Well in the presentations today there was a clear difference between elementary level and high school level curriculum. I probably should have given my husband a pat on the back when he had 7 class preperations a day. In elementary we have to prepare all the topics in a day so maybe they are more even than it appeared. I have played the water cycle game and the students are able to connect the thing in nature and just by prior knowledge tell the person next to them how they transfer water. It was very engaging and just fun. It also transfers home through conversation with parents.

wikis

I appreciate the direction from Karen to sign up on the wiki page. I think that would be very useful for managing groups of students presenting lessons, signing up for computer lab schedules. I liked being able to see who had already signed up and how many were listed on one day. It seemed to be a helpful tool for organizing people into a space of time.

keeping up with class

Hi
I have been dealing with my elderly parents and all I can say is that life does not get any easier as we get older. As I was working on my Webquest lesson plan 2 activity my computer contracted a virous off of one of the sites I was surfing. I struggled to get it back up and was surfing again and a spy ware company took my computer hostage! So I chose a safe site UEN.org and did my lesson from there. I guess the spy ware ads have found a way around the avast program I had on my computer. SO surf carefully even if it says teacher lessons. I have been out of town but I found it handy to have the lesson plans or activity addresses on the discussion page of our class page because I have been looking at them and doing the activities. I especially liked on Carli Oneil's math page how the numbers sifted out of the 2 or 3 digit numbers entered. It was fun but directly helped students see and use the divisiblity rules at work.

google docs

I found this tool very interesting because I have had to work in groups that were at different sites and we were emailing our joint document back and forth and it took a long time. This was interactive and it is so much faster than the old way. I was a writing lab manager once and this would have been easier for the teacher to see what students are doing than looking over their shoulder or having them turn in their disks. Even putting it into a joint folder isn't as fast as the google docs.

skype and web quest

I liked the idea of skype but it will make me think twice about what I wear to class. I always picture the person I am talking to on the phone in my head so skype would just make that a more accurate picture.
The web quest activity was good for making me think that when I choose an activity for the class I need to not just choose the one that interests me but will interest the class too. Because each class has so many different personalities choosing group or individual strengths needs to be alternated. I think that the grow school greens website is the best example of how to lay out a web quest. If a person were to post a web quest is it their responsibility to make sure the links are working? Sometimes links work at home but not when I get to school and vice versa and I was having trouble on the Egypt quest getting through on the links which made me less interested in that quest.

website evaluation

I wasn't able to get to all of the sites listed on learning module but for the sites I did get to I used the form I found on the Discovery/Kathy Shrock page and the form from Cyberbee. I printed off the form from NCSU.edu but didn't officially use it on a site, I think it would be used when students will be searching the web for research assignments. A lot of the questions were about how appropriate the site is. I liked Kathy Shrock's form the best because it had information that I could keep on file to use when I am setting up lesson plans. I discovered where to look to see if the site was updated, thats not a hidden secret but I don't look for it most of the time. I think the value of using an evaluation form is the knowledge that I get about each page, how it fits curriculum and how appropriate it is. It helps to organize what page to use when. Using a form will help me not to be embarassed when the students talk about what they learned today with parents. I used the Edhelper.com resource before and I really liked it but it does cost to use. I like Kathy Shrock and Cyberbee as well and they are FREE! I had fun using the puzzle maker on the discovery link.

picasa class

picasa lesson

I found this lesson fun and the collage at the end seemed very useful, putting it on a blog is good too. My problem is remembering to take pictures. I get too involved in the activity I guess and forget to take pictures. I have a couple of programs that came with my camera but it seems after I get used to the program they want me to renew and I am frustrated to have to payup. I think this one being free will be a great option for all types of uses with photo activities.
I forgot to add the picture through file which at first did not allow me to do the collage at the end. The program lets you work on the picture without putting it in the file, it would be useful if I just wanted to fix and print a picture I guess. I dressed up my boring blog a little bit with this anyway.

Class Four

I see a lot of fun using the hyperlink for students both when they make their own projects and when they participate in others. I think the more interactive presentations are the more interest students have in them. I can see this working for assessments as well.

Lesson Plans and Articles

I heard a lot of great lesson ideas, websites and uses of materials. The videos were fun, it is great to get to know people in the class since electronically we see each other but don't get a sense of one another.

class 2

I enjoyed seeing the lesson plan, I heard teachers during my practicum discussing how long it took them to set up a successful search lesson that keeps all the students involved. I think it will be helpful to have a plan laid out as I organize a lesson. It would be really helpful to find ready made plans that can be adapted to the class curriculum.

I liked the smart board discussion, it was very interesting. I think the more a person has access to a smart board the more they will be able to do with it. She made great use of the different manipulatives available. Smartboards can bring dimension to a lesson. They can be a distration when someone isn't comfortable using them. I wasn't very successful at writing on one the first time I used the pen.

The discussion about what other technology can be used when the one being used goes down was helpful. It changed my planning so now I will think of a plan B other than calling the tech department.

Genie's first blog

Hi
Karen Woolstenhume (teacher) and all of the students in the INST 4010 class. I think this would be a great paperless newsletter for class news. My page will get much more creative so check back later.

Bye
Genie