Webpage

This is my first time creating a webpage from scratch. And unfortunately, my computer doesn't have dreamweaver or publisher, and I'm too cheap to buy them. So I tried Nvu, a free website creator. I found it to be very difficult to get the formatting the way I wanted it. It was tough to get text to look nice wrapping around pictures. I also had trouble setting up the publishing to an ftp. So after about an hour of frustration and disgust, I remember my wife had won some kind of software at the eTech Ohio Conference. So I asked her where it was, and it ended up being another web creator, one called WebBlender 2. So I gave it a shot. I was very happy with the program. It was extremely easy to use. You could insert text boxes anywhere and pictures where ever you like. It was also very easy to add new pages, and create internal and external links. It was also very easy to publish my webpage to my ftp. I would recommend it, if dreamweaver and frontpage are unavailable.

Here is the programs website:
http://www.tech4learning.com/webblender/index.html
Here is the one I created with it:
http://portfolio.educ.kent.edu/orisa/publish/index.html

Podcast Assignment

Since I decided to do my podcast as part of the professional development for our school, I wanted to do one that teachers would need clear, precise directions for, and something that they could listen to for help, like a tutorial. So I remember last year, we did an in service on how to build a webpage through the school's web page. I did the in service, having all of the teachers on a computer in the lab, and having them go through all of the individual steps of how to build their own classroom web page. We had exactly 1:30 to go through all of the various steps, and needless to say, it took us about 15 just to get everyone logged in and to the right spot. We went through it quick, but covered everything as indepth as we could in our time frame. It ended up quite successful, seeing that all of our teachers had a basic web page by the end of it. But if they have questions about one of the steps, they always call or email me (like I told them they could), but I thought it might be easier if they could just relisten to what I directly them to do the first time. So here is my podcast on how to build a web page on Grand Valley's homepage.

http://portfolio.educ.kent.edu/orisa/index/podcastproject.wav

Decisions

I have decided that my instructional website is going to be a teacher resource page. It will contain all of the information that we use for professional development at my school. Last year, we did many interesting professional development topics on technology. Like PowerPoint, accessing the "success" website on O.D.E., etc. And at the end of this past school year, I was nominated to chair the professional development committee. So in light of my new responsibility, I thought it would be nice to a web page that the teachers could use to find everything that we did in our extended day in service, as well as additional and other important information that our committee comes across. And since I am going to focus my attention towards that, I have also decided that my podcast will do be on one of the professional development topics that we have done, or are planning on doing this year.

WebQuest Done

I used one of the WebQuest templates off of the San Diego website to create the first draft of my WebQuest. It was the one-page WebQuest that has the links at the very top of the page. After getting feedback, I decided that it wasn't easy enough to navigate between the different steps. So instead of using another template, I decided to create my own on Microsoft PowerPoint. Each step I made a slide, and linked them all together with as navigation part of screen. Now on each part, you can quickly select a link to get to another step in the WebQuest. Plus, creating my own was much more meaningful than using a template. Take a look for yourself.

My Design:
http://portfolio.educ.kent.edu/orisa/index/gvwebquest.htm

The Template:
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/templates/lesson-template1.htm

WebQuest Nearing Completion

With the WebQuest due date quickly approaching, things are starting to really come together nicely for my "Building a Flower Bed" WebQuest. In 6th grade we only cover perimeter, area, and volume of basic shapes. So I decided to give my students a choice on what shape of flower bed they wanted to build, circular or rectangular. I figured this would make it more of review from topics that they already knew. Also, when comparing their flower beds with others, they would be calculating the same amount of material. Since I gave them the choices, I wanted to give them a visual of what they would look like in front of the sign. It is important for them to visualize 3-d shapes, since that is another standard covered in sixth grade.

WebQuest Underway

I did a WebQuest about 6 years ago as an undergrad. We did it in a group of 5 and split up the duties. As I start to create my own WebQuest, I am finding it more difficult than I remember. Not so much how to create one, but finding the appropriate webpages to take my kids to. I am having them plan to build a flower bed. I thought I would start them by researching how to do it and the necessary steps that it takes. But, as I looked for resources, I couldn't find any that I felt wouldn't completely turn off sixth graders from the idea. So instead, I'm going to give them a budget, and have them "shop" online for the materials that they will need. They will have to determine the type of stone, dirt, weed barrier, and flowers that they would like to use. They will present (in the form of a scale drawing poster) their plan to the Board of Education.

WebQuest

After much deliberation between creating a WebQuest for my current math classroom, my future computer classroom, or for our teachers as part of our professional development, I've decided to do it for my current math classroom. For a WebQuest, you need to have a specific goal and task, and a "cover story." Out of my three options, I think a math WebQuest would be the most appropriate choice.

Last year, I created a worksheet for my math students where they had to "build a flower bed," well really just do the math calculations needed to build a flower bed. It only took one day and was a review of many of our Academic Content Standards. It covered choosing the correct measure (perimeter, area, surface area, or volume), calculating geometric measurement, and algebra to calculate how much it would cost. I figured that I could take this worksheet, and turn it into a WebQuest that the students could really be engaged in. The "cover story" will be that they were selected to landscape for the school, and they would have to design a flower bed. They will have to research the cost of all of the items needed to build a flower bed, research what type of flower they would like to plant, and make a scale drawing of their flower bed.

Technology Classroom

In response to the recent comments:

In the past, the computer classes at Grand Valley Middle School weren't setup to effectively. Students in grades 5-8 would have their computer class 1 time a week for the entire year. This made it difficult for the computer teacher to really dive deep into anything. Instead, he was forced to do very small projects. Sometimes, depending on the school schedule with days off, he wouldn't see students for two or three weeks. Starting next year, students in grades 5-8 will have computer class everyday for a nine weeks. This will really change the dynamics of the class. So hopefully when I take over, the schedule will still be that way.

I have a coy of Academic Content Standards for Technology, but unfortunantely it is still in my classroom back at school. So thanks Megan for posting the link for them. I'll have to take a look at them and see if I can find anything that strikes a cord with me. I'm sure I can use the technology standards to make something fairly basic to get me started, and then update it closer to the time that I would use it in the class room.

1st Week

Well, we are half way through the first week of class. So far, I have been thinking a lot about what I would like to do some of my projects on. I am going into my fifth year of teaching sixth grade math. But after next year, I am moving into our middle school technology position. I really want to make a WebQuest and a WebPage that are going to be very useful in my classroom. So I am not exactly sure which subject to build them around. I feel that if I do them for my math class, then they will only get used for one year. But, if I do it for my technology class, then I could use them for possibly many. The only downfall is, I don't know EXACTLY what I am going to be coving when I teach computers. I am leaning towards doing my WebQuest and WebPage for my technology class, but I open to any suggestions!

Getting Started

This is my first post to my blog. Check back soon for continual updates.