Essential Questions

How is geometry used in the real world?

Why is it important to understand geometric constructions?

Why are geometric formulas useful in solving real-world problems?

Diversity Poster

This is my groups poster on diversity!

UDL Book- Where I Am From

This is the first page of my UDL book! Click on this picture to see more! 

A WebQuest About WebQuests

Your Role

___Efficiency Expert

___Affiliator

___Altitudinist

__X_Technophile

Your Impressions

WebQuest	Strengths	Weaknesses
John Wilkes Booth	The pictures in this WebQuest are a sufficient size. There are also many resources used to complete the WebQuest. I like the use of color. The color of the background and the font do not seem like they would be a distraction to the reader.	The pictures in this WebQuest do not completely give the reader visualization of what the time was like. Without the links the WebQuest would not have a lot of information.
Landfills	There are a lot of pictures used and the WebQuest is not dull. It contains color and I think this helps keep the reader's attention.	The pictures are very small and seem somewhat irrelevant. There were not any links that gave the reader access to learn more. This WebQuest could have been printed out and given as a worksheet.
Ancient Egypt	This Webquest provides beneficial resources which helps include all of the readers no matter what background knowledge they have of the topics. The readers are even led to use Powerpoint to complete a portion of the WebQuest. This WebQuest also provides eye catching pictures that keeps the reader focused on the task at hand.	Some of the words are colored in different shades of blue. It may be more beneficial to the reader if one of the shades of blue was changed to black. This may catch the reader's eyes better.
Creative Encounters	This WebQuest uses the pictures to involve the reader. Some of the pictures are animated which grasps the readers eyes. There are resources that lead the reader to more information.	The pictures are so small in some of them it is hard to decipher what the picture is. It is also hard to read some of the words because of their colors and the background. The animation of a few of the pictures is so fast it may distract the reader from the task at hand.

My group decided that the best WebQuest is John Wilkes Booth because it allows students to remain on task by not giving them anything too ahead of their level. The pictures provide quick visualization which helps the readers remain on task and interested in the topic. My group also concluded that the worst WebQuest was The Environmental Problems With Landfills because of the lack of focus and the poor quality. We thought that this WebQuest was a little over middle school student's heads. The WebQuest is not thorough enough for student's at this level to follow.

The Learning Power of WebQuests

In the article titled, "The Learning Power of WebQuests", three important ideas or things from the reading today are that when teachers use the Internet in this way it helps the students develop their active understanding of problems, prompting students at crucial stages of the process inspires confidence, and open-ended questions activate students’ prior knowledge and create a personal curiosity that inspires investigation and brings more understanding of the material, but the most important thing I learned is in a real WebQuest, newly acquired information undergoes an important transformation within learners themselves.

                                                        Every piece is important!

Song Analysis

I think that We're Just Like Crayons, My Wish and Gold all represent the importance of diversity, but the one I like the most is. In the music video of the song there are different situations where people are treated like they are an outcast. Situations took place in school, during a football practice, and late at night. Each time these situations would happen the person being treated like an outcast would be taken from the situation and join others that struggle with the same feeling. It is sad that people are treated like an outcast. I like how the people treated this way are shown that they are not alone. I like the encouraging lyrics. I think that they help people to hold their head up. Part of these lyrics are, "you're worth more than gold." The artist may have felt like an outcast at times in her life. This is shown in the video because at the end the artist was with all of the "outcasts."I think this song was made for people who are treated like they do not fit in or for people who are called hurtful names. The song is very upbeat and the song is catchy. People may be reminded of their past so in sections it may make people remember hard times in their life, but after that people will be happy because they will feel accepted. The tone is joyful and encouraging. This fits with the lyrics because she sings, "It's your time to shine." This song explains how life is hard sometimes for teens in high school. In America, everyone has a different personality and enjoys doing different activities. Everyone is not the same. If a students does not feel like they are accepted it may hinder the way that the perform in the classroom. Their grades may drop and they may feel alone in the classroom and not accepted and comfortable.

This song incorporates the stereotypes directed towards teens and informs them that they are important. Both boys and girls are included in this song and encouraged to shine no matter what others may say about them. The song convinces the reader that they are, "worth more than gold." In the article, "Precious Children: Diversity in the Classroom," the teacher's example is mentioned to be very important. Teachers should set the example in the classroom and not treat student's any differently because of their background. Teachers also should encourage their students to accept others and allow students from different backgrounds to communicate in order to break down the stereotypes shown in this song.

How Diversity Makes Us Smarter

Some of the things that I learned in the reading, How Diversity Makes Us Smarter, is that diversity can be difficult. Sometimes diversity can cause anxiety or even conflict. In the classroom a lot of teachers encourage their students to discuss topics with them and their classmates. I also learned from this reading that diversity encourages the search for novel information and perspectives and this leads to better decision making and problem solving. In order to understand the influence diversity has is through informational diversity. When students are put into groups, each student knows different information, has different ideas, and has experienced different things. Lastly, diversity works by promoting hard work and creativity and by encouraging the consideration of alternatives.

I really like this picture because I think that it represents how important diversity is in our society. 

Valuing Diversity

Three important ideas/things from the reading today are that diversity is defined in the dictionary as "the condition of being different," valuing diversity recognizes differences between people and acknowledges that these differences are a valued asset, when you value diversity, you maximize the positive impacts of your program for all children and youth, but the most important thing I learned today is by building positive peer influence, young people begin to change negative attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors about diversity. 

I really like this picture because it represents that children are the future. I think that it is important that teachers value diversity in the classroom. 

Reading Instruction For All Readers

Three important ideas/things from the reading today are content area literacy is important because students read texts from a variety of disciplines, close reading is a beneficial way for students to become effective readers of complex texts, and one of the most important and challenging responsibilities for school is to prepare students to read complex texts effectively, but the most important thing I learned from the reading is when teachers use research-based support from policymakers and administration they can help students at all grade levels to comprehend, draw evidence from, and compare across a wide variety of complex texts. One way my UDL book might support reading instruction for all students is that I am going to try to make it in depth and provide interesting information.

This picture shows students reading on technology and it represents students using digital technologies in order to improve writing motivation and achievement.