Pros/Cons Sheet for Webquest

Pros/Cons Worksheet

Environmental & Physical

PRO CON

Built in one area Farms

Less damage A lot of trees need to be cut down

Not a lot of trees Middle of nowhere

Built near major road Not a lot of people will use it

Has a purpose Over a river (must build a bridge too)

No animal habitat Two areas are affected

Animals may live there

Cultural Effects

PRO CON

Easier to drive Costs more money

More people will go shopping Take longer to build

Can use the same stop lights and signs Need new lights and signs

No new houses will be built People will build houses on side of road

Less traffic

Label and Feature List

List of Features and Labels

1. Road Names
2. Roads
3. Legend
4. Scale
5. Grid
6. Terrain
7. Latitude
8. Longitude
9. Placemark Option A
10. Placemark Option B
11. Title
12. Compass Rose

FiB Chapter 10

Although I really liked the idea of a Week Without Walls (teaching students through projects outside the classroom), I felt the most important part of chapter ten was providing internship opportunities to students during the summer months.
By providing internships teachers are both allowing students to experience real world situations and providing them a scenario where education is applicable. This is essential for students to begin to realize the value of their schooling, as well as showing them some of the opportunities that different subject areas can create. More importantly, it gives students an experience that will probably change their lives and better help prepare them for life beyond graduation.

FiB Chapter 9

I had somewhat of an “ah-ha” moment while reading chapter nine. This occurred when I came across a heading that stated: Don’t judge your success by whether students like you. I feel that this is a valuable piece of advice that too few teachers really take to heart.
The students voiced their opinions that a teacher’s main job is to teach and that students will respect and appreciate that teacher if they are learning. This is important because obviously someone in the teaching profession cares about their students and wants them to appreciate, respect, and genuinely like them as a person. Hearing students say that as long as you are doing your job it does not matter was really an eye-opener. I think Vance said it best when he stated that as long as you do your job, the bond you are seeking with students will develop on its own.

FiB Chapter 8

Being someone who can only speak English teaching ELL students would probably be my most difficult task as a teacher. Two students (Rafael and Elaine) both emphasized the importance of being patient and allowing time for students to full comprehend and respond to new material.

This jumped out at me because my family is currently living with a foreign exchange student from Korea, and she informed us that the hardest part about school is reading English and than translating it into her foreign language. This takes considerable time, thus the expectations for ELL students must be somewhat lowered and allowed revisions, redrafts, and extensions. However, several students pointed out the fact that as teachers we should expect the best out of our students, and keep our expectations in line with those for the rest of the class. The only difference is we must allow for time and revisions to help them along the way. An important fact to remember: they are studying both social studies AND English; this applies to every single class they have!

FiB Chapter 7

I found two concepts in chapter seven that I think are linked and are extremely important, if not essential, for student motivation and appreciation of social studies. The first was focusing on big ideas or themes, and the second was asking open-ended questions to encourage debate and student interaction.

A subject as broad and plentiful as history or geography truly needs to be narrowed down into main themes, big ideas, or important questions. If the material is presented in such a manner that encourages interaction students will leave caring about history, recognizing its relevance in today’s society, and may even end up liking it. The examples of slavery and pilgrims were great because they showed the complex relationships between two different groups of people and how their environments shaped their mindsets. By learning this students can better understand history and develop their own ideas as to how we can avoid letting history repeat itself (one of the main important aspects students mentioned in the book). This turns social studies into a relevant subject that holds true importance, rather than a stereotypical class where memorization of dates and names has been stressed.

FiB Chapter 6

Provide role models to inspire us. I could not agree more, because most of the causes for unmotivated students are that they do not see the relevance to life that their subject is teaching besides earning a diploma.

I immediately began to think of way I could do this in my classroom. I thought of bringing in a holocaust survivor, someone who served in Vietnam or a person who is in a high paying job related to geography. However, I believe that the most effective method would be to ask former students to come back to the class and explain how learning the material helped better prepare them for both college and the “real world.” This would be an effective method because it would display the importance of learning (and thus success) in the classroom by bringing in someone who had the class, that knows the students, and can serve as a positive local role model that can truly relate to their experiences.

Fib Chapter 5

Chapter five was insightful because it showed the importance of full student involvement, something I have been attempting (and have been mostly successful at) during my three weeks of practicum teaching. While some students raise their hands and answer questions all the time, it is important to include that student who may only raise their hand once or twice a class because those may be the only opportunities they have to participate.

I have been constantly trying to involve the entire class in responses to questions during class. When I see a student raise their hand that normally doesn’t, I make a full effort to call on that student. The most important part of this method is to be observant and know your students strengths and weaknesses. Getting a correct answer often boosts student’s self-esteem and thus creates a better learning environment in the classroom. In turn, their motivation has also increased, even if they truly dislike the subject you are teaching.

FiB Chapter 4

Chapter four reminded me of the WHERETO design that we are implementing in our lesson plans. I found that revising is extremely important to creating your best work, and many students truly appreciate teachers who allow revisions, require rough drafts, and write helpful comments (even if they are negative) on student work.

This is extremely important to the field I am going into, because much of social studies is complex and confusing. Allowing for revisions would give students the opportunity to present their best product while at the same time allowing students who do not fully understand the new material a chance to revisit it and strengthen their learning. I always hated rough drafts in high school, mostly because I am strong in linguistic intelligence and could type out a good essay in one try. However, in college, both as an educator and learner, I realize the value that revisions have on both student learning and self-esteem.

FiB Chapter 3

While chapter three focused on misbehavior and classroom management, the most surprising and helpful advice I received was actually in the form of ignorance (to an extent). The heading was Don’t Overreact and several students voiced their opinions on this, especially in terms of involving parents or placing blame on the wrong person.

These two comments jumped out for me because I completely agree with them and have experienced similar (even identical) situations through my seven years in middle and high school. Overreacting by placing blame where it is not warranted will ruin the teacher/student relationship. This happened to me when I was accused of fighting and I abruptly transferred schools, a decision that I now sincerely regret. Also, if you involve parents and higher-ups before talking with students it further severs the relationship by acknowledging that students are not mature enough to have a serious conversation about inappropriate actions. The overarching theme that I picked up on is that students are impulsive and do not think long term, thus overreacting to misbehavior can cause drastic consequences on students that in the overall scheme of things are much more damaging than the behavioral problem.

How to Help Someone Use a Computer

I think one of the best rules to tell yourself is "people might be afraid you are going to blame them for the problem." This really hit home because many people are intimidated by technology which in turn makes them self-conscious. If they are afraid you might blame them, they will probably be afraid to ask you for help.
A follow-up with this question is the rule on page 2 regarding placing the blame. The rule states that no matter what always blame the computer, even if you have to show off your ability to "criticize" bad design. This information can be used for any particular software application or source of technology. This would be helpful when teaching students how and when to use e-books because it would encourage them to take risks in order to succeed.

Type I & Type II Technologies

Although both application types are related to the use of technology in the classroom the differences between them are extremely important; especially when deciding which to use for a certain lecture or lesson plan. Type I technologies are those that just help improve traditional teaching methods and are more complimentary in nature. Type II technologies are those which introduce and instruct new ways of teaching, as well as new ways of learning. It is by probably best defined as being innovative in comparison to Type I.

Because the definitions of each type are somewhat broad, listed below are three examples that will better help define the two uses.

Examples of Type I:

1. Using a power point presentation to compliment lecture material.

2. The use of a computer to help plan lessons more efficiently.

3. The use of a slide show to exemplify the lesson.

Examples of Type II:

1. Introducing and instructing students with new types of technology, including blogs, e-books, or Google Earth.
2. Engaging students hands-on in computer-based activities (not including Oregon Trail).
3. Allowing students to take modern commodities, such as an iPod or Pocket PC, and use them as a tool on a school project.

**Remember, the main difference between Type I & II is that type I is traditional and student-passive, while type II is more aggressive and hands-on in its student engagement.

FiB Chapter 2 QR

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 2 QR

Throughout both chapters the book stressed the importance of a questionnaire as an effective tool for educators to learn about their students. What surprised me was the feedback from Lauraliz on page 20, where she said she enjoyed it when the teacher fills out the questionnaire as well. I wholeheartedly agreed with her.
By participating in such an activity you are building that level of comfort that will allow for better learning and more student engagement in the classroom. It also enables the teacher to build rapport with students without forcing relationships. This is in turn makes you seem more trustworthy, fair, and approachable; especially if your responses are funny and allow students to laugh at you. This seems like it would greatly releive any tension or anxiety that the students may have.

FiB Chapter 1 QR

Fires in the Bathroom, Chapter 1 QR

While reading chapter one I was immediately enthralled by a single sentence on page twelve: “Take ten minutes out of class to ask students to write down what they do in a typical day, from the time they wake up to when they go to sleep.” I not only completely agree with this statement but think this is a fantastic exercise that can be used in the classroom.
By allowing students to create a personalized schedule it would allow me as an educator to be more aware of student’s personal lives and time constraints. It also enables me to obtain this information without having to force relationships or rapport with the students. I really think that this would allow for them to be comfortable knowing that I understand how busy students are but did not force them to tell me anything. Also, if the exercise occurred without the students knowing than their answers would be more thoughtful and truthful.

Copyright and Fair Use LR

I strongly disagree with the answer for question number eight. I was rather surprised that students were not allowed do download from file sharing but “educators” could as long as they used discretion. I must be missing the point because I truly do not see the difference: education is both teaching AND learning. Through our brief readings of both multiple intelligences and UbD/DI we are being told that each student has individual learning patterns, as well as different areas of strengths and weaknesses. How is it alright for the instructor to download and use such material but not for a student in his class? Student use is just as educational as teacher use, and a pupil with musical/rhythmic intelligence would highly benefit from being allowed to use such materials for a school project. This is especially true if the use occurs in middle or high school setting, where it is essential that the student develop and enhance their intelligence.

Copyright and Fair Use SR

1.) How many copies are allowed be to “archival”? I wonder if it has to be done in the library or by a librarian; that piece of information was rather unclear. I am curious as to whether these back-up copies have to apply to the same simultaneous use rules as the software programs in questions two and three.

7.) Apparently as long as a you have a password protected site it is okay to violate copyright laws. This seems very sketchy to me. Is it because the material is not being distributed to a wider audience, or does the password validate that it is for educational use only?

9.) Was I supposed to know that MP3.com pays for their archives? It seems only a technology or musical buff would have that sort of knowledge prior to taking the quiz. How do you know whether or not sites pay for such archives? Is it posted somewhere, perhaps on their homepage or FAQ section?

13.) I would like to see the signed permission of the interviewee and whether or not he thought his participation would be used in more than one classroom. However, I do suppose once you grant permission that information is out there and can no longer be controlled.

14.) I strongly agree that you should not be able to broadcast Disney movies during a PTA meeting. The whole concept and point of fair use was educational use. Since the children are out of the classroom, and the purpose is to keep them quiet and entertained, this is clearly a violation of copyright laws.


17.) I should really hope so! What would the world be coming to if we needed copyright permission to snap a photograph of our environment? When a house is built it is not copyrighted, nor is a business or landmark. Something would seriously be wrong if they were.

19.) “Using pieces of a song and analyzing them as a reflection of the times students live in.” How broad and unclear are these statements? You can not use songs, but it is alright to use parts of a song, but only if the parts are analyzed and reflected upon. If a project such as a yearbook is neither instructional nor educational than either ban or allow the use of music.

20.) Would the school be allowed to post the CD-ROM online and allow for free downloads, or is that still considered wider distribution? As I understand, copyright laws main purpose is to protect from reproduction of authentic material for monetary gain. If they are only selling the CD’s to cover production costs, is this really profit?