FINAL blog for class! WEEEEE!!!!

well, as the year comes to an end, i've been asked to kind of give an overview of the technology i've learned about and the ones i plan to use in my classroom someday (an exciting thought! EEK!)

First off, for sure Wordle! LOVE IT! way easy, and way fun! I think it will be a non-intimidating way for students to get to know each other, and a non-overwhelming way to introduce new subjects to my class. :)

Also, will be using Pandora, to kinda lighten the mood during group time in my class... like if i were to assign groups and tell them to design posters or discuss certain topics, i would most likely have music playing lightly in the background. :)

i'm already hooked on freerice.com, and i've got Justin playing it too! I think this is such a neat idea! It would be kinda cool to use this in the classroom as a competition... like "Over Spring Break, see who can earn the most rice, or get to the highest level" kinda thing!

Edmodo is another tool i will most likely use... a facebook-style classroom page where students can connect with me and other students in the class. LOVE IT! Very student-friendly!

I also plan on using "clickers" a lot in my class... again, i think this is a very student-friendly, non-threatening way to get my student's opinions, and get them to share personal information... like "How many students are from divorced homes?" or "How many students drink?" which would in turn be compared to the national average. These were exactly the questions asked in my Developmental Psych class, and because we used clickers, i think everyone felt comfortable actually being honest... and once they saw they weren't the ONLY ONES sexually active, or drinking, or from abusive homes, it made them feel like they could then turn and vocally share in large group discussion! LOVE IT!

The idea of using a webquest is also another MUST! SO many different ways to do one, and so many different topics to explore using one! :)


These were my favorites, but there were SO MANY other tools that i want to continue to explore and get to know... with technology changing so fast, i'm sure by the time i'm actually teaching (hopefully only 2 more years *sigh*) that there will be even MORE great tools for me to utilize! :) I've enjoyed this class, in all honesty, though i'm not the most techno-savvy. ;) This class has certainly helped prepare me to teach in this new technological world we live in! Thanks Prof. Day! ;)

...The Web Quest Challenge...

For my Introduction to Instructional Tech. we've been working on whats called "Web Quests"... which is basically an online scavenger hunt that a teacher designs for their students. They have themes, and then present a specific process through which students are meant to follow in order to meet the assignment's requirements. It can be as in-depth, or as basic as the teachers wishes to make it... which has a lot to do with what age they are teaching.

I was assigned to design my own Web Quest... based on the age i want to teach, and the subject i am studying to teach. I am planning to teach secondary school, which means i could be teaching anything from 9th to 12th grade, and i'm studying Social Science and focusing on U.S. History, World History, and Psychology. Because i'm mostly studying history, i choose to focus my Web Quest on the Holocaust. I then had to build an entire quest around it... this included an introduction, an explanation of the process i wanted them to follow, directions, questions for my students to find answers to, the website links that held those answers, a conclusion, and a rubric by which i would grade them. It was HUGE. i think mine ended up being close to 7 pages long! A lot of this was because of the 40+ questions i included, a map i included for reference, and the rubric table. *sigh* Though, as much of a pain as it was to think up, organize, write, and design, after it was done, i'm actually pretty proud of it! I hope it earns a good grade. :) I present it TOMORROW... :S EEK!