This week, we worked on our inquiry projects. We had to pick a topic and make a worksheet and then place the worksheet with answers on our wiki. Since my field is elementary, I chose to do mine for a 4th grade social studies class and the topic was the Virgina Colony. Our assignment had to align with the Tennessee Standards for fourth grade social studies and the Technology Standards. This is really the first time that I have encountered the standards and had to look at them. That was definitely helpful since I will deal with those throughout my career and they are very important.
I loved using the wiki again and I am definitely going to use this in my classroom when I become a teacher. It is such a good resource for the students to learn a lot of information while only being responsible for one topic. I think what I got from this the most though is that I have been underestimating elementary students. I asked pretty basic questions on my worksheet, and at first didn't even require complete sentences. After I thought about it though, I realized at fourth grade they should be practicing sentences and critical thinking, so I changed it to require complete sentences. That is something that I will definitely remember when I begin teaching.
This was a really helpful activity and overall a fun project!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Webquest, Rock Stars, and Inquiry Projects, Oh my!
We had a lot going on in TPTE this week. First, we learned about webquests. I had absolutely no idea what a webquest was before this week. Now I know about a great resource to use in my classroom! Not only am I aware of the tool now, but I know how to evaluate whether it is one that I want to use or not. My job was to determine efficiency when we evaluated certain webquests, but the members of my group helped me learn how to evaluate in terms of technology, group work, and creative thinking as well. I am now equipped to choose webquests that will be useful to my students.
The second thing on our agenda was a Rock Star Wiki. We split into teams of two and researched gemstones, then compiled all of the information into one wiki. This is yet another useful tool that I can use in my classroom one day. Each team only researched one gemstone, but then as a class we could look at all the gemstones in the wiki to learn about them, so it was very time efficient. This could be used with so many topics in an elementary classroom!
Which brings me to the inquiry project. We now are preparing our own wiki for our subject area. I am choosing to do something in social studies, but I haven't nailed down my exact topic. This will be a useful project because it will teach us how to incorporate wikis into a lesson that meet the Tennessee standards. I am excited to work on mine and create the assignment! Overall, it was a very productive week of learning in TPTE!
The second thing on our agenda was a Rock Star Wiki. We split into teams of two and researched gemstones, then compiled all of the information into one wiki. This is yet another useful tool that I can use in my classroom one day. Each team only researched one gemstone, but then as a class we could look at all the gemstones in the wiki to learn about them, so it was very time efficient. This could be used with so many topics in an elementary classroom!
Which brings me to the inquiry project. We now are preparing our own wiki for our subject area. I am choosing to do something in social studies, but I haven't nailed down my exact topic. This will be a useful project because it will teach us how to incorporate wikis into a lesson that meet the Tennessee standards. I am excited to work on mine and create the assignment! Overall, it was a very productive week of learning in TPTE!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Website Evaluation
This week in class, we did an evaluation on an educational website. I chose to do mine on Starfall.com. I loved Starfall and cannot wait to explore other websites that I can use in my classroom! It was a very helpful activity that prepared me for how to evaluate websites for my classroom.
The activity gave me a number of things to look for when evaluating a website and deciding whether to use it in my classroom. Is there an author? Is the author credible? Is all the information backed up with references? Is this website biased or full of advertisements? These are all important. As a teacher, I will need websites that have true and reliable information. I also wouldn't want a website that has a lot of distracting advertisements, etc. on it. That might take away from the learning.
It also taught me to look for websites that are easy to navigate and won't distract students with trying to navigate it. I also want to make sure that everything is easy to read for them. The information needs to be current as well.
Now when I am looking at a website for my classroom, I can remember what I looked for in this activity. I will have a mental checklist of what I needed to check first, and if the website passes the test then I will have a great resource to aid in teaching!
The activity gave me a number of things to look for when evaluating a website and deciding whether to use it in my classroom. Is there an author? Is the author credible? Is all the information backed up with references? Is this website biased or full of advertisements? These are all important. As a teacher, I will need websites that have true and reliable information. I also wouldn't want a website that has a lot of distracting advertisements, etc. on it. That might take away from the learning.
It also taught me to look for websites that are easy to navigate and won't distract students with trying to navigate it. I also want to make sure that everything is easy to read for them. The information needs to be current as well.
Now when I am looking at a website for my classroom, I can remember what I looked for in this activity. I will have a mental checklist of what I needed to check first, and if the website passes the test then I will have a great resource to aid in teaching!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
My Expectations for TPTE 486
Welcome to my blog! Let me first start by saying that my name is Emily Carter and I am a student in TPTE 486 this semester. This is also my first blog! When I signed up for this course, I really had no idea what to expect. I honestly did not even know what it was about. Then I came to class on the first day and it was in a computer lab. After having gone over the syllabus, I quickly realized that we would be doing a lot of learning about technology.
I am technologically savvy for the most part, because I grew up using the internet and computer. I taught myself everything when it comes to using the computer. I cannot do advanced stuff though, and I have never blogged or made websites. I expect to feel comfortable with these tasks by the end of this course and have a knowledge of how to do them. I also expect to be able to utilize these tools in my classroom as a teacher one day. With that being said, I am excited to learn!
I am technologically savvy for the most part, because I grew up using the internet and computer. I taught myself everything when it comes to using the computer. I cannot do advanced stuff though, and I have never blogged or made websites. I expect to feel comfortable with these tasks by the end of this course and have a knowledge of how to do them. I also expect to be able to utilize these tools in my classroom as a teacher one day. With that being said, I am excited to learn!
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