Ced0555: Week Four - From the Trenches

So, I'm up to my eyeballs in work. There's the portfolio and now this week the culminating experience. I'm excited about my project, but, as usual, I'm not sure if I've bitten off more than I can chew. This experience is reminding me a bit of my studies in college. Since I was the only english teaching major at my school (the others that year were elementary ed teachers), I was given the option of taking my english methods class as an independent study. The head of the department, a man with many credentials and little time, sent me merrily on my way with the textbook. I had no clue what I was doing, but I was to make a set of two week lesson plans, incorporating a variety of materials. The result was an extremely ambitious set of lesson plans that literally had students reading a novel one day and a play the next and a series of poems the following. It wasn't until I actually got into the classroom that I realized just how silly and naive I was. I'm hoping the same won't hold true in this situation. So far, I have really three different things that I want to have happen with my third graders; I want them to have an age-appropriate introduction to Internet safety; I then want them to learn about blogs and start blogging themselves; and finally, I want them to apply what they're doing already with virtual worlds like Club Penguin and Webkinz to an educational virtual world, Wiglington and Wenks. From my observation of my current third grade students, I think I will be able to accomplish my project, but I'm concerned that the one area I haven't focused enough on might be special needs. Unlike this year's group, next year's has several students who have issues but who have not been officially labeled. There are several low-level readers and others who have attention issues. I'm wondering if they'll be able to handle my rather ambitious plan. My other concern is with the classroom teacher. I think she'll be very open to my project proposal which involves her social studies curriculum, but I'd like to her to be a collaborator, and I'm concerned that she won't take the role I'd like her to. I'm wondering how I can get her more involved without making her feel overwhelmed at what I'm doing. I plan on setting aside plenty of in-servicing for her, so I am hoping she'll feel comfortable. Perhaps I just need to assure her that I'll be doing the majority of the work and that all she'll need to do is be a supportive member of our project community. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

CEd0555 - #2 Reflection

This past week, for my culminating project, I decided to kick it into gear and get working. I think I've come up with a topic that, one, I can write about, and, two, really has my attention. Several courses ago, and I can't remember which class now, we were introduced to Second Life as a resource. I had never heard of it and had no idea of how cool and complex this free application is. As I explored topics for my project, I thought I would look into Second Life more to see just how it was being used. I was amazed by the number of educational and professional worlds that exist in Second Life and how many corporations are utilizing Second Life as a tool for employees to hold meetings, brainstorm, and watch uploaded content, such as Powerpoint presentations. Seeing all this got me wondering if any schools were integrating Second Life into their curriculums. Afterall, what better age to target than the teens, most of whom have already immersed themselves in the gaming environment and who would have no problem understanding the concept of Second Life? After further investigation, I was pleased to see that the creators of Second Life have also established Teen Second Life, a world dedicated to teens, ages 13-17. In this world adults are strictly forbidden, but there are several educational institutions that have created worlds in order to conduct lessons. I was immediately fascinated with TSL and wanted to jump in right away, but it's not that easy. In order to be approved, I have to submit my information and pay $40 for a background check. Once I've been approved, I have to invest heavily if I want to create my own space in TSL. Well, that alone killed it for me, not to mention that my students' ages fall into the 7-12 category. So, now that I was hooked on the idea of using virtual worlds in education, what could I possibly find for my target age group? After literally several hours of exploration, I came upon Wiglington and Wenka, a virtual website, much like Club Penguin, only educational in nature. What's great about this website is that it's fun enough for younger students but also challenging enough to keep them interested. The emphasis of W&W is geography and history. Players travel the world, learn about historical places, and collect famous people who have, unfortunately, lost their memories. In order to regain them, players must collect relics. I'm excited to examine this site closer and discover practical ways to incorporate it next year into the curriculum. The challenge will be convincing my principal that it's not just a game for wasting time. That's where the careful planning of my proposal comes into play. I'm hoping I'll be able to present it to her so that she will understand how this site, as well as others I may find in the future, can benefit our students and are not just time killers.