Webquests are FUN and might be a great tool for the end of the year!
Are some of you packing your classroom to move? I know it's difficult to transition to a new school and yet have to teach at the same time but sometimes we all have been placed in these situations where we need to do this! We need to pack an entire classroom and get it ready to move by the end of the last day (yes this is true... sadly) and yet we have to continue to teach our students too. Do we get paid additionally to stay above and beyond those paid hours to continue working to pack up that entire classroom, that could consist of 20 years of teaching?? NO- we don't get paid extra and I don't know about other educators but I know that Florida educators with over a decade of experience make about $43,000... which isn't much when you have a family of four to feed.
So the question remains... how do you attempt to resolve this situation? How do you pack an entire classroom and continue to teach at the same time? I think a WEBQUEST for the class, could be a great solution for the time being... You can present the information, integrate it with some summer reading choices, and then allow students to choose partners for the activity. Then have them take turns using the computers to access the WEBQUESTS. If you don't have enough computers, pull some books from the media center to allow students, who are not on computers , to find information until they have a chance to access the computers. Rotate the groups every 15-20 minutes so that students have enough time to research their topics.
Here is a link to assist you in finding some wonderful WEBQUEST topics:
http://www.bydewey.com/webquests.html
As far as the topic of Teacher pay: Check back tomorrow to Read the upcoming post re: Diane Ravitch's letter to Legislature and watch her video.... then pass it to every educator you know.
If we are proactive and united... a change will begin to emerge.
