My contributions to the WebQuest wikis

I added a real world situation, a new audience idea, and a role to the new category page of the Webquest audiences page. I thought the real world situation could be a citizen trying to get a law revamped or changed with congress. The new role is a concerned citizen that has seen too many fellow Americans affected by a poor law. The new audience idea is that the class are all members of congress that will need to vote depending on the argument made by the concerned citizen.

Maine Memory Network

I appreciate a site like the Maine Memory Network because I enjoy looking for things that might be related to my family tree. In high school I might not have enjoyed it as much. That is why in my future math class I would offer the assignment as an option. That way students with an interest in history would get to enjoy it while students who are yet to appreciate history are not forced through it in math class. Trying to find examples of math being used in the history of Maine might be a good assignment. Sudents may also be able to see how the geometry of buildings has changed or stayed the same over time. There are ways to use a great reasource like this in every type of class.

"How to Help Someone Use a Computer"

I recently read an article by Phil Agre that gives some tips for those of us that help people with their computer issues. A couple points stood out to me as important.

The main point I thought was important when helping someone with computer issues was "If it's not obvious to them, it's not obvious". This seems to be obvious, get it? But it is not, it is easy to forget that what seems second nature to you is completely foreign to someone that has not used a computer very much.

Another great point was making it clear that if you don't know exactly how to fix the problem you say that. Then you can demonstrate how you work through computer problems to the person with the issue. Instead of them seeing the solution, they will see the process that generates the solution.

Copyright and Fair Use

Being able to create lesson plans using clip art or music but not being able to share the lesson with other teachers seems to defeat the idea of copyright laws being slack for teachers. If the information is okay for one teacher to teach from what changes if another teacher uses the same lesson?

Using a Disney movie to entertain small children while parents are meeting with teachers seems like a harmless act. The school is not profiting from it and the children are not going to be selling bootlegged copies. It seems that the “public” viewing is stretched too far.

A teacher can use movies to get kids interested in the lessons but it is against the rules to create a compilation of the parts of the videos that you would use. It seems that just by combining more than one video it would do very little to change the use of the material.

I kind of agree with the rules if a school purchases a version of software then teachers cannot purchase alternate versions and also load those on the computers. However I think a school should be able to purchase the software title; no matter how many versions are released they should get the updates until the title of the software is no longer being upgraded.

If a school loads a software program that they bought onto a server more than one user should be allowed to use it at once. There is no chance of them making copies of the program that way and it is cutting down on the amount of waste produced when multiple disks have to be provided.

Having more students than software could be a problem from year to year based on class size. Making back-up disks is allowed but using them to make sure every student has access at the same time is not. It seems old fashioned to only allow one person at a time to use software that has been purchased legally.

Chapter 10: Going Beyond the Classroom

One of the best ideas of chapter ten is setting up internships for student to see how the skills they are learning in school will impact their working career. It would also help students develop new skills and habits that might tie into schoolwork but they would have been unable to attain these skills in a class.

The best use of this that I have seen is in Mt. Blue High School, they actually have a branch of Franklin Savings Bank in the school that students can work at to learn bank telling skills. That is functional use of math and computer skills as well as professional social interaction. People will be in the work years of their lives for much longer than they are in high school so it is important that they leave school with the ability to perform a job.

Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong

The eye popper in this chapter is an idea that we hear a lot. It talks about the young teacher learning to balance that desire to be liked with the authority of being a teacher. Basically a teacher cannot be the student’s friend. You need to be an adult that kids respect and trust, not their best friend they gossip to.

I feel I have a slight advantage over the traditional college student in this aspect simply because it has been more than ten years since high school. I do not feel I need to be friends with students but I do think it is very important that you develop a relationship with your students so they know they can trust you. Not just trust that you are looking out for their best interest but also that you would not take advantage of being in a position of power.

Chapter 8: Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English

Although there were many parts of this chapter that teachers should be aware of about English Language Learners, one of the most important was the section about mental fatigue. Students will become mentally tired by being in classes where they do not understand the language. Trying to learn the language and the material will wear down even the strongest students.

This is important to me because I went to school in a semi-private high school that had 16 different countries represented. I know that the kids are just other kids trying to fit in, but not understanding conversation speed English makes it really hard for them to follow along. I will always have a spot in my teaching heart for the Language Learners and try to make their experience the best I can.

Chapter 7: Teaching Difficulty Academic Material

The section about walking the students through the material first is important in this chapter. The students do not want to struggle through the subject and then get the teacher’s input later.

This would be an easy trap for a lazy math teacher to fall into. Assign some work from the book, let the kids figure it out, the next day go over it to check for concerns. The students cannot teach themselves, if they could we would get them all a library card and there would not be a need for teachers. Learning how to do something as a class and then individually trying it is by far a more effective approach.

Chapter 6: Motivation and Boredom

Another student quote jumped at me in this chapter, this time by Vance. “My math teacher keeps trying to connect with me using formulas and problems… if he could connect geometry angles to my interest in art of being an actor that would work” (pg 105). The quote comes in reference to connecting the curriculum to the real world.

This excites me because I have future visions of polling my students to see what they are interested in and then designing math tests with questions related to areas they are interested in. I know this will take a lot of time, but it will help the students see how math will be used in their life. It is a preemptive strike to the question of when am I going to use this.

Chapter 5: Teaching to the Individual, Working with the Group

The eye popper in this chapter was a quote from Montoya, “If a teacher sees a quiet kid like me raise their hand, the teacher should call on that person right away” (pg 89). It is referring to how a teacher needs to be in tune with how all students act on a daily basis.

The reason this caught my eye is I always get a smile on my face when a quiet student actually wants to participate. I think it is important for the teacher to know what students always have their hand up and when a new hand is raised. This will let the quiet student get a chance to participate.

Chapter 4: Creating a Culture of Success

In order to create a culture of success a teacher should not wait until an assignment is due before he/she is available for help. Setting up times to meet and go over material would go a long way in letting students know they are on the right path.

This is especially important in a math class. If a project is assigned and I waited until the class handed them in before I checked to make sure the students understood the concepts, there is a good chance that the math properties in the project could be misunderstood. The students should be able to get feedback as they are working to ensure they are on the right track.

Chapter 3: Classroom Behavior

A teacher needs to be consistent and clear when dealing with behavior problems. If the class has agreed upon rules the teacher should remind the student why they made the rules they did. If the behavior reaches a point where consequences need to be applied, then the teacher needs to be consistent.

This is an important part of creating a class that is respectful of the teacher and each other. If the students come up with the rules they are more likely to feel a sense of ownership and be willing to abide by them. It would not do any good for the class to know the rules if the teacher was inconsistent with the consequences. The students would simply be confused about when they really had to follow the rules.