Educational Websites

I really enjoyed reviewing my educational website and hearing what other students thought of theirs. My site was a social networking site. At first, I was a little skeptical as to whether or not a social networking site could be effectively utilized in a classroom. Once I signed up for it and played around with the settings, I started to realize how it could be used. I had to get into a teacher mindset before I could really understand how to best utilize my site and other sites. I tried to think of some projects that I have done in the past and how I could use the sites to enhance those projects, which gave me a lot of ideas. On Monday, I actually rearranged lessons in the technology class I teach so I could have the students use one of the sites, which they enjoyed.

Blogger

I had always been interested in setting up a blog. I could never seem to find the motivation to do it however, as it seemed like I always had something else to do. I also felt like setting up a blog would be time consuming. Now I feel foolish knowing that I once felt that way. I was surprised by how easy and intuitive blogger was. It’s also great because it really is a useful tool to use as a teacher. I think it will definitely come in handy as an administrator as well. To be honest, there are few assignments I receive where after doing, I am happy the assignment was given. This was one of those assignments I am glad was given.

Sunday

I feel better about the Wiki than I did on Saturday. After spending more time on it, I am more comfortable with the creation and purpose. The last hour of Sunday's class was very useful. Getting to see the benefits and uses of that many websites in such a short time made me realize that there is so much out there that I am completely unaware of.

Sunday, March 29

I enjoyed looking at the different websites. I thought Cooliris was pretty...well...cool! You can really find A LOT of pictures on there! I am also glad we had time to add to our wiki's and blog's. I am using my blog with my reading classes everyday. We have also linked the blog site to our school website where we post homework for our Blue Team. Of course the YouTube videos are blocked by our filter, but the students with internet access at home can view them.

Blog and Wiki Pages

I am really going to find the blog and wiki pages useful. The blog page is great for parents and athletes of my track team to have a place to find information about track. A lot of parents don't understand track as well as other sports such as basketball. I think the blog page will allow them an opportunity to ask question and get answers about track. I am hoping to use the wiki page as a calendar that parents and community members can use to put down important dates on a school calendar. It allows parents and students to find out information and upcoming events. It is also possible to link different events to their own website or wiki page. For example, if the park district is having a special event, a parent looking at the page will be able to click on the event and will be linked to the park district event wiki page or website. What a great tool the wiki page can be for a school event calendar!

Excel-Saturday

I am still amazed at how many different tasks can be done on excel. I was very comfortable using excell to keep track of information. After going over all of the different ways to do data, I am excited about all of the different ways I will be able to use excel as a teacher and as a principal. I am also amazed at how easy it is to use. I have already taken a personal excel page I use in my classroom for behavior and made some changes such as averaging and making a chart or graph. I found it very benificial and will continue to use excel even more. I also feel comfortable enough to figure out other ways to use it for different projects.

2nd Weekend Excel

I can't decide whether I love excel or hate it. It seems like it is capable of doing awesome things. When I am in class I can follow along and get the desired end result. When I am on my own I get very frustrated because no matter how good I think my notes are I do not end up with the correct end result. I think that this class could probably be twice as long and still not cover everything.