Ocean Life WebQuest

This project is a web quest about ocean life focusing primarily on the CNMI. My group mates and I decided on this topic because we wanted to bring awareness to the students in the CNMI about the importance of our marine resources. After completion of this lesson the students will be able to demonstrate greater understanding of our marine environment and the life forms that exist in it. In addition, they will be able to identify different ways we can help maintain and preserve our marine resources. This process will improve students' learning because it addresses differentiated instruction where students are able to explore and work collaboratively to accomplish a common goal. This type of activity gives students opportunities to work creatively with the use of technologies in the classroom.

I think the most important lesson I learned from this activity was basically learning how to use a web quest as a tool inside the classroom. I had never made one before so this was kind of difficult at first, but thanks to the people I worked with we were able to figure things out together. The online tool that we used, instantprojects.org, was very easy to use. I liked that everything we needed to do was right there on the first page, it was easy to follow. The only thing I didn't like was how difficult it was figure out some things such as changing the background picture or adding a sound clip. Other than that, it was a good tool. I would probably use it again if I don't find anything better.
Next time I do this activity I will probably explore more options that might be available for me to use online. If I happen to use this tool again it would probably be a little easier since I've had the experience, but I would really like to look into more web quest tools available out there.

Mind Mapping

I chose to do a mind map on a children's book called "The Saggy Baggy Elephant" by K. & B. Jackson. The story is about a young elephant named Sooki who did not know what kind of an animal she was. She was told by other animals that her skin was too saggy and baggy for her size. The book is basically about her trying to find out who or what she is and about her being comfortable in her own skin. I chose this book because of the lesson behind the story. It will help students see that there are many kinds of animals with different skin colors and physical appearances, just like people.

I chose to use this idea/graphic organizer because it will help students see how stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The major components and characters of the story are in order which will help the students see how all of it relate to one another and how they affect each other. This graphic organizer is another tool used to help students organize their thoughts and understanding of the story. It can also be used by teachers to assess the students' comprehension of the story. The most important lesson I learned from this activity is probably the fact that there are so many tools out there teachers could use to motivate students' learning. What I liked about using Gliffy to create the mind map is its simplicity. All the tools were very easy to access and use. The only problem I had was getting it linked to blogger, but after I figured it out it was quite simple. Next time I use this tool to do mind mapping, I will probably take more time to read through and really learn about each tool I could use. That's what held me back a bit because I had to familiarize myself with the program before I did my mind map.

Here's a play of the Saggy Baggy Elephant: