Thing #24: Online Gaming

As students and I wrap up our unit on Global Issues, I was very surprise and excited that some of my student have learned or heard about the Darfur genocide. It is amazing how good discussion can happen if students have background knowledge about certain topics-perhaps you're thinking what does this have to do with "online gaming"- well most of the students have played an online game called " Darfur". I was surprised that there was such a game and wonder what it was all about-

I searched Google for online games and found the game called 'Darfur". It gives the player 7 characters to select, varying in age, gender- the task is to forge for water without being captured by the rebel soldiers. It was quite a tough game and I believe that every character I played was captured and taken to a government camp- I'm not sure how students did with this game but I am definitely not a gamer!

Thing # 8 Dribbling Lessons

I don't really have students reflect on their projects, so I have incorporated the dribbling lesson of self-evaluation and peer evaluation in their project. For the freshmen class we talked about self- evaluation and what they would to to help improve their global issue project. I also included questions in their final presentation where they will reflect on their projects.

My juniors and I will go over the peer evaluation component of the lesson on Thursday as we have students present their work on Minnesota' s history. I took the worksheet sample from Leslie Preddy and I will adjust a few item on the worksheet- then I will make copies for students as they evaluate each other during their presentations. Also, each student will have to complete their own self-evaluation worksheet that I also took from Leslie Preddy.

I'm so glad that there's so much great lessons and worksheets for us to use to help with the research process.

Thing #21 YouTube and More

I posted a blog about Youtube before but as I am using it more, I have to say that students have so much to say about teachers and Youtube:

-I thought we couldn't use it in school
-can we listen to a music video after this video?
-you have to pause the video and let it load for a few minutes before uploading it for us to watch
-I can't believe that my teacher is using Youtube!

I really feel uncomfortable using the Youtube website, because I'm never sure what will pop out as the most watched video- so what I did was create a blog for my class and upload the Youtube video form there- as Linda suggested to me, always do the prep work before you show Youtube- I'm not able to upload Youtube videos to my urban planet website- if anyone knows how to do it, please let me know!

I'm not sure if anyone has used TeacherTube, I find it more difficult finding video clips- I was looking for a video clip of Darfur but I couldn't find anything that I could use in class, I went back to Youtube and found a good clip which I posted here on the site. Perhaps TeacherTube is still fairly new and has less materials? I'm not sure!

Thing #7 Students Using the Research Calculator

Students are finding that the day to day reminders are helpful and they like the categorizing of steps- of course they fell overwhelm because they have to answer questions for the research calculator and my questions as well. I was wondering if there is a way for teachers to put the calculator on our website and add our own criteria on the calculator? Or is it only available through sponsored sites?

I would like to have students try to use it more often if I can add more information and requirements and adjust the schedule. I know one of our colleague did a great job adjusting their schedule, so I used what he did and created my own guidelines, but it would be great to have it online.

Thing #6 Research Project Calculator

I find it helpful using the research project calculator. I'm doing a project on Minnesota's History in the 11th grade US History class and I used the calculator as a guideline to help figure out where to start. I like many of the probing questions and I appreciate the rubrics.

I'm having problems adjusting the research calculator to fit what I want to have done- it seems too general and I'm not sure if I would have enough time to complete what I need. I'm wondering if teachers feel the same way. I decided to use some of the reflection questions and a few of the probing questions. But then I went back to allowing students to pick topics instead of asking questions. I also wrote my own questions because I wanted students to have more specific guidelines.

The project is due today this week and I will share student's experience and project on one of my next blogs.

Thing #15 : Collaboration

I am thankful for our PLC's collaboration with Linda. I feel that through this collaboration effort I have support and new ideas to share with my students. I will share a few things from my classes:
- students now use our reliable online resource website more often than before
-my students are now aware of Google and more reliable sources
-the cached button has proved very helpful for all, a lot of my SPED students use it as well
-research seems more like a part of our class now, before it was more of a problem
-students are finally remembering that they have to cite their sources.

In a small period of time, we have accomplished so much, thanks to Linda and our collaboration effort!