Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans are always difficult when you do not have an actual class to use it on. It is alot harder to make something for nothing, though I know it is important to practice. Truly, though, depending on the learning level and personality of my class, my lesson(s) plan may not work like they are in the future. However, since they may not work, I know this will teach me heavy flexibility for later classes and later lesson plans. On the positive side, lesson plans are fun to make because it forces me to be creative. I love having the oppurtunity to be creative (at least as much as I can be). I do hope I can use these lesson plans in the future, and I hope that my students will enjoy them especially after I spend so much time creating them....but we will see!

WebQuests....Once AGAIN

I found another webquest today based on Romantic literature....it is extremely nice. It is very organized and self explanatory. The student's responsibilities are laid out very clearly. However, there are two things I believe I would modify before using it in my classroom. First, I would not assign the students to positions, I would either let them decide or draw names. (Considering this is geared towards 11th - 12th grade, assigning them to groups seems unnecessary).  Second, Part 3 of the project requires the students to make a CD. A CD is not a bad thing, but this does not give the students any choice of final part of the project.  Therefore, I believe I would allow the students of the choice of a combination: A (shorter) CD and short paper, or I would also give the choice of video and short paper. That way, all group members would hopefully have the appropriate outlet that they could be graded on. Some students are better at making CDs and videos rather than papers (and vice versa).

Wacky WebQuests

WebQuests are very interesting little things. They are very good tools for teachers, I think...as long as they are done correctly. There are so many of the webquests that were obviously not thought through as they were created. Especially as an English teacher, the bad grammar and lack of explanation kills me. So, if and when I use a webquest in my classroom in the future, I will definitely take loads of time on it before allowing my students to explore through the WebQuest I created. On the positive side, I think the WebQuest is perfect for big group projects. Especially in highschool, students have a hard time listening and remembering and writing their assignments down, but with a WebQuest, students can continuously go into the website and not only understand their assignment and what they will be graded on, but also weblinks to assist them along the way. All in all, I'm kind of liking this technology thing..(however with the Mac I'm still not completely convinced:)