Activity #8: Ddribbling Lessons

I have had an opportunity over the last couple of weeks to look at the lessons online. One of the really great features of the lessons is the way they flow from one lesson to the next. It is great to see the link to the standards. Made me wish that I had been able to utilize the unit when I was teaching computer to the middle school students. I did variations of the lessons, but nothing as complete as this is. Many of the lessons could easily be adapted to a younger audience which would help build a foundation for these lessons at a later stage of the students learning curve. Example: indexes and table of contents. Many students are completely unaware of what I am talking about when they come in looking for a book and I say here are several that may help you, look in the index and see if you subject, topic, or individual is listed. Blank stare! I am planning on using several of your great examples for source notes, especially the one for internet websites. Students are not sure what is needed for the citation. With History day fast approaching this is a tool that will come in handy. I personally could use the lesson on Boolean searches!

Activity 9 Streaming Video

I had the opportunity to attend a workshop in the fall given by the district for Media Specialists in which UnitedStreaming was demoed, and I had an opportunity to explore the features of the website. I found the lessons and videos on the secondary level to be quite extensive. As the manager of the password for Henry I quickly passed on the passwords and features to the Henry staff. Many of the staff took the challenge to explore and I know there are several staff utilizing the website. I personally have not downloaded any of the videos but I have had fun looking at some of the video's on some of my favorite topics. We are asking staff to avoid downloading the videos during the school day. We are concerened that if a large number of staff download at the same time especially during our heavy useages times the system slows to a crawl. I will try to report back on this topic once our history day projects begin. I hope to find videos to download and make available to students on various topics that they may choose.