Lesson 6

BLOG 6

WebQuest is a new term for me and it has opened up this new world. When reading over this weeks reading it describes WebQuests for being an inquiry based learning method that fosters high order thinking. When reading about what a WebQuest is, it is a little intimidating, but when I looked through examples on the WbQuest Garden site, it makes complete sense. I came across a lot of WebQuests that I could use in my classroom and it also provided ideas for myself, which was even better. Bernie Dodge definitely came up with a great idea to enhance classrooms around the world.

Fraction Fun!

http://questgarden.com/143/06/6/120416112414/index.htm

I love this WebQuest! This would be so much fun for my math students. It would provide a great review and integrates so many standards. I also like it because they review on their own. I think reviewing on their own would help them study and further their understanding on fractions, compared to me reviewing concepts at the front of the room. The teacher who made the WebQuest has a laptop for every kid. This could pose a problem if technology was not accessible, however we have a 5 iPads for our rooms so I could adapt it to work for 5 iPads or borrow other teachers for this review. I thought her recipe idea was very creative and a great way for students to apply their fraction skills. The WebQuest provides extra motivation for students because it is related to food, always a plus! J I also loved the way she wrote her task, in a letter format. I think it personalized it to her class and made it seem that the kids were on a mission for tasty treats. The only thing I found as a weakness for me, was the time frame. She said it would take a week and I don’t know if I have entire week to review fractions, but I am going to try and make it work. I think this would be very beneficial. Love it!

My WebQuest - http://questgarden.com/161/59/0/130801155313/

My WebQuest was made to help students work through their business proposal for their Economics Entrepreneur Fair. In the past students think of a good or service to sell at the E-Fair and fill out the necessary paperwork to begin making their product. After we finish the fair some realize that they were not very profitable due to many different factors. This WebQuest is to help prevent those mistakes, by creating a “practice” proposal. If their “practice” proposal works out, then they may use it for their actual proposal, however if it fails they will know they must tweak it before fully committing for the fair. While creating a proposal is the ultimate task of the WebQuest they also review economic concepts that are important to their decision-making. This WebQuest was designed as an at home WebQuest so parents could work through it with them. the purpose of this is to help the parents understand what is being asked of their student for the E-Fair. Getting the parents involved can help with the students understanding as well as their own understanding of what the E-Fair is all about.

Challenges

I initially went with another idea for my WebQuest. It was going to introduce students to what a WebQuest was by having them perform tasks around their school website. Once I got half way through and re-looked at our weekly reading I felt that my WebQuest was not up to par. It was lacking standards and more importantly, higher-order thinking. So I got to thinking. I saw plenty of math examples and that was my first instinct, since it is my favorite subject. However I wanted to think outside my box and create something I could use in this next school year. So I decided on Economics. I thought I had a great idea and that changed quickly once I started looking for resources. There are plenty out there, but there are few that are meant to be read by 4^th graders. I would say that was my biggest challenge, finding resources. I thought I might change it to an Opinion Piece WebQuest, but I decided to stick with my Economics plan. I was at school this week and talked to my fellow team teachers, they gave me ideas of what I should focus on and I came back to the computer ready to make it work. I wouldn’t say it is perfect by any means, but I think it will helps students understand what  they are expected to do and prepare them for what is ahead. I’ll try it out this year and tweak it as needed. When all of the resources said making a WebQuest was time consuming, they weren’t kidding.