Welcome to the House of Martin!

 

Microsoft Excel Assignment (1/24/08):

 

One of the ways I could utilize Microsoft Excel as a "mindtool" in my history classes would be to have students complete a spreadsheet about important battles that were fought during the Civil War. 

 

Students would be given a list of battles, and then they would be required to find the following information: the name of the Union General, the name of the Confederate General, the state in which the battle was fought, and the year in which the battle took place.  Then, the students would be required to construct their spreadsheet.  A sample of what I would expect follows:

 

civil war battles 2.xls 

 

Students would also be instructed to add filters to each of their headings.  That would allow them to use the spreadsheet to answer a series of questions that I would have for them.  Questions could include: 

 

1)List all of the battles in which Robert E. Lee was the Confederate General.

2)Which state saw the greatest number of battles?

3)During what year did most of the fighting take place?

 

 

Microsoft PowerPoint Assignment (1/31/08):

 

Students will be asked to view the presentation in order to learn information about the following Civil War battles: the First Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, and the Battle of Gettysburg.  In order to review and test their knowledge of the first few slides, students will be required to complete a brief quiz about the battles.

 

The presentation is in kiosk mode, and can be viewed by clicking the link below:

 

 

civil war 3 for class.ppt 

 

 

Virtual Tour Assignment (2/14/08):

 

During a unit about the presidency, American History/Civics students would be asked to take a virtual tour of the White House, which can be found at the following link:

 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/whtour/ 

 

Students would first take the "Historical Tour" by clicking on each of the rooms/areas shown on the map.  After clicking on a room, they are taken to a page that provides historical information about the room.  The students will need to record two interesting facts about each of the rooms.

 

Next, the students will be asked to click on the link that says, "Panoramic," under the "Tours" section of the menu on the left-hand side of the screen.  When they do so, they will be taken to a page that allows them to get a panoramic view of each of the rooms.  The students will be asked to choose five of the rooms, and to write a brief, one-paragraph description of what they see in each of the rooms.

 

I anticipate that this activity would take between 1-2 class periods.

 

 

Webquest Assignment (2/21/08):

 

Here's the link:

abe lincoln webquest.doc 

 

 

Chatroom Assignment (3/18/08):

 

(I was unable to access the gabbly site...so I wasn't able to create my own chatroom.)

 

Option #1: A lesson plan that utilizes a chat room with me serving as the moderator...

 

I think that having a discussion to review for a test is an excellent way to use a chat room.  Here's how I would do it:

 

1) Since students have busy and conflicting schedules, I would make the chat room review an optional assignment.  To encourage participation, I would offer three bonus points on the test to students who participate in a constructive manner during the review.

2) The chat room review discussion would be active for three nights before the test.  Students would be allowed pick the night that is most covenient for them to participate --- they need not be "present" for all three of the nights, although they could certainly do so if desired.

3) During the review discussion, students will ask questions about the material that will be covered on the test.  I'll provide answers, but other students will be encouraged to chime in and provide their thoughts and insights as well.

4) Here's what I expect from the students in order for me to consider their participation "constructive:"

               * They must be present in the chat room for at least 30 minutes.

               * They must ask at least one good question and provide at least three comments that further

                  the review.  One word answers ("Yes" "No") and inappropriate comments will not be

                  accepted.

 

Positives:

1) This would be a simple and easy way for me to supplement classroom instruction.

2) Students who feel intimidated in a normal classroom setting might be more inclined to ask questions and provide insight in a chat room.

3) We all know that one of the best ways to learn about something is to teach about it...by providing their thoughts and comments, students would be teaching themselves about the subject matter.

 

Negatives:

1) Although requirements would be in place to try to encourage "constructive participation," it would be very difficult (impossible?) for me to gauge just how attentive the students in the chat room were.  

2) Chat rooms can be confusing places.  Although I would anticipate the number of students in the chat room to be manageable, it would be possible for me to find myself facing a situation where around a hundred students from various sections all made their way into the chat room on the same night.  Questions and comments would be flying around...many could go unnoticed and unanswered.

3) Elements of answers or comments could become "lost in translation."  In other words, I might give an answer that makes perfect sense to me, but could be unclear to the students.  During a face to face conversation, I would be able to see their blank expression and try to clarify myself.  In a chat room, this might not happen.

 

 

Blog Assignment (3/25/08):

 

Here's the link to the blog:

 

http://martymoose.21classes.com

 

Blogging could prove to be a very rewarding and enriching activity for students and teachers.  As with participation in a chat room, students who feel shy or intimidated in a traditional classroom setting may feel more freedom to express their thoughts in a blog.  Requiring them to blog will also improve students' writing skills --- and could be an easy way for teachers to fulfill any "writing across the curriculum" requirements imposed on them by certain school districts.  Also, students may be more enthusiastic about composing a blog that could potentially reach an audience of millions, than they would be about writing a traditional composition to be read by the teacher.

 

There are some potential drawbacks, however.  As administrator of the blog, I'm guessing that I will have control over the content of the students' posts.  However, it would always be possible for some computer-savvy student to hijack the site and post inappropriate material for all the world to see.  Also, plagiarism and cheating might be easier since the students have quick and easy access to the thoughts and writings of others.  Students might also form opinions based on the mistakes or erroneous views of others.  The teacher would need to be diligent in carefully reading, checking, and responding to the views presented in all posts...which could potentially lead to a very heavy workload.

 

I could see myself using blogging in various history classes.  It's an activity that puts a new spin on several traditional history projects.  For example, I could ask students to pretend that they are a Civil War soldier, and ask them to blog about their experiences during several battles.  The students would need to show their knowledge of the events, and might enjoy being able to role-play a historical figure.  Also, sometime in the future when all students (and teachers) have their own, school-issued, laptops I could envision field trips where students write daily blog entries detailing their experiences of the trip.