Blog #6

I visited my old elementary/middle school website and was happy to see that they have updated it since I've been there. The class pages, however, are not that exciting. They are pretty boring and there is a lot of blank space, but I guess it works in this case because parents are not really looking for "pretty," they are looking for specific information and important dates. I clicked on a few class pages and noticed that most of them contain the teacher's picture, contact information, and announcements like upcoming tests dates and homework assignments. Some teachers even included a gallery of pictures of their kids doing in class projects and school activities. The school is St. Agatha Catholic School in Miami, Florida and I went through all the grades including the special education classes. I noticed that the class pages for special education were more updated and contained more information than the regular grade class pages. This is probably because the parents of students in special ed will be more reliant on these sites. Here is a screen shot of one of the special education class pages:

I envision myself using technology creatively to fit the different learners of my classroom. Since teachers do not often get to choose the software they use in class, I am going to have to be creative with what I am given and make the best out of it for my students. I can use technology like electronic spreadsheets to make charts. formulas, and "what if" analysis--which will help a lot with importing grades. I can also make presentations using PowerPoint and display it on the smart board. Database management can help me with writing forms, reports, and emails to parents and/or administration. There are endless amounts of technological resources that I should familiarize myself with because they will make my job a lot easier!

The Web Evaluation assignment helped with finding reliable websites that are also really useful for teachers and students. The website I evaluated is called EdHelper.com and it has worksheets and activities for all grade levels and multiple subjects. I know a few of my elementary and middle school teachers used this website because I was given worksheets with that same logo on the paper. The sheets provided on this website are great practice and are beneficial for teachers who don't have time to make their own. This assignment led me to this website which I'm grateful for because I see myself using it in the future. This assignment also helped guide me through the process of what to look for in a website when I become a teacher, like currency, accuracy, authority, etc. The wiki page was a little difficult to navigate at first but after we got the hang of it, it was not too bad. In the future this evaluation process will help me pick out reliable and credible websites and use them as a tool in educating.