My contributions to the WebQuest wikis

I have made three contributions to the class wiki page. I have uploaded three seperate webquest which I looked over and thought were very good examples of webquest and I believe that the process in these three webquests is done very well. I think that these changes to the class wiki page will help the class coming in because they can acutally read through and have good examples of webquests. These webquest can help students to understand where they are going in this class and be able to actualyl visualize a final product.

Copyright and Fair Use LR

A coordinator installs the one copy of Photoshop the school owns on a centeral server so students are able to access it from their classroom work stations. I was very surprised that this didn't violate the copy right laws because it allows for more then on person to use it at the same time. I believe that this is similar to showing a movie in class. I support the fact that it is allowed if it is distributed by the serve because that allows for schools to use more software as educational purposes. I agree that it is able to do this, however I believe if schools can get in trouble for not enforcing simultaneous use then this needs to be explained in deatail which people understand. There are many copy right laws which help schools educate students and I believe that this is one which is helpful to the schools system. I support and agree with this law and believe that if teachers are given this privilage it is important that they do the work and follow through with their end of the law.

Copyright and Fair Use SR

I was very surprised that teachers are allowed to make copies of their CDs incase something happens to them. I was also surprised that the yearbook wasn't able to use the music on their slide show because this is done often by many schools. I believe that this is a hard law to follow for many people because music almost always goes with a slide show. I agree that students can use pictures in their projects or school work if they have taken them from around town. I was very surprised with the disney movie charging 25 dollars for them to show the video. I believe that this is weird and I think that simple permission should be enough. I was upset that teachers at the elementary school are allowed to post the students work. I see the copyright being okay beacuse it is protected, but i disagree that teachers can post students work I believe that is copying the students. I was unaware that teachers are allowed to get pictures off the wed and use them as resources in their classroom. This makes sense and I agree that if anything is reposted on the wed then they need to get permission from the people who hold the copy right. I am surprised that teachers aren't able to make copies of CDs if there are more students then CDs. This makes sense and I agree with the fact that only number of CDs owned is the amount of students who can use it at once.

Chapter 10 Going Beyond the Classroom

"Many academic concepts come alive when presented in a context outside of school."(176). Teachers who are able to bring the lessons outside of the classroom and can do hands on activities have a higher rate of participation. This stands out because when the material grabs attention and can relate to real life students are more willing to pay attention. Academic concepts can be related to outside of school it just requires extra thinking on behalf of the teacher.

In high school I always remember the hands on experiences of the events which were related to my life personally. I know that when we learned outside of the classroom it was much easier to tak in information and to maintain focus on the material. I believe that this applies to almost all students and when it can be personally related to ones life they have more reason to learn the information.

Chapter 9 When Things Go Wrong

"In their first year or two especially, teachers struggle to find the right balance between maintaining their authority and letting students know they care about them." (167). This quote jumped out at me because this has been one of my main concerns. I am worried about trying to care for my students and teaching them at the same time. I am very concerned with what is going on in peoples lives and I understand what it is like when there are other things on peoples minds. I believe that finding this balance can be extremely challenging and that sometimes it can deter teachers from actually teaching students. I know that this would be my most difficult part of teaching and that adapting to this would be frustrating.

I know first hand that when there are other things on your mind it is nearly impossible to focus and pay attention in class. Sometimes it is important for teachers to understand where you are coming from and allowing you the time needed to figure things out. I believe that when I was in high school and teachers gave me this extra time or help I was much more successful. I believe that I would struggle because I would want to provide the same atmosphere I was giving in high school.

Chapter 8 Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English

"Listen carefully to discover what we need help with."(157). Children who are speaking English as a second language are already struggling with learning. This quote stuck out to me because it is important to know what exactly the students need help with. Helping students accomplish things which they have already accomplished is useless and it waste time which can be used towards accomplishing new goals. Understanding where the student is coming from and pin pointing their weaknesses helps to ensure further achievement.


I have never experienced English as a second language, however I believe that it is important to help them with their weaknesses. I believe when you can target a weakness then it helps to strengthening and improve this weakness. With these improvements happening it helps to push for further academic achievement in the classroom. These are all positive qualities which occur in the high school classroom which help to further development.

Chapter 7 Teaching difficult academic material

"But if the teacher supports teenagers in proving their strength, ability, and independence through demanding intellectual action, kids can experience the adventure and excitement of an expedition into new territory." (123). This quote helps to point out things teachers are able to do to their students. When teachers can prove students strengths and help point out their abilities it allows the student to gain confidence and self esteem in certain subject areas. When students are sure of themselves they are much more likely to share ideas and talk about their point of view among the class. This helps to create a comfortable environment for the students.

When teachers are capable of pointing out students strenghts it helps to encourage them to keep learning. I remember when my high school teachers used to point out the good and positive points and it really encouraged me to push myself harder. When I actually experience as if I had accomplished something I had an amazing feeling inside. When I had accomplished things in high school and was able to see the results it made me that much more eager to try and experiment with new things.

Chapter 6 motivation and boredom

"Passionate teachers. A teacher who cares about both the material and the students has an enormous effect on how much students care about learning"(103). This quote is very accurate, teachers who show a true passion for what they are teaching will gain better respect and students who are more eager to learn. When teachers know the material and have different ways in explaining it students can gain from and succeed better, instead of just one way. Students are willing to learning teachers just need to find a way to present the material in an appealing manner.



As a high school graduate I believe that many teachers can have a successful classroom if they are passionate about their materials. When teachers know the material the best they possibly can it encourages students to want to learn it also. Teachers have full power to determine if the subject is interesting or boring and relating the material to every day life helps to get students engaged and focused on the material.

Chapter 5 Teaching to the individual, working with the group

This chapter had several valid points, however what stood out to me most was "Getting all kinds of students to open up in class creates an atmosphere where they can learn together even through they may have different academic backgrounds"(89). It is very important for teachers to reach children at all different levels. When the teacher is able to reach everyone is when the class starts to expand, grow, and develop together. Learning together is a part of life and people will have to work with other people throughout their entire lives so it is important to understand different learning styles and different points of view.

I believe that the classrooms which were most successful in my high school career
were the classes which included everyone and got every ones attention. The more my classmates put their input into conversation the more other students could feed off of and add to. Someones ideas can turn into goals and reality when everyone is contributing. When students open ideas to other students it helps for the classroom to gain knowledge and see others point.

Chapter 4 Creating a Culture of Success

"Teachers can help by encouraging students' to contribute to building on each other, so that learning becomes the whole group's task."(70). I enjoyed this quote and thought that it is very important to have the students give their feedback. This helps to get students thinking about the subject and also allows them to hear different view points on the idea. When students are talking out loud in class it helps to keep everyone engaged and interested in the material.


This quote made me think back to high school and the classes which I enjoyed the most. The classes which everyone was involved with projects and group conversations seemed to go by the fastest and also were more enjoyable at the time. Learning the material seemed simple and easy because conversation just flowed between the students and the teacher. These contributions help to get people thinking of different perspectivies and allows insight to different thoughts on the matter. Talking and contributing in class is crucial and helps for a better understanding of the material.

Chapter 3 Classroom Behavior

In chapter three there were two questions which grabbed my attention. These two questions included "Are you genuinely interested in who we are and what we already know?" and " Do you treat us with respect, in both personal and academic matters?" (37). These two questions show a teachers general concern for students and it shows that they really want students to succeed in the classroom. When teachers show respect and show the students they believe in them and want them to be successful students will be more willing to push themselves.

This part of the reading jumped out at me because I don't believe that all teachers think these questions over. I believe that some teachers are not interested in what we already know and what happens in our personal lives. When I look back at high school teachers who knew the students and cared about where they came from tended to have a higher success rate in their classrooms. It is important to have a balance between what the some students already know, and other students who have not been exposed to the information.

Web 2.0 Educator

I picked Wesley Fryer to read and write about. He is an expert in digital learning. The first blog I read about explained about virtually guest speaking in the college classroom. There is a bureau of virtual speakers called MERLOT which stands for Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. He explained that this is where people can go to register to be virtual speakers and can tag their speach here for teachers to use in the classroom. Wesley supports MERLOT and is excited to learn more about it in the future. Wesley Fryer talked about emails are not private. He explained that emails can be forwarded to many people and posted. Emails can also be used against school systems by law and can cause many problems. It is important that if there is a touch issue meet face to face and discuss it. I support and agree with this and I believe that many people forget they are on the internet and almost anyone has access to what is out there. It is essential to keep things positive and only say what you mean especially in emails or online. A no screens afternoon is taking away technology and just enjoying the things around you. Wesley did this one sunday afternoon and he realized that it was a very positive experience. I believe that it is very important to take time away from computer, tv, games, and work to just enjoy the people around you and do activities together. I believe that overall he was very informed about technology and I enjoyed reading about what he had to say.

Type I and Type II Technology

Type I technology is applications of technology that teach traditional ways which you can’t expand your horizons of teaching different methods. Some forms of Type I technology would be a simply device such as a calculator. This helps students do both simple and complex forms of math. The calculator assists in many different areas in math, but also allows the teacher to teach the same way they would without using a calculator. I remember always using a calculator, but also knowing the steps to do the work out on paper. This is important because when calculators aren’t available it is import to be able to continue doing the work. Another kind of type I technology would be television. Television can help to explain a lesson in different words and it can help with visual learners, but it doesn’t help expand the horizons of teaching. The last example of type I technology is a CD player. This helps for the musical people in the classroom, but it doesn’t further the children’s knowledge of learning.
Type II technology would be computer programs or computers when used in the proper way. Computers can really help to enhance and bring a lesson to life. Computers have unlimited possibilities it is just important for teachers to get the proper training. Another type II would be certain computer programs such as excel. This can be helpful and has multiple ways of helping in the classroom. The last type II technology would be the internet. The internet has millions of web pages which are filled with useful information and when used properly can open doors to new learning strategies and information.

My MEL experiences

Environment- Helping students succeed. Back in high school my stats teacher was extremely hard on students. She expected nothing but the best from everyone. Although this class was extremely challenging and she made you do work over and over again she provided almost all of her time day in and day out for students to come get extra help. If someone missed a class she would devote 45 minutes of her time to go over what happened in class and she would make sure that the student understood everything prior to leaving the class. The environment which she provided for us was steady across the board and everyone felt that she pushed us equally as hard.

Experience- Hands on Experience. In my Chemistry class the teacher would always try to follow her lesson up with an experiment or hands on activities. The activities and experiments which we did in the class further explained the lessons and were easier to remember when taking tests and quizzes that activities always jumped back into my head.

Experience- Learning Styles experience- The best history class which I have ever been in was back in 8th grade. My teacher came up with an idea to dissect the song We Didn’t Start The Fire by Billy Joel. The classes which followed not only taught us a lot about history, but also the writing incorporated English too. This class was not only fun, but a great learning experience and I will always remember singing and dancing around the classroom with all of my peers.

Interests- motivation interests- Teachers have all different ways to motivate their students, but sometimes the best way is grabbing the student’s interest. When students are forced to take classes which don’t appeal to them it is already challenging. The teacher can help make it easier by making the class interesting and tying in life experiences to gain interest. One of my science teachers did this in high school and it made the class that much more enjoyable.

Meaning- Connections- When students can connect the learning to real life or can connect it with past classes it is more enjoyable to learn. In high school as the classes in math continued to get more and more difficult it was always reassuring to look back and see how past classes are helping you understand the material in the more difficult math classes. In math everything builds on top of each other and it gives significant value to even the most simple math problems.

Chapter 2 Respect, Liking, Trust, and Fairness

In Chapter two I found this quote stick out the most “Students say that if a teacher sets a steady example of fairness and respect, they respond positively whether or not they like a teacher personally” (17). Students need a positive role model to look up to. When teachers have respect and show it in the classroom students are more likely to respond in a positive manner.


This part of the reading stood out because thinking back to high school I always looked up to authoritative figures. Regardless of whether the teachers were fun or whatever I appreciated and respected the teachers who were the most fair and respectful but also demanded respect for themselves. It is important to set a balance between being a fun teacher but also having the respect from the students and the only way you can only get respect from the students is to give them respect.

Chapter 1 Knowing Students Well

After reading the first chapter in Fires in The Bathroom the main thing which I agreed with was “They want teachers to understand the obstacles they face in their everyday lives.” (1). I believe that this is very crucial especially when sometimes teachers don’t know where certain students are coming from. Although it is very difficult to understand where every student is coming from, it is an essential aspect of the teaching profession.


I felt that I could really relate to this statement; knowing where each and every student comes from is a crucial aspect of teaching. Each and every student faces different obstacles day in and day out. An obstacle to one child may seem like nothing to another child. Every person reacts differently to life’s challenges.

Learning Style Inventory Results

After receiving the results of this personality test I came to the conclusion that it was very close to accurate. My top two results were social and physical. These two styles describe my personality extremely well. The results which followed the top two weren’t as accurate as the first two were. I believe that my top style is physical because I have always been an extremely active person and I have always been involved in sports teams. (not proper graph).

Style Scores
Visual
6
Social
16
Physical
12
Aural
4
Verbal
9
Solitary
10
Logical
2


These results were given from learning-styles-online.com