Web quest: Local Place

For my web quest I am going to make it for 6th and 7th graders, and it will be on S.E. Hinton's book, The Outsiders. This book is about a gang greasers during the 1950s. The students will research greasers and do various activities to go along with it. For the local part of it they will use the Town of Mayfield Heights, except that it will be their job to turn the town into a 50's town. They will write a story in the form of a power point, using the character from the book. They will write about what they think Mayfield was like in the 50s, based on their research. So, basically they will write a story using the book charters, but their story will take place in a 1950s Mayfield Heights. Mayfield Heights is a suburban town in Cleveland, and has many interesting places that the students could use. For example, what if Ponyboy (the books main character) went to Mayfield High School, how would it be different in the 50s? What would the students street be like in the 1950s? What parts of Mayfield would be where the Socs hung out, and which parts would the greaser hang out in? The student would also make themselves a character in the story? Would their house look different? How would they dress? Would they be a greaser? I think that through this web quest, students will really feel like they are part of the story, while learning more about the 1950s, and using their thinking skills to come up with how their town would be different then it is today.

Weblog 6

I think that students are definitely ignored as far as the learning process goes. I think that in elementary school if students were asked more about what they would find helpful in learning, it would make them better students. For example if you were to ask a 4th grader what kind of way he found learning long division most helpful, then he would retain more information. In high school if students were allowed to help more in the learning process it would be a more positive environment, and students would be more compelled to come to class. So many classes in high school just consists of taking notes and listening to the teacher, and for a lot of kids that doesn't really help. I sometimes felt that I wasn't really learning anything in school and I think that it is very vital to let students help in the class preparation. What I will do when I am a teacher is ask that kids ways that they find helpful when learning, maybe I would even pass out surveys. I never liked math very much, but if I had been allowed more say in how I learned it, I may have enjoyed it more, for example I think that I may have understood math better if I had more one on one attention, I would benefit from English classes with more class discussions, history class with movies interrogated into the lesson, science classes with more labs, etc. If every student was able to tell the schools what would help them more, we would be on the way to better and more productive learning. Students are so important to schools and how schools are seen in the eyes of the public, but if they are not really involved in what they learn, how can we expect them to want to learn?

Technology/Story Telling

The one question in the survey that stuck out to me was technology in medical purposes.
I think medicine is the place where technolgy helps the most. A few years ago when I was 15 and my younger sister was 12 she had to have back surgery, and the surgery took about twevle hours, but in a few weeks she was completly fine, and now the only remnet of the surgery are a couple of very thin scars on her back.

My point being that because of technolgy complicated medical produces can be completed with ease and with little issues afterward. So I think that instead of worrying about technogly in schools, we should be prevecting medical technogly, because that is were it is needed and helps most.

If you think about it story telling can even be thought of as technolgy, because through storys people can learn new things, share ideas, and teach people things as well.

Technology Narrative

Stop and smell the flowers.

Technology Narrative:

This was an interesting article, but I didn't agree with the majority of it. I don't believe in evolution, and that was his argument, with the tools and everything, so that part doesn't make a ton of sense to me. But I did think that it was interesting about how chimpanzees used sticks to get food, or that beavers makes dens, birds nest, etc. This part shows the marvels that God has created in nature. I also enjoyed the part in the article about how things we have now have unknown purpose, that something ordinary now, could be the key to the future, that in itself is a powerful idea. I also agree that technology is a vague, really it could be many things, computer, dishwasher, even, if you think about it, a pencil. A pencil can be considered technology, because it is a tools used to create things, such as story's, equations, poem, thus this show how board technology is. BUT, in some ways I think that too much technology is a bad thing, I think there is a limit, but it saddens me that one day people won't read out of text books or write on paper, it will all be electronic. I think that we should always remember our humble roots, the days before cells phone, computers, cars, even electricity all together, I believe that we need to get back to that time, at least a little bit. We need to always remember comradely and friendships, not always facebook and emails. We need to take time to go outside, amire nature, ride bikes, not always on computers, or in cars, I will admit that I am guilty of this, but we all need to get back to the beginning. This is what I believe.

Webliography

Here are the Web 2.0 applications that I used in my website:

Notely.net: This is a site where you can make to do lists, manage tasks, take online notes with links, highlighting and images, and build a color coded schedule. This will help the students to be more organized and to keep a better track of what they have going on, so that they are less likely to forget homework, projects, etc.


Storyjumper: This is an application where you can create your own story with pictures, clip-art, shapes and text and you can even order it when you have finished. This will help students to improve their creative writing skills, while being able to add graphics and have fun.


Game Classroom: This is a site where you can choose a grade level (K-6th) and play educational math games according to your grade level. This will help them with skills, most importantly math, while being in a fun, gaming improvement.

Book Army: Using this application you can read virtual books, make forums and discuss books with others. This will help the students build their communication and reading skills, while discussing and learning about new books.

e-learning for kids: Using this site children have a chance to pick their grade level and learn new things online, depending upon the subject that they wish to study. This will help students to review and study skills that they already know, plus learning new ones, in all subjects.

All of this applications were found at GO2WEB20.net which is a web 2.o application index site.

This is linked to mallorydelauro09.pbworks.com


Thoughts on the Article
I didn't entirely agree with this article. I think that it is good for teachers to be knowledgeable on some parts of technology, such as a smart boards and the computers, but I think that there is a limit. I agree with phones, ipods, cameras and even facebook being banned from school, these are distractions, and sometimes you can learn best technology free, such as from books and lectures. I do however agree that wikiapedia should be allowed to be used in schools, because my teachers have always told me not to use it, but at the same time I have always found a lot of good information there. Overall though, I am not for so much technology being integrated into schools.

Interview

I interviewed my old fifth grade teacher, and my sisters current fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Sladky. Here is the interview:
1. Do you think that the majority of your class has trouble with organization? Many students do, but not all off them.

2. What types of things would help them with organization? They have an agenda, but many don’t use it to the best of their ability. They need to carry it with them to each class and write the assignments down during each class as they are given. Then they should double check all that they wrote at the end of the day when I go over it all.

3. Is the majority of your class good at studying? I would say a little more than ½ are good at studying, maybe more.

4. What would help them study better? If they started studying earlier and preparing earlier for the test, instead of the night before.

5. Do you think that educational games are effective? Definitely! We use the computer lab whenever we can to play educational games.

6.What types of educational games would work best for your class? Study Island, Funbrain, FreeRice are a few that they like.

7.Does most of your class use planners? They all have them and they all use them, but many don’t use them regularly.

8. Are the planners effective to helping the students keep track of their work? For some they are great! For others they are not. Sometimes after school, I find the planners (agendas) sitting on their chair. They can’t make good use of them at home if they leave them at school. At parent orientation in the beginning of the year, we try to stress how important the agendas (planners) are and how we use them to communicate between home and school daily. It shows their assignments, upcoming tests, and we also put a stamp or sticker in the agenda if an assignment was not complete or turned in when it was due.

9. Would your class benefit from sharing notes in an online environment? Possibly! I would love to see. I do know that a few of my students do not have home internet access. Some have said they go to the library once in a while to use the internet.

10. What other things would be helpful in a website for your students? Links to math, language arts, science, and social studies fun websites, homework/test assignments, upcoming school events, field trips, assemblies, school holidays, when progress reports are due and report cards, (a lot of this is already writing on the school calendar or in the Millridge Memo, but it wouldn’t hurt to repeat it again!). I will say that each Mayfield teacher has access to a place to make a website on the Mayfield School site. We can add homework, favorite links, etc, but it can be time consuming to go on each day and enter the days assignments. We rely on the agenda as our best form of communication between home and school, not the websites. So many teachers don’t use their.

Based on the information from this interview I think some of the most effective things for a website for this class would be, an online planner that is easy to access and fun to use, links to educational games, and some good apps to help study, such as online flashcards. A website for 5th graders should be entertaining and fun, but also structured and helpful.

Web 2.0 applications

One web 2.0 application that I think would be helpful is Notely. This is an application that helps with organization, building schedules, taking notes, making to do list, etc. This would help me because if you have notes that are clear to read they are easier to study. I also like to have a to do list so that I do not fall behind on my work. Another helpful aplication is wePapers. This sites allows free downloading of lecture notes and discussions with other students. This would help me to study better, and also to understand things better.

In my opinion the best range of web 2.0 application that will help me are going to be things that have something to do with organization, studying or note taking.

My goals are to do the best that I possibly can in school. I want to get good grades and to really understand all that I am being taught. I feel that if I do all this then I can truly be a successful teacher.

My learning needs are that I need it to be interesting, because when I'm not interested it is harder to pay attention. I am a visual learning so seeing things also really helps me learn. My studying needs are that I need a study guide or clear studying notes to be able to do really well on the test.

I think that the best way to communicate with the professor and the class is through class discussions.