6712 Reflection

One of the most striking revelations that I had in this class was the importance of teaching my students to use the Internet correctly. In my health class we already had an assignment that the students took a worksheet and assessed the validity of certain websites against questions and other websites. I knew it was an important tool, but after taking this class there is so much more I can add to the assignment that will really hit the Accessing Information standard we use in our class. With the knowledge I have gained from this class I have learned how to expand the literacy to my students. I am unsure on what kind of practice my students get in other classes so I will now be sure to spend more time. To do this I will take sever class periods and use several of the worksheets that come from our book.

As I go forward as a teacher I am definitely going to focus on the synthesis aspect. After this class I understand that students need the practice of synthesis the the information and why it is important. Also that the students find the information, formatting it so they understand it, then taking the most valid information and synthesizing the information. I will use the process that the book went through:

· Questioning- What am I trying to do, where is my end point?
· Understanding the Resources- How will I find it?
· Evaluating-Is this what I need, does it answer my question?
· Synthesizing-What does the information mean?
· Transforming-What will I do with it?

I will take this circle and apply it with my students and have the students understand their material from this circle. The students often don’t understand where they are headed and/or how they get there and what does the information mean in the end. I will teach the circle in the beginning of the year next year and students will grow as they moves along.

The biggest step I will take to accomplish this I mentioned above. One think that we usually do is use graphic organizers to help record their thoughts. At the beginning of each unit I will have the students get out their graphic organizers and record the question. Then as we move through the unit they will answer each of the sections in their graphic organizer. I think this will help the students to understand and gain knowledge from my class that they might have missed before.

This class has added a dimension to my teaching that I think will provide a bridge for learning. Another thing I could do, is have my students use a blog that they can use instead of the graphic organizer. This depends though if they get the technology working better in our school. If they do I will make sure to incorporate it because of the importance of technology.

Resources

Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

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