Week 8 Reflection

This past reflection presented a few more road blocks than the prior project. This project consisted of several assignments, however none of which were overly difficult. The assignment consisted of making a puzzle, project rubric and quiz using an internet wizard for all three. The second requirement was web reviews for both content and design of two websites which I use in class. The third and final assignment was making a track using trackstar to keep record of all the website used in class no one project was overly difficult and all were mostly enjoyable.

The first review puzzle I created, I actually used in class. It was a word scramble for US capitals which I gave to my students as a review game in class. Each student participated and was given bonus points based on how many capitals they unscrambled. The second was the project rubric, this rubric I hope to use one day in the future. This site I find will be very beneficial because I am constantly assigning small projects in class, and this rubric site will allow me to grade more fairly by using the rubrics which I create. The final sheet I created was a quiz for my 6th grade class. It was a quiz on the US capitals, which went hand in hand with the review puzzle. Overall all three of these tools will come in very helpful in the future when it comes to assessment.

The second portion of the assignment was the web review. The two websites I chose to review were MrDonn.org and eyewitnesstohistory.com. Both of these sites I use on a weekly basis. While Mrdonn.org is not easy to navigate around and is suited more so than teachers, rather than students it still has quite a few activities and interactive games which students can use to review major topics in both US and world history. The second website I assessed was eyewitnesstohistory.com. This is perhaps my favorite website for my students to use in order to gain a firsthand account of events in American history. This website is easy to navigate and has firsthand video, audio and written accounts of major moments in both world and American history. I would suggest this website to any social studies teacher who is hoping to reach their student and hope they gain more of a firsthand understanding of major events in history.

The final and most difficult portion of the assignment was the trackstar site. I had problems with this site, because I originally realized that I did not enter http:// prior to the URL and there for the track was not creating a direct link. Once I fixed that problem the rest of the assignment came along quite easily. I used several websites which I use quite frequently in my class, such as eye witness to history which is again, a great source for first hand accounts of historical events. Other sites which are included on my track deal with early American movies, and other interactive websites, such as National Geographic for Kids. Overall I believe I will be using trackstar in future classes in order for my students to have a place where the can access frequently visited sites.

Trackstar

Rubric

Test

Answer Sheet

Puzzle

Content1

Content2

Design1

Design2