface, and accessibility. Since I am familiar with what each of these means, I know what to look for when evaluating a website.

This process can be somewhat tedious but it is something that should never be undermined. Anyone can create a website and post information, but as teachers, we must be aware of this. We should make sure that the websites we show in class can be accessible to those with disabilities. Websites can enhance the learning experience and can assist students in their acquisition of knowledge.

Overall, I thought this was a great activity and I really learned a lot. I look forward to sharing my website evaluation with others and receiving recommendations on websites to use one day when I am a teacher.