PlanetUSF

Functional ecological literacy is what a modern society needs to maintain its quality of life. In a democracy, the more citizens that are functionally ecologically literate, the more likely the society will be able to maintain its quality of life into the future. It is not merely learning a few ecological principles, nor is it enough to be familiar with just your local community. Our impact has become global and societies will need to understand and adapt to global changes.

As a result, modern functional ecological literacy consists of:

1. content knowledge (concepts & information, including the basics of ecology)
2. cognitive skills (including scientific reasoning, practical ethics, socio-political skills)
3. a sense of place (from your local community to the global one)
4. respect for other (people, species, ecosystems)

Another way to look at the four main components:

1. what to know
2. how to solve problems
3. awareness of your surroundings and your part in them
4. awareness of the importance of biological and cultural diversity (tolerance)

I am working on a specific list of components for functional ecological literacy, so comments and suggestions are welcome.

My webquest is based from William Shakespeare’s romeo and Juliet. this webquest is based for a nineth grade English class. Students are to come up with their on alternet ending for the tragedy. Students will be in groups, and will be responsible to pick a role and do his/her share of work. They will use websites that I have provided to come up with an appropriate ending that would fit this story. They are to concentrate on the era, place, theme, family life, and religion. I have made modification for both my gifted and ESOL students. I have posted both new and old pictures depicted from the scenes of Romeo and Juliet, so that students can see the difference in the modifications of the story. I have set up a rubric as well that list 4 being great and 1 being poor. Students need to use this to format their project.

The role of webquests in differentiated instruction and student centered learning is quite a large one. Webquests are all student focused. Students are able to navigate through a webquest for any questions they have on the assignment. Anything the students needs for the project is on the webquest. Not only are students learning about the subject at hand, but they are developing vital research skills and are using critical thinking because they are the ones who must follow directions carefully step by step. Though webquest may add stress to teachers it also makes it easier for them to differentiate instructions. For instance a student with a lower reading levels or with disabilities in the class may be provided a seperate link or may even be provided a lower level webquest, but even better gifted students looking for a challenge can also be provide seperate links that will allow them to expand their minds. The role of the 21st teacher is to provide seperate individualized needs for each of their students and also include technology in their students curriculum. Webquest can provide both of these goals at the same time. I am only concered that webquest will take away from student teacher contact. Sending a student to navigate through a webquest lacks teacher student communication which I find essential in the classroom. Overall, webquest is a new and improved way to use the internet for the classroom through visuals and links and is just a click away.

Introducing a lesson in a WebQuest form is a great tool to get students interested. In the 20th century, technology is becoming a bigger and bigger part of everyone’s lives. Using that technology in schools is part of a teacher’s job.

A WebQuest is also a student-focused lesson. The information is already given to them on the website. There is no lecturing by the teacher, it is completely up to the students to read, understand, and then seek help regarding the lesson. As the lesson is also on a website it then becomes interactive.

Also a WebQuest is easily recreated and easily modifiable to fit a student’s needs. For instance, if there are several or just one ESOL student, the WebQuest can be presented in both English and Spanish. Or if a child is hard of seeing, then the font used can be made bigger. There are several ways to help accommodate students using this form.

WebQuests can also cross curriculum. Due to the easy alteration of the website, two teachers could team together to teach lessons that relate to each other. I’ll use the WebQuest I created as an example. My WebQuest deals with the search for Petroglyphs and how they connect the past and the present. Included in the lesson is the creation of the students’ own petroglyphs, depicting their lives now. This lesson combines both history and art. All subjects connect to each other in some way. By using this format, it is easy to connect the ideas because the students do not have to be in two classes at once; all the information is provided.

WebQuests are a different way of learning. Much of the learning that takes place is not student-directed. The WebQuest is, however. It allows a student to learn on his or her own. Some students learn best this way. WebQuests also require communication between students: other students learn best this way. Thus, the WebQuest helps students with many different learning styles learn better.

WebQuests deal with information in a different way than just reading from a text or listening to a lecture does. Students must think critically and analyze information in order to create a final product and answer an essential question. This keeps them motivated and interested in their learning; students who are interested learn more.

From the WebQuests that I reviewed, the one that received the highest score was “An Insect’s Perspective. The WebQuest was visually appealing and at the same time extremely organized. The other websites were not as colorful and did not contain as many graphics. If I was a student in the second grade my attention would be grasped much faster with a colorful and picture filled WebQuest. The student’s tasks were clearly laid out, and the rubric provided detailed guidelines for how the project was to be graded. The WebQuest involved the students emotionally by asking them to pick a bug and “put themselves in the bug’s shoes”. The teacher made numerous links available throughout the WebQuest for the students to use to collect data. She also included examples that students could view at each step of the WebQuest if they got stuck which helped the project to be more about student – centered learning than teacher directed. Another positive aspect about this particular WebQuest was that there was a teacher’s page that further explained the project and even contained curriculum standards. The only critique I really had for this website was that it should have been made avaliable in another format.

The 21st century teacher needs WebQuests. They are the most helpful things on the web for teachers. When there is need for an idea, it is right on the web. The technology of computers and the advancement of wikis have helped the 21st century teacher. Other teachers can contact other teachers and talk about that WebQuest, and how it can help her class. WebQuest can help those students with disabilities because their are WebQuest on the web designed for children with disabilities. Once again other teachers can talk to other teachers and discuss which works best for what children.

WebQuests are important to teachers in the 21st century should know about because one of their roles are teachers is to be technologically inclined. WebQuests can be incorporated to differentiate instructions in order to support effective learning for each child by making age appropriate activities with varying levels so that each child is able to work at his/her own pace. This way, no student feels left out or left behind because different areas can be easily altered to comply with the specific need of each student. WebQuests can be used to capture and incorporate the interests of individual children in classroom activities by doing what I stated above, but also by making then with a variety of topics. By touching on different subjects and topics, each child has an opportunity to learn about something that he/she really enjoys and learning about something that one enjoys is always fun!

The purpose for a WebQuest project would be for students do to more critical thinking. It allows them the students to do work that is not just told to them word for word what too do but gives them creative room to get the job done. It allows children to be responsible to come up with a reasonable project and gives room for unique touches only a child can bring.
A teacher could use this to capture the attention of students by giving and allowing the children to be responsible to come up with a reasonable project and room for a unique touches only a child can bring.

CASE STUDY THREE: LITTLE NINA
DESCRIPTION:
Nina is a ten year old girl that hails from Mexico. She has been in the United States for approximately three years. She lives here with her mother, step-dad, and her two sisters. Nina also has a cousin that lives nearby, that has helped teach her English. She is very positive, happy, and only slightly hesitant when speaking English.
LANGUAGE INTERVIEW:
To begin with, let us focus on the positive aspects of little Nina’s English speaking abilities. Nina had a great deal of vocabulary that she was able to use. She was able to say words in the correct context, such as nervous. She used the word nervous when speaking about reading scary books. By using this word and others, she reveals that she understands the meaning of the words and how they are to be used, which is semantics. Nina has control over the semantics of her speaking. She speaks the words in the correct order and conveying the correct meaning to the interviewer. Nina is positive with her speaking and only slightly hesitant, as she forms the correct answer. Nina also uses several forms of morphemes when speaking. There is obvious use of free morphemes, but she also has some bound morphemes. She focuses mainly on suffixes, such as the word ‘learning’. There are no uses of suffixes. Words such as easier, learning, and scared were also used in the interview passage; these are cases of inflectional morphemes. Nina also knew how to use contraction words in the correct context.
The next aspects are the negatives to Nina’s speaking. The main problem that she has in speaking, is the run-on sentences. At times, she speaks so fast that the sentences seem to combine together. An example of this would be:
“We went at seven or eight at the morning to go to school and we got to play and the bell rang and we go to our classroom.”
Also in this sentence she states at the morning instead of in the morning.
Another aspect is how she repeats herself at various times. She might do this because she is trying to make a point, but isn’t sure how to say it in different words. By repeating the phrase, “what comes next, what comes next,” she implies that the reader of the scary book is frightened or excited about the content of the book. Nina has significant pauses within the interview, some in which she seems to be forming her works or she does not understand the question that is being asked.
Nina speaks about her cousin teaching her English, but she uses the word ‘show’ instead of ‘teach’. Perhaps her cousin only prompted her to repeat the words that he was using. He provided a translation for her so that she understood the meaning of the words. This concept is more of a translation and repetition. Another example of this would be:
“He show me of step by step letter words. Ummm, he ummm, show me how to say hi, how to say excuse me, and other things that you think.”
During the course of the interview there were a great deal of umms, uh uh’s, and yeah’s.
Nina seems to have a recurring problem with the first and third point of view when speaking. At one point, she constantly used “I” in a run-on sentence. Another instance she reverted to third person and used “you”; although she was still speaking of herself.
Overall, Nina’s English speaking abilities was good. I would say that she was in Early Production level.

READING SAMPLE ANAYLSIS:
Nina’s reading sample revealed the problem that she is facing. Her reading level should be higher, considering that she is in the 2nd grade. The teachers need to prepare her for her third grade entrance; she is not ready to read or understand questions that will be found on the FCAT. The title of the book is unknown, but it seems fairly simple. It focuses on animals; the animals will state what they are and give an example of something that they can do. Here’s an example:
“I am a buffalo. I can raise my shoulders. Can you do it? I can do it.”
There are many instances in the reading where Nina stumbles over the words. She does not try to bypass the words, but stops and attempts to sound out the words. When she had a problem with the word “raise”, the interviewer helped her to sound it out. The word came up in the book at a later time and she was able to say the word without stumbling. Other words that she had problems with were arch, bend, raise, shoulders, and thump. I believe that this shows a lack of understanding in phonemes, which are sounds that make up a language. The Spanish language does not use the phonemes, /sh/ or /th/. The words shoulders and thump have these phoneme sounds.
Nina uses the correct pitch and stress of words while reading the literature book. The rhyming pattern of the book helps her to understand and predict the context of the book.
Overall, Nina showed more significant problems with her reading than with her speaking. She even states in the interview that reading is the most difficult part of learning English.
PROBLEM:
Nina is now in the third grade and she is not ready for the FCAT assessment. Her reading and writing is not at the correct level. Nina is reading at a first grade level and is having problems with her comprehension. She is able to read books at a slower rate, but consistently fails the tests that are required. Some adults at the school are constantly attempting to help her. (these statements are imaginary).
TEACHER: Nina tries very hard when reading. She is constantly trying to sound out the words and correct herself. I am concerned with her self-esteem. She is starting to notice that the other students are reading better than herself. Also, there is a difference between the level of reading books that Nina uses.
ESOL TEACHER: I am concerned about Nina’s reading in English and Spanish. Since she is not involved with reading Spanish at home, she has no involvement in this area. I am afraid that she is going to loose her Spanish reading abilities. I am also concerned that she is having problems comprehending the English books that she reads. Her sight words are expanding, as well as her understanding of vocabulary words. We need to strive on her English reading comprehension, as well as her reading in Spanish.
SOLUTION:
There are many strategies that can be used to help Nina with her reading comprehension. I recently discovered a method that focuses on story grammer of a literature book (article for Wiki). Story grammer focuses on the elements of a book. The setting, characters, and theme are located at the start of a book. The problem or conflict in the middle; this strategy does not focus on beginning, middle, or end, but on the reader determining the solutions for the elements. Who are the characters in the book? Can you take two characters and compare them? How are they alike or different? As the student answers these many questions, they are comprehending the book.
Other strategies could be graphic organizers, story maps, reader’s theatre, or journal entries. Nina could write a journal entry on which she was the main character of the book. How would she act differently? What would she change?
The best solution would be to pair Nina up with a reading buddy. Make sure to choose someone who loves to read! This person’s love of reading will keep Nina interested.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
1. Nina suddenly loses interest in reading, what do you do?
I would not try to force her; perhaps she feels pressured to read. Slowly allow her time to regroup. Focus on group reading, such as read alouds. This might bring her interest back.
2. If Nina were to suddenly experience behavior problems relating to her lack of understanding and low self esteem, how would you as a teacher correct this problem?
I would try to give Nina more encouragement and individual time (one-on-one time with this particular student). There are also Home Fun activities that can be sent home that would encourage Nina’s family to participate in her schooling. Have Nina choose a book from the library that she would want the teacher to read to the class. Just by giving attention and concern for a student gives them the extra push to try harder.
3. Since there was a lack of a writing sample for Nina, how would you help Nina with her writing capabilities?
There are many writing strategies that would help Nina. Many of these strategies also are graphic organizers, story maps, and freewriting. I would focus on brainstorming ideas first. Allow the student to freely list ideas for their writing. They can do this inside a graphic organizer. Next, I would use the sandwich organizer to help Nina learn how to formulate the sentences into a particular order. Freewriting would come next; allow for time to free write their rough draft. Do not focus on grammar or punctuation. After the free write, then it is time to have an individual conference with the student to go over the writing.
BLOOM’S QUESTIONS:
1. Setup a five step plan that would help Nina with her reading comprehension.
a. participation in a literature circle; by participating in a group such as this, Nina is able to hear other students make comments about the book. By hearing the context of these discussions and relating them to the book, she will be able to add her own comments. By giving her an assigned role within the circle also gives her a duty to perform.
b. read alouds; The teacher should use read alouds in the classroom. This will encourage and excite the children about reading. The teacher must also act like a performer or actress. Use stress with reading particular words or sentences.
c. Reading buddy; This will be a reading partner for Nina. They may travel together to the library to check out books or even be in the literature circle together. Make sure that this partner loves to read. Their love of reading may traverse to Nina.

There are several ways in which you can incorporate technology into the classroom. Giving the students projects in which they must conduct research using the computer, having them create a power point, or use excel. Another good way of having them become active and participate in class discussion is by having them comment on a discussion board. I have found that webquests also stimulate them into going deeper and asking more questions that other students can respond to. The role of the 21st century classroom is not having students sit a read from a textbook but have them conduct research and go beyond the classroom, use the “world wide web.” Using other methods of teaching not only stimulates their minds but also prepares them for the future. Teaching them to keep up with the times and move forward with what the world is creating and using.

The various ways webquests can be designed to students with different needs is how the activities are set up. The activities can have a mixture of hands on, presentations, writing, arts and crafts, videos for students to watch, etc. The good thing about webquests is that you can include several medias to help with how various students learn.

Today i competed project five which delt with WebQuest. WebQuest play a role in differentiated instruction because it allows teachers to teach students in a different yet effective way. we know that not all students learn the same, therefore webquest comes in handy to ensure that the diverse groups of students are all getting a chance at learning. webquests help center certain students and help them learn the subject being taught.

WebQuests used in differentiated instruction and student- centered learning are useful because the students can utilize the tool, a computer, to solve real world problems. In the classroom all the students can have the opportunity to use the computer at their own pace. Students must seek out information and follow links. They can do this as many times as necessary when on the computer. Online tutorials using hyper text and hypermedia, drill-and-practice, or simulations and modeling are useful for differentiating instruction. Gathering information on the internet allows students to use analytical skills. Powerpoint can help them organize their ideas. Critical thinking is intrinsic to using a WebQuest. Using the computer as a cognitive tool can enhance students abilities as they work through this process.

WebQuests can be an extremely valuable tool for teachers to use in their classrooms. Webquests can provide teachers with a teaching strategy that they can use to reach out to a variety of students. Webquests can be created so they incorporate many different learning styles. They can include tasks that reach out to students who learn activities, or by listening to things. WebQuests provide students with an opportunity to answer a question in the way that best suites their learning style. WebQueststs can also serve as a powerful tool in student - centered learning. Webquests provide students with an open-ended to answer the question. Webquests allow students to reach into their creative side and think critically about possible answers or solutions. Webquests are not supposed to set too many restrictions or rules on how the essential question is answered or solved. Students can use their strong points to complete their webquests. WebQuests are also good for the classroom because each student may choose to approach and solve the question differently and therefore there may be many able to have their eyes opened up to a variety of solutions and learn more about the topic.

The second webquest that I looked at seemed the best to me. This webquest was about butterflies. The point of the webquest is for the students to understand the life and behavior of butterflies. This webquest recieved the best score because it was very informative and easy to navigate through. She gave many different links so that the students could pick from an array of websites.

All my lesson plans scored equally but the first one of a math lesson for third grade was the one I liked most. It was very colorful and visually appealing. If I had to pick any of these three to work on I would pick the first one because all the directions were short so it made it seem like it was going by faster. I have realized that when I am a student doing work, if the directions are long and look like an essay I skim through the assignment and do not really want to do it. When the directions are short and colorful with pop-ups and pictures, it makes it more exciting to do. As a student you may also feel like it is a fun activity not just an assignment or lesson that a teacher is making you complete.

http://aemausser45.googlepages.com/resources

This is my first Webquest lesson plan. It is about saving the coral reefs. it is to get my 5th grade students to understand that there are hazards out there that hurt other habitats besides our own in america. It is important for them to know this information so that they realize how important recycling and following no fishing sign and even wake zones here in florida are important aqnd should not be ignored. Floridian students should know what goes on down in the waters because it is our environment and responsibility to not let the ecosystem fail. I enjoyed doing the webquest. it opened my eyes to something i had never even attempted before and i think I did a very decent job. Hopefully a current teacher now will stumble across my webquest email me and use my lesson plan!

The internet age is upon us, and teenagers spend, on average, 2-8 hours a day on the internet. WebQuests can be used as a way to organize vast amounts of information into different sections. This organization allows for easy navigating from one subject to the next and is ideal for studying. WebQuests are fairly easy to create, so it would not surprise me to see middle and high schools using more WebQuests for study aids and chapter reviews.

WebQuests have a large role in differentiated instruction and student-centered learning. They allow teachers to engage students in the classroom and also at home. WebQuests can be used as a learning technique that is visually appealing to students and also allows them to gain knowledge about technology. Students learn to navigate through different formats while also learning about researching information and applying previous knowledge that enables them to learn effectively. Rather than a teacher having to lecture or distribute a packet of worksheets with information, a computer can be used to help students explore the possibilities and contemplate questions that reflect on the realities of life. A teacher in the 21st century must be able to prepare students academically, but also guide them in their understanding of technology which is inportant in today’s media/information age. The WebQuests also give the teacher the opportunity to evaluate students and the information they have processed. Teachers can also find out which method of teaching is most beneficial to particular students such as those who learn best visually or through hands on activities. WebQuests are a great example of differentiated instruction as they allow students to be creative and answer questions that are critical to their role as a students and as a member of society. WebQuests are created specifically to meet the needs of students which is why they have a large role in student-centered learning. They give students the chance to find answers for themselves and to interpret information rather than a teacher simply stating all the answers and instructing rather than guiding.

OvidSP, an upcoming release of a new precision search and discovery platform, will be live and accessible on Thursday, October 25, 2007. USF offers different databases through OVID like MEDLINE and PsychINFO.

Additions and enhancements include:

• Support of free text, natural language searching
• Simultaneous searching across all databases, journals, and books
• Results ranked by relevancy.
• Multiple search modes: Basic, Find Citation, Subject Search, Search Fields, or SilverPlatter “Classic,” which employs traditional SilverPlatter syntax
• Improved research workflow tools, search transparency and other features to narrow or broaden your search
• Improved Alerting tools such as RSS feeds and electronic Table of Contents

To try the new interface, go to MEDLINE or PsychINFO using MetaLib. Once you have accessed the search interface, look for the “Try OVIDSP” link at the top of the screen in the middle.