This week's projects provided some new tasks with which I was unfamiliar. I had never used or even heard of any of these websites prior to reading the assignment. Since I as unfamiliar with most every aspect of this assignment, it took a good deal longer to complete than the last one, however, once I found my pacing, everything started to go pretty smoothly.
The website evaluation assignment was by far the easiest. Choosing a website was a little tough, but after I picked the one I wanted to evaluate, the assignment went by without a hitch. I chose to evaluate a site on teaching English (literature, composition, creative writing). The site was very simple and it was apparent that the creator didn't have much experience in site creation. While it wasn't much to look at, the content was superb and it was apparent that the creator (a retired teacher of English for over 30 years) knew his stuff.
The web tools portion of the assignment was a little trickier, but after reading over the tutorials, everything came along. The rubric was easily the toughest of the web-tools assignments. After some planning and deciding on a subject, the sections just kind of began filling themselves in. I was rather pleased with the end result. The test and puzzle were exceedingly simple to figure out after reading the tutorials. I decided to stick with my content area for the subject matter for both of them.
Lastly, the trackstar assignment was very daunting. I read over the tutorial several times. However, much like the rubric assignment, the only real hard part proved to be choosing the topic. I decided to go with a unit on Romeo & Juliet as the overlying theme of the track. I included websites that would be useful to students while studying the play, some of which included a site listing and defining various forms of literary devices, some history behind William Shakespeare and Elizabethan theatre, and some guides for better understanding Elizabethan English. All in all, I found the assignment to be useful practice and I think trackstar has real potential for a tool in the classroom.
Here are links to the assignments:
Rubric
Puzzle
Test (with answers)
Trackstar
Website Design
Website Content
Blog Reflection Week Ten (Website)
14 years ago
Nice work! I think you did a fine job!
ReplyDeleteMicheal, I really enjoyed sharing your feeling and experience of working these projects. This is the learning process. I am glad that you learned and finished your projects in such a great way. Now you can use these tools in your class freely. Yes, I agree with you, the hardest part is to find an appropriate topic not the technology skill, which is relatively easy. Excellent job.
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection, Michael. All these assignments will be very beneficial to you and your students in the classroom. The rubrics are the most beneficial to you, because it allows you to grade assignment, faster and more fairly. Good job.
ReplyDelete