Brian Tombs

SLM 521

Teacher Web-site Activity

Teacher Made Websites Elective Activity

When trying to find teacher websites I went to the Google.com search engine. I used “teacher made websites” as my first search term and found mostly commercialized websites. I then used “teacher created websites” and had much more luck. I actually found websites created BY teachers themselves, not for teachers. Here are two teacher created websites I found.

http://www.vusd.k12.ca.us/rms/websites.html: This website was created by an 8^th grade teacher, Ms. MacDonald in California. The teacher created a website for her students at Roosevelt Middle School. There were about 4 parts to this websites with links for students go to other pages. There was an interactive classroom link, a virtual classroom link, a site linking students to a page involving the school’s football team, and a link containing the school’s curriculum.

The site was very well organized and easy to use. Anyone would be able to go on this website, find what they are looking for, and explore the world inside Roosevelt Middle School’s 8^th grade. The interactive classroom and virtual classroom links were a lot like this class. They look like they were set up for the students in Ms. MacDonald’s class. Each student can go on the website and view assignments, instructions and his or her grade for each assignment. This is a great way to keep the student organized and up to date with each task. The site was also very neat and not overly crowded and busy.

The site could maybe have a little more educational links. The links were very specific to the school. The link to the football team, though important to the school, does not have much educational value. The other links, the virtual classroom and interactive classroom, were so specific to that particular class that no one else, from another jurisdiction or curriculum could successfully use them.

http://www.tfs.k12.nj.us/srs/teacher_created_websites.htm: This website was very detailed and full of links! Swimming River School was featured on this website and many teachers in the school, together, developed the site. There were separate links for each teacher. There was a 5^th grade, 4^th grade, and Gifted & Talented link, as well as others. Each link opened up into a particular teacher’s homepage and had every subject’s curriculum. English, social studies, science, history, etc. were outlined for each class.

This link was so detailed and covered every subject. Lesson plans for each subject were also on the site, which is a great way for other teachers, from different schools to get ideas about planning different lessons. This is a type of site, unlike the other one reviewed, that is not so specific to a particular school that no one else would benefit from it. While it is, of course, centered on Swimming River School, the lesson plans and curriculum ideas will be useful for all teachers!

The site, however, was a bit too busy. It could be a little intimidating to users who are not that familiar and comfortable with the Internet. The initial homepage was black and blue, which was very hard on the eyes and it looked, at first glance, to be a site specifically for science teachers. Only after navigating the site for a couple minutes did I realize that it was a website for a number of teachers at the school and it covered almost every subject area. It did not seem to cover anything on physical education. The other website, at least, had a link to the school’s football team. This site, however, seemed to just focus on just the core subjects and ignored Physical Education.