Overview: I feel this class has given me many useful tools that will help me as an educator. Each assignment has enhanced my ability to do tasks. I have prepared many lesson plans, but now know how to wrap text and insert graphics. One of the most valuable lessons for me was how to create spreadsheets. I had very limited knowledge of how to use spreadsheets, but now I can use spreadsheets to keep my grade book. Personally as a coach the use of spreadsheets will also help me organize and manage my youth softball team. The power point lesson helped me create presentations that include links to steaming videos. I have used power points in the past, but have had some issues with the video not working or freezing up. I now have a better way to format and include video clips. Our last assignment, creating a webquest, is something I have done with my students, but I have used other teacher-created webquests. I now have the ability to create my own and customize them to what I need my students to learn. Lastly, in this class I had the ability to work with other teachers, through that collaboration I gained so much. As far as grad classes that I have taken, this class was one of the most useful. I am a very hand on learner and the set up of this class was very beneficial to my learning style.
Title: Assignment #1 – Lesson Plan
The lesson plan I created was based on a lesson that would be taught to my eleventh grade history students. The lesson was on the Progressive Era, specifically on the Muckrakers and their impact on the Progressive Era. The lesson included Goals and Benchmarks. This is the base of all of my lessons; I feel it is important to set the goals and have a benchmark set at the beginning of the lesson and to inform the students of those. I also have a Quote or Question of the day – this is to help student’s access prior knowledge. I used the format I always use to create a lesson plan, but I gained knowledge in class that helped me create a better lesson plan. I learned how to insert graphics, wrap text and some other formatting skills that enhanced my lesson.
Link: Please Click Here to View My Lesson Plan
Title: Assignment #2 – Spreadsheet
The spreadsheet I created was a grade book for one unit of study for my eleventh grade U.S. History class. The grades were from homework, class work and a unit test. I learned how to use function to find the average I also learned how to graph my results. I feel this lesson was the most beneficial to me. I had used a traditional grade book before that I had to figure grades with a calculator. Now using a spreadsheet to keep my grades I can give my students feedback as to how they are doing in my class on a daily basis. I can quickly figure averages for all grades or have it broken down by unit, homework, class work, quizzes or tests. I feel this way I give my students a more comprehensive understanding of what they need more help on.
Title: Assignment #3 – Powerpoint – Group Project
For this assignment I worked with two of my colleagues to create a power point presentation. We created a power point that would be used in both a tenth grade Algebra and a Global History classroom. We utilized streaming video, music, text and graphics to create lessons on Archimedes impact on math and history. We enjoyed working together and have tried to find other lessons that we can create interdisciplinary lessons on.
Link:Please Click Here to View My Power Point
Title: Assignment #4 – WebQuest
Again I worked with my colleagues to create an interdisciplinary webquest. We created a webquest with lessons for eleventh grade students in math and U.S. history. We used a unit on Immigration. In math class students used statistics, survey taking and graphing skills. In U. S. history class students learned about particular areas of immigration during different time periods. Students also learned to read census reports and researched family history in order to create a family tree. I have used webquests in my class before but never created on from scratch that customized what I wanted my students to know and be able to do.
