Mini lesson reflection

What went well in your teaching?
The flow of the lesson went well. There were no hang ups and everybody was able to access the site, the list, and the games easily. Observing the class, it seemed that most students were engaged and enjoyed the lesson, and I got good feedback from everyone. I think the exit slip part of the lesson went extremely well.

Based on what you learned as an instructor, what changes would you make next time?

I was a little uncomfortable with the stretches of quiet. In the future I might offer students the opportunity to work in pairs or at least consult each other if they get stuck. Also, as per my instructor's suggestions, I would have the image on the screen coincide with the instructions I am giving. This will help the visual learners know they are where they need to be. Also, I would have an additional instruction sheet explaining the requirements of the exit slip under the doc cam so students could reference it. Also, to help me assess their strengths and weaknesses, I would have them write the name of the game they played on their exit slip.

Update

Describe where you are in the development process of your WebQuest lesson. What do you need help with?

After looking at my checklist, I can see that I am making progress!I have a few pages that are complete, many that are partially complete,and some that untouched. The WebQuest seems more manageable since I have printed out the various pages, and I am focusing on one page at a time.

It would help me to have a reminder of how long the WebQuest assignment should take students to complete. I think mine could take a couple of weeks, but I am not sure how to indicate that in the WebQuest. Do I need to include each day's assignment and activity? Do I need to pare down the time frame?

Scaffolding

How can scaffolding support the student learning process in your web quest?

My first thought is that the web quest in its entirety might seem daunting. There are multiple pages, a plethora of instructions and steps, and a lot of information to navigate. Personally, I feel panicky and overwhelmed when given large, complicated assignments, and I immediately break them down into smaller steps, which make a big project more manageable. Since my web quest is geared to 6th graders, who might be overwhelmed with middle school to begin with, scaffolding will enable them to learn what the assignment is designed to teach, it will allow them to do it in manageable steps, it will provide them with a sense of accomplishment as they progress, and it will allow me to assess them at various points in the assignment.

Grasps

Your Name: Penney Samuel
Content Area: English/Language Arts
Topic: Immigration
Grade Level: 6-8
Product/Performance: a newspaper article

1. Briefly describe the following components of your WebQuest.
2. At the end of class, copy and paste your GRASPS plan into the online journal.
3. Don’t forget to sign your name.

GRASPS
Goal
(introduction page) Your task is to produce a newspaper article.
Role
(introduction page) You are a reporter and have been asked to write a news article that challenges or refutes common misconceptions about immigration in the United States.
Audience
(introduction page) Your audience is the staff, faculty, and student body of Monticello Middle School, a Tier I school with a diverse student population.
Situation
(introduction page) At your school, Monticello, there are a lot of students from other countries. Some of them speak English pretty well, but others struggle with it or don’t speak it at all. You’ve heard some students calling these kids names and saying mean things about them and their parents. You want everyone at the school to be more tolerant of each other, so you decide to write an article for the school newspaper.
Product or Performance
(task page) You will create a newspaper article that challenges or refutes common misconceptions about immigration.
Standards
(standards page) 1.5.1. Publishes in a format that is appropriate for specific audiences and purposes.

Beliefs

What are your beliefs about teaching and learning with technology?

                Technology offers students and teacher another medium with which to communicate. Sometimes technology creates problems if there are glitches or incompatibility issues. In schools that service lower income students, the classroom might be the only place they have access to the internet and word processing programs. On a broader scale, technology offers students a gateway to art, culture, and knowledge on an immediate and almost endless basis.

Describe how technology has supported learning in classrooms you have observed

I have taken several classes that require a presentation type project at the end of the semester. Most students know how to and often use power point presentations for these projects.  In one class a group of students made a MySpace page for a character from literature. They had their character post notes and fill out the about me section. I thought this was a relevant way to bring a literary character into the 21^st century that would appeal to middle and high school students.