Field+Test

Since this inquiry project was written for my eighth grade science class, I asked three of my colleagues or peers to review the lesson for me. One is the current eighth grade writing teacher, and two are current media specialists. I thank them for their words of encouragement and helpful advice.  //Eighth grade writing teacher //  “ Wow! I think that this is great! I think the kids would totally get into this. I really like that this is something your advanced kids could just go ahead and complete while you could work with the others. I think your directions are very clear and I like that you give step by step instructions for how to complete the wiki pages. Also, I like that you provide examples of what things could look like. For example, the voice threads. I liked that you provided an actual example I could see. This looks awesome!!”  //Garrett Middle School Media Specialist //  “The website is great. I was able to access it here at school. I tried at home last night and had some trouble downloading the website. I was working on something else on my computer and that could have been why it didn't download for me. The information was clear and easy to understand. I am unfamiliar with this format and was wondering if pictures could be added to make the pages and concepts more distinct.  I can see where this website would work better with an Apple operating system. Many of the links for garage band, comic life, etc. were dead ends unless I wanted to purchase a version of the program for PCs.  Overall, I can see that this format for doing an assignment would really appeal to students. They always do assignments more willingly when it involves a computer. I know that putting this wikispace together was very time consuming, but the end result is very impressive and will be a great source to use each year. Thanks for sharing it with me.”  //<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Churubusco High/Middle School Media Specialist // //<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">(Recent Graduate of IUPUI, SLIS Program) // <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">“Wow! It's interesting to see how the final projects for this class are <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">evolving. You have many of the same elements that I had to include in my <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">final project when I took the class a few years ago, but the technology <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">platform for your project takes it to another level. The kids will be <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">engaged with creating the wiki space and the other tech projects-Dave <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">can tell you that his kids love working on their wiki project. One of <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">the things they like is that the wiki allows them to partner with <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">friends from other class periods. My media center is always packed w/ <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">his students before and after school while his project is in the <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">works-they love working on it. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">I thought your pathfinder was amazing! You have links to tons of <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">resources, and you have me thinking of how I might be able to do <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">something similar for some of my teachers' projects. I also am very <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">intrigued by the voice thread and am going to think about how we might <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">be able to incorporate that into stuff we're doing at 'Busco. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">I like that the wiki has everything laid out from the get-go. They know <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">exactly what they will be doing, because your task and process pages <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">spell everything out for them. The check list and rubric are detailed, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">which is very good. I also like that the kids can see from the beginning <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">the kinds of reflection questions they will need to answer (both about <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">themselves and their partners). Knowing how they will be assessed can be <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">a huge motivator for many kids to stay on task and to push themselves. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">A couple things to fix, though, are that you mention the periodic table <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">and elements in a few places (looks like you changed topics after you <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">started). On the "Teachers & Librarians" page, you mention the periodic <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">table in the "purpose" section; on the "Process" page, in the "Step 1" <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">section, you mention picking an element (instead of a planet); your <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">rubric is labeled "periodic table" (on the rubric itself and on the link <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">to the rubric). <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Also, when I tried the link to your voice thread example (rock climbing <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">101), I got a 404 message (page not found).”
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Canden Dunn **
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Laura Souder **
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Ben Moore **<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">