I honestly can't believe that this was the final full week of the course. This module has done a lot for me in terms of showing me how to use Google to my advantage.
I found that creating a quiz via the google forms template was easy and practical for older students. I could definitely see myself using this to give a quiz in my history of rock/pop class. Since there's also the option of using open-ended questions, I could also use this for homework assignments with students. I have an issue with attendance on quiz/test days in my high school class and I feel like this could be a great way to administer a make-up quiz/test. Unfortunately, there isn't a way to add music clips to the form.
I'm already using powerpoint for my lessons, but I noticed that the google slides application allows you to put youtube videos directly into your presentations. This is great for me because I use a lot of youtube and I usually have to set up my videos ahead of time in order to bypass the advertisements. The fact that I'd be saving these lessons on the cloud is also helpful; I'd be able to work on my lessons from any location.
Creating a newsletter is not something I've ever done before. Mainly because I don't usually have a lot of information to convey to families - except around concert time and when we place our order for recorders in the Fall. However, I think parents might be excited to have the opportunity to read about what their students are learning in music class. When I created the newsletter for this week's assignment, I actually made it with factual information that I could send to parents if I wanted to.
Exploring all of these offerings from Google has made me interested in starting my own classroom website. Since I'm using google sites for my WebQuest, I'm taking this time to explore how user-friendly it is. I'm hoping that I can use some free time (whenever that will be) to create a website for parents and students to visit.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Module 6 Reflection
This week starts the big WebQuest project. It couldn't have come at a better time. I've literally just started an internet-surfing project with my high school students and if this WebQuest is successful, I'll definitely use it in the future.
My WebQuest is centered around researching Jazz musicians for my history of rock/pop music class at the high school. So far, the class has been centered around me giving the students information and showing them various youtube clips. This time, I'm giving the students the opportunity to teach me and their peers about a musician that they want to research. I compiled a list of artists and the students will get to choose who they want to research. In my outline, I made sure to provide all of the information that I would give in the WebQuest: description of the project, process/steps, checklist of what to research, websites, and grading rubrics.
Prior to this week I had never heard of a WebQuest and am excited to see how this works. From the examples I've looked at, it seems pretty user friendly. I'm hoping I can test it out with my students next semester.
The discussion this week focused around creating a top-5 list. I actually enjoyed reading everyone's top-5 rather than writing my own - mainly because I felt that there was so much in this chapter and it was hard to narrow down. Also, reading the reasons why my peers selected their various top-5's was insightful, making me look at those sections in the book in a different way.
Twitter continues to surprise me. Earlier this week I used zaption in a Jazz lesson and the students. I took a screenshot of what I was working on and tweeted it. A few hours later, Zaption had re-tweeted it.
As we begin Module 7, I'm amazed that this class is coming to a close. It has been one of the best classes I've taken so far with UFl. The knowledge and resources I've gained have already started to impact and change my teaching.
My WebQuest is centered around researching Jazz musicians for my history of rock/pop music class at the high school. So far, the class has been centered around me giving the students information and showing them various youtube clips. This time, I'm giving the students the opportunity to teach me and their peers about a musician that they want to research. I compiled a list of artists and the students will get to choose who they want to research. In my outline, I made sure to provide all of the information that I would give in the WebQuest: description of the project, process/steps, checklist of what to research, websites, and grading rubrics.
Prior to this week I had never heard of a WebQuest and am excited to see how this works. From the examples I've looked at, it seems pretty user friendly. I'm hoping I can test it out with my students next semester.
The discussion this week focused around creating a top-5 list. I actually enjoyed reading everyone's top-5 rather than writing my own - mainly because I felt that there was so much in this chapter and it was hard to narrow down. Also, reading the reasons why my peers selected their various top-5's was insightful, making me look at those sections in the book in a different way.
Twitter continues to surprise me. Earlier this week I used zaption in a Jazz lesson and the students. I took a screenshot of what I was working on and tweeted it. A few hours later, Zaption had re-tweeted it.
As we begin Module 7, I'm amazed that this class is coming to a close. It has been one of the best classes I've taken so far with UFl. The knowledge and resources I've gained have already started to impact and change my teaching.
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