Friday Classes

Hi my friends!  I will not be in my lab today, but know you will be in very capable hands. It will almost be as if I am there.  Everything you need to know is in this post.  Today you will be creating your "paper" blog post.  **Remember-you are in the shallow end of the pool my little tadpoles.  Next to each of your workstations you will find a lovely yellow folder.  This is the new home for your resources.  PLEASE BE SURE TO LEAVE THIS FOLDER AND ITS CONTENTS NEXT TO YOUR WORKSTATION AT THE END OF CLASS.  DO NOT TAKE IT WITH YOU!!!!  Please find the packet,"Creating Your First Blog Post."  This packet is filled with tips and helpful information.  Please read it carefully.  You will want to pay careful attention to page three.  If you answer questions 1-4 on this page you will automatically create your first blog post.  This post is so important as you are introducing yourselves to your potential readers.  You want to get them hooked so they will keep coming back for more!!   Try to write using complex and creative sentences.  Avoid, "I am Fred.  I like elephants."  This gets boring and your readers will lose interest.  I will have a sample post on the white board for you to check out.  You will be creating this post in your Google Drive.  Follow the same procedure of moving the doc in to your ILT folder that we used during class #1 with your "About Me."
Just a note:  Google was acting a little bit quirky yesterday.  If you are having trouble with it, please log out of Google.  Go to your Open Office folder on your desktops and create this post using Open Office.  Save the document to your pdrive.  Make sure to name the document.  Good luck.
Have fun and be creative.  I cannot wait to watch your go from tadpoles to sharks!!!
See you next week!

Special Notes for Sections:

ILT #2, you have a special lesson today.  You will start class by taking the Blog Interest Survey I have created.  Click the link above and take your time.  When you have finished, please be sure to click the "submit" tab.  You will then be given a form to fill out.  Once you get your work done you know what time it is!!!   See you Monday.

ILT #10 and ILT #11:
I know we had discussed getting your assessment feedback from the substitute today, but when I thought more about it, I decided it wasn't the best plan.  I would like to be able to be there to explain my feedback and be sure everyone understands my comments and your grades.  So I am going to ask you to hang in there for a couple more days.  You will receive your feedback during class #1 next week.  Thanks for understanding!  Have a great weekend!
               Mrs. White:)

Website Evaluation

I will not be in class with my Monday students this week.  I will be attending an Apple Seminar in Millis.  I hope to bring back some exciting information about 1:1 iPad programs in middle schools.  In my absence Mrs. Diggins will be sharing this week’s first lesson with you.  Please make me proud and show her how responsible and hardworking you all are!!

This week we will move on to the second part or phase of getting better at searching and finding information.  This weekend I was visiting my parents and my dad asked me a question.  “What is the difference between .com, .gov, and .org?  Is one better than another?”  I laughed before I answered his question thinking, “Gee if he asks any of my students after this week, they would be able to answer his questions!!”  Last week we focused on changing your keyword searches when looking for your information.  Once you find your search results, how do you decide whether or not the results are any good?  Are the sites reliable, valid, and credible?  We will start our week off by watching a video, “Internet Skills:  How to Evaluate a Website.”  We will then work together as a class to evaluate two websites.  Once you have practiced together, you will select a school appropriate site to evaluate on your own.  You will complete a form which will guide you through this process.

So let’s check out our first website.  It is called “Build Your WiLDSeLF.”  This is really a fun site.  But we need to decide how reliable, valid, and credible this site truly is.  We will try to answer the questions found on the “Website Evaluation Guide” you have been given.  This guide has been adapted from EasyBib’s Criteria for Evaluating Websites.   After evaluating “Build Your WiLDSeLF” we will take a look at a site which is one of the hyperlinks you should have checked on this site.  We will now take a look at the “New York Aquarium” site.

So we have checked out two sites together.  I think you are ready to “fly solo.”  You will need to choose a school appropriate site of your own and follow the same procedure.  This time you will need to complete the Website Evaluation Form which is on the other side of your Website Evaluation Guide.