Begin from the End

The end of a semester is always a reminder to prepare for the next. But who wants to be planning during Christmas break? Certainly not me. But this school year, I have a new trick up my sleeve.

Over the course of this semester, I have married technology with my teaching. Next quarter, I will be introducing Greek mythology in a different way as I did previously. I have created a Greek Mythology Webquest. This is truly an exciting endeavor, because I was ill-equipped with a worn down class set whose originals disappeared into the unknown depths of what we call the department book locker. But with an online link to numerous resources, my students will be able to discover and incorporate the great myths of old at the cost of um,...NOTHING. Not only will it benefit my students, but I could easily share the address with other teachers as well. In addition, I have the option of giving my students the web address before the break so that they can get a head start on the lesson. Did I mention that the website is entirely FREE?

Say goodbye to my heavily worn photocopies and say hello to my little online friend!

P.S. If you have any suggestions or comments about my Webquest, please drop me a line. I appreciate everyone's input.

Vito Calvo
English 9
JFKHS
Guam

A reflective essay on my Greek Mythology Webquest

When I first started teaching Greek mythology, my objectives were to introduce mythological gods and explore the famous stories that captivated the imagination for centuries. Now after two years, I have decided to expand my students’ perception of mythology by allowing them to produce their very own. In this Greek Webquest, students will have the opportunity to incorporate technology in learning as well as take ownership of the information learned. Students begin by opening a browser window and inserting the site address. The home page displays a cartoon version of the Olympic gods and goddesses atop Mount Olympus. The introduction page basically outlines the objectives for the Webquest. It discusses the intent of learning about Greek myths, writing an original one, and finally playing an online game. The task page is a step-by-step process for students to accomplish. First, students print a copy of the worksheet that they will have to fill-out throughout the course of the lesson. Secondly, students will learn about ancient Greek cities and the famous 12 Olympic gods and goddesses. Next, students will read about one specific god/goddess of their choice and identify particular attributes. The fourth step includes seeking mythological creatures. After the students have attained the information prescribed, the next step invites them to formulate their own myth based on a freshly designed character of their choice. Students will then post the stories on Blogger.com. There is a video version of a Greek myth that gives them a visual representation of a story. Finally, the students will login to an online game in which they will use the websites to answer questions. The website allows me to pull-up each participant and evaluate the points earned. The websites that I used for this Webquest include, Googlesites, about.com, youtube.com, and quia.com. Although I wanted to incorporate some educational websites, I did not find any that were as easy to access or did not require subscription. However, I intended to provide accurate information for the purpose of meeting my overall objectives. After all, the overall objectives were meant for information exploration.

Update

Since my last blog, I have come to many new realizations.

First, my motivation in learning is highly dependent on the degree to which success is attainable. In other words, I am more adamant about fulfilling my educational goals in a course if the finish line has been predetermined. But when the line is moved more than once and is consistently placed further and further the closer I approach it, then I tend to lose motivation. This understanding of my personal educational motivation can easily be translated and cultivated into my teaching philosophy. Although motivation is difficult to measure, I must consider that students need to feel the sense of accomplishment - even if morsel - so that they can push themselves further.

Second, I found that without proper guidance, students make mistakes, mistakes lead to disasters and disasters deter from success. I found this out the hard way, and I will not let my students suffer similarly. Students need consistent guidance. Although there is a point to which guidance turns into dependency, there is always a time - especially at the onset of a program - where students will need to be led during part of their journey.

Lastly, I learned that students cannot do everything by themselves without flaws. That is why it is of utter importance that an adviser or trusted instructor be available to assist students in need. It is my goal then, to make myself more approachable so that students will be comfortable when they need my help.

I have learned a lot of valuable things during this admissions ordeal. Ironically, the events that have led up to my current revelation proves that learning never ends and that teachers are students too. The lessons I have learned are applicable to my life.

A New Vision

After speaking with my adviser, I realized that my teaching objectives in my classroom are not necessarily aligned with the TESOL content standards. Even when I try to justify the activities for a particular element, I find that it is marginal in terms of alignment. Therefore, I have directed myself toward a new approach to lesson planning. Instead of planning to meet my students' needs, first I must check the standards. Only then will I be able to explain my reason for providing such objectives and activities. This approach is necessary for curriculum development and planning as well as demonstrating better teaching practices.

A Work In Progress

I am surely fortunate that I have had some experience in WebQuest design. Template arrangement and hyperlinking have been quite easy. Now my focus is on learning objectives and interactive websites. What I am doing differently however is that I am trying to incorporate video access for my students. I believe the students will be more interested in the given task if I stimulate their visual perceptions of Greek mythology.

On another note, I learned that despite my school's firewall, I am still able to save the sites to the desktop for use even without Internet access - something I did not feel was possible. This will serve as valuable information when I finish the project and have students access the WebQuest for years to come!

I Can't Cover Everything by Myself!

I have recently discovered that a WebQuest will be an awesome tool to cover material that I have not been able to reach this semester. Currently, I have spent quite a bit of the beginning of this year teaching Greek myths but at the cost of having to limit the number of stories. For some reason, I get too caught up on just a handful of stories, and I can't get to as many as I would like. There are simply too many to choose from and so little time.

To solve this minor problem, I have decided to create a Greek Mythology WebQuest. My objective is to design a basic storage facility for students to activate in order to expand their knowledge on the content. I think it's a perfect idea, especially since I've mentioned that they get to help me pick activities and visuals online.

Hopefully, I will be able to work on my fourth quarter theme, Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." But for now, I'll just focus on one at a time.

A closer look

This week's assignment is to explore sample WebQuests, so that I may gather necessary information in order to design my very own with ease. However, I find myself more confused than when I started because of the vastness of possibilities. I cannot seem to decide on a topic, what resources are reliable, which background and template to use, what will be the content and TESOL standards addressed, and how will the WebQuest meet the overall objectives. The decisions have been so frustrating, I cannot feel my scalp.

Perhaps I need to pick a topic and begin searching for appropriate links in order to get started. I believe that once I gather sufficient information to begin, then I will not be so uneasy about the template selection. Afterall, it is best to focus on the content first, and then decide on aesthetic features.

Put on your exploring gear and hop on the technological spaceship, it's time for a trip.

Since I have enrolled in this course in January, I have explored LiveText, WebQuest formats and models, NCATE's website, various sites to discuss multicultural importance, and technological portfolios. Revisiting some of these areas reminds me of their importance in language teaching. With the multicultural importance discussion, I found various links that embraced cultural aspects and a few that were obviously made without multicultural sensitivity in mind. As for revisiting some sites, I reflected on the WebQuest that I designed about four years ago and realized that it was far from exemplary. The overall experience has definitely opened my eyes to information that I will need to review in order to succeed in this course. So it has been an exploration of expectations that I must absorb and then hit "refresh."