Webquest!

After much deliberation and hard work I finally finished my very own WebQuest! Hooray!!!

Hold your applause...please!

http://www.zunal.com/publish.php?w=58853

There it is.

What I think works best about web quests program is that it is all there for you. On zunal.com it gives you all the categories you need to have, so when you're stuck and aren't sure what needs to go on it, it's just right there for you.

If I had lots of money, I would create a video of myself reading the book the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. The one I found was boring. I would also have pictures taken of all the kids in our classroom, around the community. I'd love to go to the city, country and suburban communities and film my experience to put on the web quest.

The peer evaluation and planning sheet both were super helpful. It was great to brainstorm to get ideas and then even better to discuss those ideas with a partner. It was also good to have someone objective look at the project just in case it wasn't exactly easy to understand.

I've learned that the instructional planning process is long! In order to find all the websites and books and videos it takes a substantial amount of time. I also learned that as a teacher, if something doesn't quite go right the first time, I can always add something, or re-vamp something if it isn't quite how I want it.

What a relief to have that finished! I feel so accomplished!

Digital Photography

Digital photography has always been something I've enjoyed using. I love to capture moments that otherwise go unnoticed. I've familiarized myself with photo-shop, and iPhoto, and now with Comic Life! I would love to use digital cameras in my classroom, and I would particularly love my STUDENTS to use digital cameras in my classroom. I would love to have my students working on an ongoing slide show on iPhoto or iMovie. Starting at the beginning of the year, I would have my students take pictures during different activities such as: assemblies, recess, P.E. and others, so that they can be adding pictures as they go. Then at the end of the year I'd want to show the slide show. I've also loved using Comic Life. I would love to have my students take pictures of what they do at home and then bring them in to class. They could use comic life to make a comic book about what they do in their daily lives. It could be very fun.

Web Applications

For science, one of the web applications I thought would be very resourceful would be the NASA directroy of resources. On that website there is a link specifically designed for Elementary students of different age groups. Under each one there is a place to play and learn. In the 4th and 5th grades, students start to learn about the water cycle. I think it would be fun for them to use the NASA application to play the "Adventure of Droplet Game" This game is found at: http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/droplet.html It teaches them a great deal about the way water travels through the water cycle.

I like the link to Viking quest would be a great one to use for social studies. I remember doing Viking reports in the 5th grade. It would be fun to use that as a tool to teach about the Vikings.

For math I think there are a ton of great web resources. I LOVED the Mass spring lab found at this website http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/mass-spring-lab/mass-spring-lab_en.html. It's such a fun way for students to learn about measurement and mass.

All in all I think there are many awesome web applications you can use in the classroom! How wonderful to have so many resources.