Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Overwhelmed

So today I began reading about the NEW webquests. I've made three webquests in the past. One was a very simple one that encouraged the students to explore cloning. It was mainly one of those "here, go to this site, answer this question" type. The two major webquests I made were about the Olympics and Redesigning a Room. In each of these webquests there were choices that the students could make but both were designed for a math class, one 7th or 8th grade level the other 5th or 6th grade level. I was quite proud with both of them. (None of them are currently online)
However, now that I've read the new direction that webquests need to go I'm at a bit of a loss. As I was reading I find that webquests tend to lend themselves more to the upper levels - 7th grade and up. The highest age level I work with at this time is 5th grade. It also seems that webquests are better aimed at Social Studies or cultural issues, possibly some science. I however, teach math and hopefully technology. I don't know how to have such an open ended discussion about Math.
The MyPlace project is great, but doesn't seem to fit into anything I could do with my kids. How do I create a webquest that will be appropriate for my 4th and 5th graders, that incorporates Math (and some Reading) or technology? Given my current position, I would most like to focus on the 4th grade level as I work well together with the 4th grade teacher and feel my project will actually be able to be utilized.
At this point, I'm flabbergasted, but I will read on.. the following articles and see if they help clear things up. The new webquest will definitely be a worthwhile challenge.

One last concern... how do I create a webquest that has not already been created? It seems like there are 1000s of them out there, how can I create a unique one?

No comments: