Epsilon Homeroom - July 29
Site
of the Day
Show and Tell! (5 minutes per presentation)
When it is your turn to
share your WebQuest or what you have done so far please include the following:
For what grade have you designed this WebQuest?
What is your Introduction?
What is your task?
How long do you think it will take to implement your WebQuest?
Why is this method better than doing a lesson the tradional way - e.g.
with just books or handouts?
Checklist for a successful lesson. Thanks,
Nicole!
Feel like you are almost finished? Check this checklist!
- Check every page for spelling errors and sentence
structure;
Look at the aesthetics of your page (are there appropriate spaces
after punctuation, such as
commas), line spacing, alignment, etc.
- Click on every link to see that they work
- Make sure you have links on your webquest page and personal
page that link to each other
- Make sure all graphics load (if you have trouble, click
here)
- Take a sneak peek at your colleagues' pages to see what they
have done
- Keep in mind, your pages may never be "completely" finished
and you may continually add to them throughout the school year
- Make sure you have an e-mail link on your pages so others
can contact
you (remember, to create an e-mail link highlight the text, press
link and put in
"mailto:youremailaddress" with no spaces and no quotations)
- Consider adding a "page last updated" date on the bottom
of each home page in a smaller font
- Make sure your teaching guide is complete and linked to your
webquest
- Go through your lesson with Frada or Pam.
Important information from Craig Cunningham, WIT Director
1. If you are a CPS employee, but you are not full time, not fully certified,
or not in a teacher position, but you want a CPS stipend, you need to fill
out a form, which can be found at http://webinstituteforteachers.org/2003/about/stipendrequest.php.
2. Copyright information:
While finalizing your projects for WIT 2003, please pay attention to the
rules of copyright.
Generally, you should ask permission to use anything you've taken from another
web site, unless that site offers you permission explicitly. If you
do have permission to use something, you should put a note that says "Copyright
________ (whoever owns it), date; used with permission."
If you can't figure out how to ask for permission (no contact information
on the web site you got it from), then at least you should do the courtesy
of listing the source. You can do this by making a little note that
says "Source: URL of the website you got it from."
Another good option is to leave the resource in its original location and
just link to it, as we've done throughout the WIT curriculum modules.
Example: "for a great picture of Craig's kids, see http://craigcunningham.com/photos."
Above all, don't steal without acknowledging! Not only does this set
a bad example for your students, it can result in demands from the copyright
owner that the resources be taken off your project. This can be embarrassing
and can sometimes mean your project won't be usable by the students.
Note that "fair use" probably does not apply to making copies of something
and posting it on a public web site such as your WIT project. "Fair
use" requires that any copies be made available only to your students and
only for a limited time.
Please read pages 71-79 in Curriculum Webs for more about copyright,
or see the copyright module Marty Billingsley produced for WIT 2000:
http://webinstituteforteachers.org/2000/curriculum/homeroommodules/copyright/.
3. Sample Implementation
Plan
My classroom has two internet-linked computers that are very slow.
In order to have everyone in the class complete my WebQuest on XXXXXXX,
we will need to reserve the computer lab. The computer lab has 23 internet-linked
computers. (My class has 32 students, and the WebQuest groups will have
four different roles. We'll allow two computers per group, for a total
of 16 computers needed.) The computer lab computers use Internet Explorer
6.0. I'm not sure whether the computers have Flash installed
(I will have to test that in advance, because one of the sites my WebQuest
links to uses Flash.) I will have to reserve the computer lab with the
computer teacher, Mrs. T. Most likely, we'll be able to get the lab for
45 minutes on Monday afternoons, so completing the WebQuest might require
three weeks.
My third graders probably have very mixed abilities to use the
computers and the Internet.Plus, they will have to create a Word document
as part of the WebQuest. In advance of doing the WebQuest, we will probably
need a Word lesson as well as a refresher lesson on Internet skills before
doing the WebQuest. For this reason, I'll reserve the lab
for 5 consecutive Mondays. (I will need to develop an activity for
refreshing Internet skills; perhaps Mrs. T. can help me with that.)
Because my WebQuest deals with the topic XXXXXX, it will be most relevant
in mid- to late-October. I'll try to get the lab from October 6 to November
10 (six weeks because of Columbus day).
If I cannot reserve the computer lab for 6 consecutive weeks, then
I will try to get it for at least 3 weeks to do the Word lesson, the Internet
refresher, and to start the WebQuest. Then the groups can complete the
WebQuest during small-group activity time on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons,
while the other students are working on their language festival projects.
It will take about 8 weeks to cycle all the groups through the computers.
I'm sure the classroom computers don't have Flash installed. I'll have
to talk to Mrs. T. about getting it installed.
I'm a little worried about some of the sites I've selected for my students
to use in the WebQuest. If any of those sites are not working for some
reason, the students will have a hard time completing the WebQuest. I'll
have to check the sites before we start work on the WebQuest. If necessary,
I have some back-up sites that we could use in case those sites are "down."
4. A Completed WebQuest includes:
- all the elements are there at least in draft form (intro, task,
process, roles, resources, assessment, conclusion)
- completed teaching guide linked to first page
- all internal links work and there are no obviously missing images