Webquests -

I am working on a Webquest for the second graders at my school. The teachers are so excited to use Winter Olympics to teach with this February - so I decided to do a Webquest on the Olympics.

Before I got started, I had to learn how a Webquest can promote learning. After reading this article I learned that there are three ways kids learn through discovery: problem-based learning, project-based learning, and inquiry-based learning. All three approaches focus on the experience and use technology to organize and present ideas or search for information.

For my Webquest on the 2010 Olympics, I will make a Webquest where students gather information. Technology will be a tool to support students' inquiry-based learning. Follow this link to learn more about Webquests and this link by Kathy Schrock for more information on how to make your own Webquest!

Flowers are Red

Do we put students in a box and make them learn like we do? As I teach, I am surprised to watch students strive so hard to produce what they think we want. Good teachers take what students know and are good at and build upon that skillset. Here is a great video to present just this idea that every child is different.

 

Glogster

Glogster could be a great alternative to boring poster projects we give to kids. Think of it as an "online poster". Here is a post by a mom who raved about the idea! Here are a few great examples: The Revolutionary War, The Oaklawn Elementary Library, and a great poster on Technology Resources for Kids! I can see this as a great homework project for any age - and, of course, entertaining for parents as well. (It is geared for students 13 and over)

Digital Kids

Recently, I came across a PBS movie called "Digital Nation". The digital world is not one run by adults anymore. I might not be a "digital kid", but I remember my first experience in a chatroom - in 1994! I connected with a kid my age from Virginia. We wrote each other and corresponded by e-mail. It was innocent, but this shows my need to connect at such a young age - and how quickly I found it. Fast-forward 15 years.

Now, we consider all kids "digital kids" - all with that same need to connect and be known. As teachers, this is just one more reason we need to understand technology. We become good teachers when we understand the kids we teach and then go there with them. Digital Kids.

Read an interview with teacher, Steve Maher:"Kids' knowledge is broader but also much shallower than it used to be. Kids seem to know a little bit about a lot, but they're so impatient, so used to moving quickly, that they cannot handle the deep, probing, complex thinking that is the key to true mastery. That's troubling." (June 5 2007, PBS Frontline).

A sneak peak of the "Digital Nation"

A Beginning Confession...

I have to confess that I follow a few blogs.

I'm not someone to follow the crowd - seeing that everyone has their own Twitter account or a blog. But I caved. So, there are a couple food blogs that I like and a few crafty blogs that I follow - mainly for information. Yet some of my favs - I have embraced them as a friend. A friend of mine turned me on to a food blog where the writer creatively showcases a picture of her baby with each recipe! In her ‘Creamed Brussle Sprouts’ recipe, I just couldn't get over the picture of her baby's little hand holding a tiny brussle sprout. Not only are the pictures of her baby drawing me in, it was her amazing recipes that drew me in as well. Just read the comments other people leave.

Today, me and my friends and pass these favorite blogs on to each other - like shared recipes. Here they are:

*angrychicken.com/typepad
*smittenkitchen.com