Blog February 27, 2008

I have learned so much over the past several weeks. Not real sure that my WebQuest turned out the way I wanted it to but I did try. The lesson plan will take some extra time because there is so much information on my topic. It will be challenging to narrow it down to just a couple of activities and focus points.

I thought the oral histories were interesting. I would have liked to have spent more time talking about them. My uncle was a POW in WWII and I love to visit with him about it. He did not talk about the war at all for many years. A book was published about his plane being bombed. After reading his friend's book (he was on the plane too) my uncle starting sharing HIS story. His parachute was hung up in a tree when they landed and they were taken captive. He has talked about the long marches through the snow, horrible conditions, illness, etc. There is so much valuable history within his story. I would love to record his story someday. His health is failing and I know I need to do it soon. I wish I could spend more time with him.

This is my last blog. I have enjoyed getting to know you all. See you around!

Carla's blog for week of Feb 20 - Feb 26

Hey, gang! Once again, I feel completely out of my league with this technology thing we have going. Tonight, however, was quite productive and I will be the first to admit that WebQuests are very cool and an interesting way to present information.
I now know what a WebQuest is supposed to look like but let's see if I can do it. Creating a lesson plan using WebQuest will be neat but I have a feeling it will be a challenge for me as well. I will definitely need to spend some time thinking this one through some more before working on it again.

It is hard to believe that we have just completed our sixth week together. I feel like I am just now getting to know some of you - I guess it doesn't help that my back is to you all evening and we spend most of the 3 1/2 hours staring into the monitors!

Have a great week!

Blog for week of Feb 14 through Feb 20

The presentations were great! I enjoyed hearing everyone's group projects. There was alot of time and effort collectively invested in tonight's assignment. Presentations were informative, well put together and interesting! Great job, everyone!

Our classroom discussion was interesting. I know that I have made my oldest son literally rewrite an assignment or two because of his handwriting. I know that he can write neater if he slows down, takes his time and puts a little bit of effort into it. I want to instill in him the importance and neccessity of taking pride in his work.

Correct spelling, however, is not a sign of intelligence. Many brilliant minded individuals are not "good" spellers. In my own opinion, however, I believe that overall penmanship, punctuation, and writing skills have deteriorated over that past few years due to the increase of using keyboards instead of pencil and paper. Students abbreviate and tend to write ssignments as though they are IMing their friends. As with everything now, we are fast paced and on to the next best thing. Technology has certainly changed the way we do things.

Blog entry for week of Feb 6 through Feb13.

It has been interesting to learn about the different resources available for lesson planning. I have to admit to feeling quite overwhelmed though. It will be interesting to evaluate the different plans and see what variations might need to be included in order to accomodate specific students/classroom settings. I may even find a lesson plan or two to file away for future use. :)

One important thing that I have learned in class is to always look for validation and appropriateness. Just because something is posted and available does not make it worthy of use. There is so much information to take into consideration regarding content, biasness, ease of use, suitability and usefulness of materials when evaluating lesson plans. This assignment will be time consuming but definitely worthwhile as far as creating awareness of quality lesson planning.

Our group project will be a priority this week as we will be presenting on the use of Smartboards in the classroom. I am looking forward to seeing the other presentations as well.

Have a great week and I will see you all on the 13th.

blog for week of Jan 30 to Feb 5

I am looking forward to my group project! Hannibal Public Schools use smartboards in their classrooms but I have never had the opportunity. This will be a very worthwhile project for me as it is something that I will definitely use in the future.

I am learning alot in this class. There is so much more to learn!

Today a quest speaker spoke to my students about Internet Safety and Cyberbullying. The presentation was in collaboration with the FBI and had personal stories of victims which really had an impact on my teens. A couple of my students shared their own experiences of harrassment and their information being obtained by strangers. Very interesting and scary for those of us with children. I am interested to hear your thoughts about cyberbullying.

I enjoyed doing PowerPoint in class. I will certainly need to do it on my own so I can play around and find all the cool things I can do with it.

Have a great week and happy blogging!

blog for week of 1-23 to 1-30

This has been an interesting class. There is so much to learn about copyright and fair use laws. It is important for teachers to know and understand the laws as they pertain to the media used in their classrooms. Our class discussion revealed some things that I was not aware of pertaining to the laws. Students are very quick to use and share multimedia devices which supports the necessity of teachers being knowledgeable and compliant to copyright and fair use laws.

I am looking forward to blogging each week. It will be interesting to see each others' viewpoints.

Have a great week!

My experience with computers and future implementation in the classroom.

I first used computers in high school during the late 80's. It consisted of Apple word processing. I had to type in programs during a computer class at Central Missouri State University about 20 years ago but remember nothing about it now. My children love to be on the computer but I do not spend my time using it at home. I read my email a couple of times a week but become very frustrated when something doesn't work right.

I am excited about this class because I do want to learn and become comfortable with the technology available. In order to be an effective educator, I will have to incorporate the latest technology and keep up with the changes. I think it is amazing to see what is at our fingertips on-line. It will be an interesting class!