Webquest Magic: Tips to Create Your Own!

I had a lot of fun creating my webquest.  They're a great way to incorporate technology, research skills, and collaboration in your classroom.  Here are some tips to help you create your first webquest!

1. Find a cool template online.  There are really cool webquest formats you can download online that will make it more intriguing to students.

2.  Be realistic about time.  It will require time for students to finish their webquest, so figure out how much time you'd like to spend and create the quest accordingly.

3.  Don't be too tricky.  I hate it when tests, webquests, worksheets, etc. try to trick students.  Make the questions straight forward enough so that they don't loose a ton of time second guessing or re-doing their answers.

4.  Add activity links into your webquest!  Liven up your webquest.  Have students complete these as part of the quest.  If all students are doing is reading a sheet of paper and answering questions, it will grow rather monotonous.

5. Add quotes and/or pictures!  Again, liven this quest up!  Add something more for students to see or read that remove them from the same activity over and over again.

6. Base the direction of your webquest off of the following questions: What is it that you want the learner to know, understand and be able to do at the end of this WebQuest?  What concepts should they understand? What skills should they have?

7. Gauge interest off of your interest.  Let's be real - if you think this webquest is boring, students will definitely think this webquest is boring.

8. Make the introduction attention-grabbing!  If students aren't hooked in the first few seconds doing this webquest, they are not likely to suddenly snap into interest.  The introduction should make students excited about the webquest.
 

9.  Allow students to partner-up.  This is more using the webquest than creating the quest.  However, I'm going to add it anyway... Have students do longer webquests in teams and simply monitor to make sure that one person is not taking on the majority of the work. 

10. Use your resources.  If you need ideas, check out Webquest.org to gain inspiration and find additional tips.  

Any other tips or websites you've found helpful in creating a great webquest?  Post ideas or links below!

Classroom Blog 101: Ten Tips to Get You Started!

A blog can be a great resource for any teacher.  Whether it's a classroom blog for all students, or more informational based for parents, a blog can be a great tool for communication.  Here are ten tips I have on creating and maintaining a good classroom blog.

1.  Find a template or background for free online.  You can use the ones provided with this host site, but it's fun to find cuter, more versatile ones where you really like the look and feel.  Some favorite sites: hotbliggityblog.com, thecutestblogontheblock.com, and shabbyblogs.com. 

2.  Keep it simple to start!  There's no need to add a million pictures or gadgets to your blog, especially when just beginning.  However, feel free to experiment as you grow more confident. 

3.  Keep your blog up to date!  It's no good if you post about a project's due date or try-outs for the Fall musical after the time of these events.  Keep the news current and easily accessible to readers.

4.  Check spelling, grammar, and word-use before publishing - especially as a teacher.  It can be really awkward to explain certain word foul-ups because you didn't proof-read.  Also, you want to appear (and be) professional.

5.  Cite sources!  Just like writing a paper, you need to give credit where credit is due.  If you find a cool idea give a shout out to the source site or a add a link.  If someone else creates an entry, have them include their name if they'd like to.

6.  Save Often.  There's a great auto-saver on blogger, and I rarely have needed to save my work on here.  However, there have been times when something goes wrong and I regretted not saving manually.  So, just to be safe, SAVE.

7.  Get written student AND parent permission to post any students photo or information on a classroom blog.  This is a MUST.  No matter how chill parents may say they are, written permission forms cover you legally in all situations. 

8.  Be careful of what you write on your blog.  You're audience can become those you did not intend it to be, so be cautious.  Also, just be extra cautious of how you write/say certain things.  You could make it a private blog, but that doesn't always work for your class.

9. Use it as your classroom website!  A blog is a great way to communicate with students and parents, and could easily be used as your class site. 

10.  Have students create personal bios for themselves and spotlight a different student each week on your blog!  This would be fun for students, can make a good English or creative writing assignment (so, it may be cross-curricular for you...), and teaches you and the other students in class about the individual.  Again, make sure students and parents are okay with this and sign a written permission form. 

Anyone else have great tips for a classroom blog?

Power Point Show Tips!

So, I found out there's a cool thing you can do to a power point called, Power Point Show. You can record your voice over a power point and it will record your voice over each respective slide so the information matches up. It's really kinda awesome... Here are some tips to make a successful power point show! 

1. If possible, record your voice in a quiet space without background noise. The microphone picks up a lot of noise around you.

2. If possible, use a separate microphone from the one attached to your computer.  This will pick up your voice more clearly and create a better overall sound.  

3.  Don't put too much information on one slide.  Students will just tune out and feel overloaded if there's too much info in a small space.

4.  Keep your font size at 24pt and above.  I've broken this rule from time to time, and it ends up that I break tip #3 and put too much info on one slide... Keeping tips #3 and #4 are to be somewhat simultaneous. 

5. Be cautious of the contrast between words and backgrounds.  Dark words on dark backgrounds don't show up well. 

6.  Use bullet points to make information easier to read.  This will also encourage you to remember that less is often more when creating a power point. 

7.  Use pictures or videos when accessible.  If individuals have to sit and simply read words on a page over and over again, they tend to tune out.  Make the slides more visually appealing and diverse. 

8.  If you have to re-record something, choose the option to start from that slide.  As far as I know, you have to re-record all slides after that as well, so be prepared to keep reading when it moves to the next page. 

9.  Listen to your power point show before showing it to others.  It may not work properly or may include sounds you don't want.  However, you won't know this unless you listen to the project first.

10.  Write out a script before you record.  Make sure you have it printed off before you record if it's typed on your computer because you can't change screens while recording.

Power point show tips?  Don't keep them to yourself - share below!

Windows Movie Maker - Stadium of Fire 2012!

I made a movie today on Windows Movie Maker to let y'all know a bit more about me. It was simple and fairly straight-forward to navigate, though there are not quite as many editing tools as I would like. Check it out below to see my mad WMM skills (as well as ten tips for WMM!) and find out a little bit about what I do when I'm not teaching... Enjoy!


Ten Tips:

1. Create a project folder!  A friend taught me this a few years back... Create a folder for your project and put all files (pictures, videos, mp3s) you'll use for your project into that folder.  Save your project in the same folder!

2. Always save!  This program has a tendency to freeze from time to time, so save after every little thing you finish.

3. Don't overuse any one transition, effect, or phrase/word in your video - this will make it more diverse and keep people's attention.

4.  Use the tutorials!  They're there for a reason and you never know what you could learn.

5. Add narration and music... and here's HOW: WMM only has one audio track for either music or narration, not both simultaneously.  The “work around” is to SAVE the MOVIE as a .WMV video file with either the narration or music, then start a new WMM PROJECT, import the MOVIE you just saved into the new project then add the narration or music to the now empty music/narration track.  Finally, resave the MOVIE again with all the audio.  I stole this from another blog about WMM and it's a GREAT tip!

6. Utilize the credits and titles.  You don't want to overuse anything, but with some of these throughout, it can explanation without extra audio.

7. Reduce the number of program you have open while using this program.  The more programs you have open while this one is open, the more likely it is to crash your project. 

8.  Fade and overlap transitions for a smoother look... Play with it and figure out what looks best, but I find these two options to work really well in most places.

9.  Add some still shots to your video!  It changes up the look and can add a lot to your video.

10.  Use this program in your class!  It's free and easy to use... what could be better!?  Click on the link (WMM in the Classroom) for more ideas!

Stadium of Fire was AMAZING! What do other teachers out there do in their time off?

Ten Tips for Prezis!

Wait.  You don't know what a Prezi is?  No fear... I had no idea until recently either.  However, now that I know I MUST share this information!  A Prezi is a more interesting and visually pleasing version of power-point.  Now that might not sound to exciting, but wait till you see one... You're going to love it.

In fact, check this out.



Amazing, right?  Yep.  It would look better if I could get it to embed properly without the side cut-off, but it seems to not want to be smaller.. Hm.  I need tips on that.  Haha!

Now you just a need a few tips to make the Prezi creation process easier.  So, here we go:

1 - Watch the tutorials.  Seriously.  It will make creating them way easier, and they simple, straight-forward, and actually interesting.  No, really... they are.

2 - Have no fear.  Just experiment with things until you get it looking how you'd like... You can always hit undo.

3 - Don't overuse any one tool.  Sometimes we really like the way a "fade-in" looks, but if you do it 18 times, the viewer will not like it... at all.

4 - Keep it simple.  Don't sweat trying to make it look amazing of you're struggling with creativity... It kind of does it on its own.

5 - Share your Prezi!  Present students/viewers with access to the Prezi on their own time so they can go back and re-watch at their own pace or follow along.

6 - Watch the length.  It may be pretty interesting to you, and more interesting in it's style than a power point, but keep your audience in mind.  Never make a power point or Prezi so long that people check-out.

7 - Use the video/image tools!  Do NOT make the presentation all words. I repeat, do NOT make the presentation all words.  Embedding videos is SO easy on Prezi, and looks incredible.  Spice it up!

8 - Space it out!  You have unlimited space, so use it.  Don't make an area look too crowded.

9 - Don't allow for motion-sickness.  Something I love about Prezi is that the power-point version has a LOT of movement between slides - flying to the next one and zooming into the information.  However, don't send it back and forth like crazy across the central point the entire time.  Make the movement attractive. 

10 - Choose our colors carefully.  Make sure the compare-contrast of colors and other visuals it easy to read from and look at in general.  Also, test it on the projector, because it looks different than what's on your computer screen.

More ideas?  Share below!

Ten Tips for a Website!

So, you wanna create a website for your classroom?  Here are ten ways to make your website successful, and ways to use the blog to better your class.

(First, things to put onto your website:)

1 - Use your website to provide a virtual tour of your classroom!  Parents love to see what teachers are doing in their classrooms, and you can allow students to do so without having them in your class each day.  Take pictures of your classroom and activities you're working on and post them for parents to see.

2 - Create a Forum Board.  Encourage students and/or parents to talk about issues or ideas from class by writing "question entries" and promote responses and conversation about each question.  You could even do this as a response assignment if you desire.

3 - Develop an Information Board.  Provide information to student and parents about what's going on in your classroom or for current productions/activities you're working on. 

4 - Calendar! Have your classroom or productions (performing arts) calendar posted on your website.

5 - Make your own "pinterest" with pin boards.  Create tables with "pin boards" for students to see what you're currently reading, ideas you have for the class/production, etc.

6 - Curriculum and Unit Plans!  Post things you'll be working on as a class (or within a production), such as modified unit plans, rubrics, assignment materials, etc.  Allow students/parents access to download the rubrics and materials. 

(Second, things to make your life easier while creating your website:)

7 - Put things into tables.  You don't have to solely use tables, but it does help in organizing your ideas and making the site look visually pleasing. 

8 - Make the tables a good size!  Don't make them so big that people have to slide left to right to read all the information.  That's simply annoying and doesn't look as cohesive. 

9 - Be creative.  PLEASE, make it interesting to look at and read.

10 - Build the site from a template to make it easier.  You can find free or cheap templates online that will make it easier to create and often look amazing.

Any other suggestions?  Add below!

MAT 601 - Takin' On Tech!

I love technology... I use it virtually (and quite literally it's virtual) everyday.  This is just a simple blog to show you all the neat things I can do, and the new things I learn over this upcoming summer semester.  However, where do I wish I really was?

Here.

Olympics start at the end of this short term... in London!  I'm feeling pretty darn happy about that.