WebQuest Part 2

What? Friday in class we started working on our WebQuest. Kiyna started putting together the Power Point while Erica and I researched information on World War 2 and found interesting things we could include in the WebQuest.

So What? I think that working in groups is a good way to help us learn how to work together to create something that can be used for teaching. When I work with my group it helps me get more ideas than just my own. If I get stuck usually someone in my group has an idea to keep us going or if I have an idea, they can help me build on that idea to make it better and/or more realistic. I like being able to bounce ideas off the people in my group instead of just trying to think up and figure out everything on my own.

Making the Webquest has went a lot quicker with the group than it would on my own because with two people looking up information, and one person putting it all together, it goes a lot faster than if I had to look up all the information and then try to fit it all into the WebQuest. Erica found websites that I wouldn't have found and Kiyna knows how to do power point better than I do so she was able to figure out color schemes and putting the links in more quickly than I would have been able to.

Now What? Working with my group will help me as a teacher because I will be better able to work with other teachers to come up with things to help the kids learn. I will be more willing to listen to the advice of others and go out of my comfort zone to try that advice to see what works best for my students. I think webquests are a good thing to learn to work together on because other teachers will know of good websites and activities to include in the webquest so I won't have to spend so much time searching the internet for appropriate sites. Also, I will be able to help the other teachers save time with the websites I already know about.

I think my future students will really enjoy doing webquest's as something different from their regular assignments. It will also be more fun for them than just searching for the information on Google. It will be safer than Google because I've already researched the websites and made sure they are appropriate for kids and contain accurate and reliable information.

Video: I think it's interesting how much technology is starting to have an influence in the classroom. Most teachers wouldn't think websites like Facebook and Twitter would have place in the classroom and they would punish students for using those websites in the classroom. I think it's important to work with kids what they are already interested in instead of working against that. On the other hand, I also think that technology can be overused in the classroom. Students need to be able to work with their hands and create things and not just type things up all the time. Studies show that if you hand write something down, it's more likely to stay in your long term memory. I think there is a balance, that technology definitely should be available and used in the classroom, but hands on assignments should also be encouraged.