Hello Class,
When I saw we had an assignment on Excel I was far from excited. I used to be terrified of Excel! I thought it was so complicated with all its formulas and split cell commands….Since I began working at my current job, I have been forced to become somewhat familiar with Excel. However, I was still not comfortable with it. After reviewing the Excel tutorial and taking the quiz I realized I was as bad at Excel as I thought and that it is actually a great tool to have knowledge of. With the assignment I played around with Excel formulas and charts and realized once you know the basics, Excel is a necessary tool…especially for teachers! Needless to say, I learned a great deal about Excel with this most recent lesson and I think that from a teacher’s standpoint working knowledge of Excel is mandatory!
With the software evaluation, I learned a great deal about some of the educational software that is out there. For one, I learned that most of the software is available for parents as well as for teachers. Because I am not planning on becoming a teacher, but I am planning on having children, I found this assignment very interesting. Many of the software I reviewed, like Timez Attack and Starfall’s Reading and Writing Journal, I would buy as a parent. If I had a child at home who was learning to read, I would definitely buy Starfall’s software. This software is easy and fun to use and would be very useful when teaching a child to read.
I also enjoyed the articles on WebQuests. Before class the other day, I had absolutely no idea what a WebQuest or Filamentality was. In the first article, “5 rules for writing a Great WebQuest,” I learned the five important points to consider when creating a WebQuest: find great sites, orchestrate you learners and resources, challenge your learners, use the medium, and scaffold high expectations. The last point I find very important because one of the main things WebQuests allow a teacher to do is help the student along. When working with younger grades or even special education children, the teacher is able to give more help in a WebQuest and less help with older students. I like that with WebQuest, a teacher can tailor a lesson or an assignment to meet different needs. WebQuests are a great way to implement Bloom’s Taxonomy because WebQuests require students to understand the material, not just memorize facts. I also enjoyed the fact that WebQuests mostly include real world problems or controversy. This small dose of reality keeps students aware and involved in the world around them.
3 comments:
Hi Noelle,
You have an excellent grasp on what a WebQuest is. I agree that Bloom's Taxonomy would be perfect to implement in a WebQuest, where students have the time to truly evaluate different aspects of a usually menial task. I also had the same attitude toward Excel. Seeing that blank page full of empty cells is overwhelming, especially knowing that there is loads of different things you can do with it. I know I won't use every characteristic of Excel, but this week's assignment also helped me gain a basic understanding of what I will use as a teacher.
I agree with you with the whole Excel thing. At first it seems like some foreign language but as you practice with it things get better. I still hate those error messages though when you create your own formulas, I'm like "It makes sense to me why not you, stupid Excel." Yeah , I know in reality it is just me though. Anyways, I'm glad thatyou are getting the hamg of things. Hopefully you will be 100% confident using it now!!
Hello Noelle, as you have just mentioned Excel is a very valuable resource to be taken advantage of by teachers. We can use Excel to record grades or to insert scientific data. Also, the readings were interesting since it informed us on how to construct a webquest with high quality and content. Before, the readings i had no knowledge about webquests. Afte reading the articles, I am positive that I will create a webquest for my students.
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