Planning Phase

So this past Monday GE had Spring Break, but Ms. M was going to be at school anyways getting things done, so I got to go in and work with her on our webquest. We had a great time, were really productive and I think are feeling a lot better having nailed out the details of it all. It was great to work on something I am going to teach in a specific space with specific materials in that space. We just pulled a few laptops out and camped out in her room and then went to the classroom with the smartboard I'll be using and practiced on the smart board.

So these 5th graders were already exposed to webquests in the last two weeks because the science teacher and MS. M decided to do a webquest on "light" to get them used to using the materials and working in pairs and to somewhat have a trial run with things (which really benefits me). She said that she was really impressed with how well things worked and how much she enjoyed learning as she worked through it. "Once the quest is planned, the kids really take over, as long as it is well done" and she assured me several times that it was a huge success.

So instead of making a webquest that is actually a website, we are making it in a word doc format and putting it on the school server for the students to access. The links to the internet are embedded within the word document and lead the students to the internet. This way they will work their way through it and once they are finished with a website they close the window and go back to the word doc. The students will be working in a pair - and each pair will have a team number. The students will work side by side on two computers. They will have a "captains" log that will lead them through the sites on somewhat of a trip (day by day) that is hard copy and they will work on as a packet. We discussed many of the kinks of hte plan - having multiple copies of things in different places so that we can (in a foolproof way) access it, and also discussed the need for a Plan B - juuust in case there is a day with the server down. We are thinking we might print out the websites they need and just adapt the activity. It would be a huge bummer - i think - to have a snafu that large on lesson day because some of the sites have the COOLEST videos.

So my job as the "teacher" for that day is to show up early and set up/make sure the technology is already set up and working , and then to lead the students in a whole group setting to introduce the whole thing. I am going to be up infront of them all on the Smart board. I am going to:
1) Introduce myself and tell them what we are doing
2) Show and read and explain the objectives - both content and language objectives
3) Show them the log they are going to use
4) Do a brief walk through of the quest
5) answer any questions and help with trouble shooting ahead of time (preventative)

The quest is broken down into into "days" that the students (as captains) are going to be traveling and on each "day" they need to find information and put it into their log a certain way (either as fill in the blank, drawing and labeling pictures they see on the screen on paper and also giving us a little bit of opinion). The part of the quest I am not necessarily going to be present for but that is also going with this is the pre and post assessment that I am creating from the websites and that Ms. M is going to give them before and after the quest to show their progress with the information. I am thinking True/False questions that really hit at those SOLS they ned to get down and seeing how they do and if they change how they feel about things.

I am also going to be actively involved in walking around and helping all of them navigate throughout the lesson and seeing how things are going. I feel like the activity is structured enough that they will feel like they know what is expected of them but also will make them feel like they are "freely" roaming the internet for this information. Also, in terms of my ESL students there are lots of visuals and supports for them to do well. We are thinking about letting them pick their partners also.

Working with the smart board was incredible. I have been waiting to get my hands on one for such a long time that it felt good to give it a shot. I got to plug it in, set up the equipment and calibrate the screen in order to use it. I worked on so many different things - touching it with my finger (it's a bit of a trick), using the pen, the mouse, scrolling down and learning how to pull up the keyboard to type.

Ms. M was brilliant enough to think to troubleshoot with it - we pretended that one of the students walked into the stand the projector was on and I spent a few minutes figuring out how to fix it and re-calibrate it. It was really great to get used to using it and I HOPE that it goes well on Thursday when Dennis comes to watch me .

Other than that it was a matter of getting organized - working out kinks with Ms. M and figuring out what I have left for this class. I am not going to lie, it feels great to be in the home stretch. :)

Wish me luck on Thursday - off to plan the assessments!