Inquiry-Based Activity

When I saw the words "inquiry-based activity" on the syllabus at the beginning of the semester, I really wasn't sure what to expect.  An inquiry based activity is a learning tool where students explore a topic on their own and use the provided materials to answer questions.  I found that these inquiry based activities could be extremely useful in the classroom.  Using my mom's classroom as an example, I know that they are assigned certain days in the computer lab.  In addition, her school has a set of Ipads that travel to a different classroom everyday.  These activities would be perfect for days like this.  Also, with the amount of technology being used today, the inquiry based activities will help students get acquainted with how to find and navigate reliable and credible sources.  This will help them when they need to do research papers in both high school and college. 

When I was creating the activity, I was getting really excited about all the great resources available for French inquiry based activities.  There are so many possibilities for different types of activities that will be really beneficial for the students! 

WebQuests

This week, we spent quite a bit of time using and learning about WebQuests.  I remember doing webquests when I was in elementary school, and I see how they can be useful to me as a teacher.  In this week's assignment, I was the "technophile," so I was responsible for evaluating each webquest on a basis of graphics and usability.  I really learned how to make a webquest interesting, but not to overflow it with information.  I think that evaluating the different webquests showed me what components make a webquest better than another.

The best webquests were the ones that were easy to navigate, creative, thought provoking, and manageable.   The ones that my group did not like were text heavy and had several dead links.  This evaluation helped me make mental notes so that if I ever make a webquest to use in my classroom, I will know how to set it up so that the students will get as much out of it as possible. 

Website Evaluations

I use the internet every single day.  Usually, it's one of the very first things I do in the mornings....Most days, I check my email, facebook, and twitter before I've even brushed my teeth.  However, I had never really thought about how each website could be evaluated for use in a classroom.  The website I chose to evaluate is called Epals.  I liked it because it could be really fun to link my classroom with actual French students that are learning English.  The detailed website evaluation form really made me think about how careful I will have to be when choosing websites to show to my class.  It also opened my eyes to all the different websites that are there just for teachers.  I felt comforted that there are so many resources at my disposal.  I'm excited to look for more sites in the future that will be useful in my classroom.

Expectations for course

My expectations for this course are to gain a basic knowledge of ways technology can help me in my career as a foreign language teacher and to be able to use technology to create fun, interactive ways for my students to learn. Since I already have a basic knowledge of some of the useful tools on the internet, I'm hoping I will be able to expand my knowledge and learn how to apply it to teaching, specifically.  I also hope to be able to gain confidence in using these tools so that I can be very comfortable in using them with my students in the future. 

I will be using this blog to document my journey through TPTE 486.  I will blog about what I learn in the course, and how I will use the technology I've learned in my future career as a high school teacher.