Reaction to Fires In the Bathroom

I think this book was a really good text for this class. It really helped me understand what students are thinking and how I can help them learn. All of the good curriculum in the world will not help if you don't know your students and don't know how to help them. I think that I now understand more about what makes my students tick, how they think and what they want. With these tools I will be able to be a better teacher. I will be able to tailor my lessons to the students needs.

My contributions to the WebQuest wikis

I added three new WebQuests to the wiki. They were all on the list of tasks. One was a Design WebQuest : Using Area and Perimeter to Design a Fun House. The next was a Journalistic WebQuest : OETZI the Iceman. The third WebQuest was a Compilation WebQuest: Ma Rainey's CD Compilation.

Maine Memory Network Uses

To use MMN in a science classroom would take a little more thought. I can think of a couple of applications. One might be researching land use changes over time including differences in the amount of forest vs farmland in the 1700-1800's with what we now have. Another could be climate changes, or fish populations. The demise of the wolf population in Maine and it's impact on the ecosystem would also be interesting. Physics questions might include how construction was done before we had bulldozers, and cranes. A study of post and beam construction might also be interesting. Medical practices over time might be fun to research as well. Biographies of scientists with connections to Maine would also work. If the artifacts for these studies are not currently on the web site, then the students could find them and add them to the collection.

Copyright and Fair Use

I was really surprised at how much education can use without getting permission. I didn't realize though that there was a limit to how much of a piece you can use (18, 19). I also didn't know that a single copy of a software program could be stored on a server as long as it is only being used by one person at a time. That seems really convoluted. How is the student supposed to know that the software is currently in use three doors down and who is supposed to be watching (2,4,5)? I also think it is frustrating that you cannot post copyrighted material on the web without permission. Part of the point of this class is to teach us to use the web to enhance our classes and instead of posting our students projects on the walls of the school they are on the web. This adds an extra complication to an already complicated project. Except for the size of the potential audience I don't see the difference; it is still student work and honestly, how much attention is a high school homework project going to get? I guess the only way around that is to put it in a password protected space(6,7,10,17).

How to Help Someone Use a Computer

I read an article on how to respectfully help someone with a computer issue. I really liked this because I am a beginner and really appreciate not being treated like I am stupid because I don't know how to find things. I especially liked the line in the things to tell yourself section that said, "Beginners face a language problem: they can't ask questions because they don't know what the words mean, they can't know what the words mean until they can successfully use the system, and they can't successfully use the system because they can't ask questions." This sums up the frustration most beginners feel. They don't even know what questions to ask and are afraid to experiment because the have found from sad experience that there are serious pitfalls for the unwary when messing with settings without knowing what they are doing. My favorite quote in the important rules section is, "Don't take the keyboard. Let them do all the typing, even if it's slower that way, and even if you have to point them to every key they need to type. That's the only way they're going to learn from the interaction." Somewhere along the line someone was patient enough with you to teach you how to do it. We will always be dependent if we can't learn how to do it ourselves.

I will definitely try to remember these tips when teaching my classmates about Google Earth. We will have a tutorial session on how to use the program and our students will have the opportunity to use the program themselves. When we are helping them, we will be patient and tell them what the words mean so they can use the system and have success using it.

Chapter 10: Going Beyond the Classroom

This chapter included suggestions for finding resources for learning outside of the classroom. The part that interested me the most was the suggestions for hands on science projects. One of the student authors recalls helping to clean up a pond in a nearby park. In the process of contributing to the cleanliness of the neighborhood, the students also learned about the ecology of the pond.

I really like this idea. The more invested the students are in a project and the more they understand why they are learning, the more they will learn. If they take ownership for the pond, they will willingly learn what it takes to keep it and all of it's inhabitants healthy.

Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong

The thing in this chapter that struck me was that students who start skipping school often began skipping because they feel alone and invisible at school. It had more to do with the social aspects of school than the academics. Also they often want to come back but they are afraid of teachers greeting them with a sarcastic or negative comment. I was also floored by the fact that some teachers would pass a student they see so seldom that they don't even recognize them.

When they can trust you not to embarrass them they are able to feel safe. I think if you make a point to just be welcoming to those students who are frequently absent, and ask them how you can help them come more often, they will be more willing to be there. If you genuinely want them there school will become a safe place and they will come more often. Teachers who pass students that are never there set a bad precedent. Not only are they not doing that student any favors, the other students no longer respect them because of their intellectual dishonesty, and will not do the hard stuff anymore.