Classroom Websites

A classroom website is an ideal tool to incorporate into the classroom when integrating technology and to add another line of communication. As an assignment for a graduate class I am taking this summer, I created a classroom website that can be updated to fit my needs and my classroom’s needs. The site at this point is still a work in progress since I don’t have a classroom yet, but it does have the main framework for the site.

In my own teaching I will use a classroom website as a way to give parents information about the class, upcoming events, and class projects with assignment details. I will also use the site to display the students work including podcasts and screencasts that can be viewed and listened to at home or in the classroom. For older grades, such as fourth or fifth grade, I would also include student blogs where students can post their projects, publish their writing, and write summaries of activities and/or concepts that they have learned. Another aspect that I will include on my website will be links to educational/helpful websites for students and parents.The website also includes a form where parents or students can contact me with questions.

I believe that websites can be another tool to engage students in their learning as well as provide a convenient place for parents to get up- to- date information about the class.

Managing Transitions: Word of the Day

While solo teaching in my second grade mentor classroom, I adopted management tool for transitions called “Word of the Day.” My students loved having the word of the day since they were the ones who picked it. The Word of the Day was a way to review the week’s vocabulary from multiple content areas in addition to an effective management technique which requires the students to hear all of the directions before moving.

Students were chosen by pulling Popsicle sticks with their names on them. The first person drawn from the cup of Popsicle sticks chose the content area that the vocabulary word would come from, the second person pulled chose the Word of the Day. Once the Word of the Day was chosen, the class and I would discuss what the word meant and practiced using the word in a sentence with a partner. Students were drawn to this activity because the Word of the Day was chosen by a student; they felt ownership of the word and in turn listened intently for the word to be said before they followed the teacher given directions.

This video is titled Ms. Noonan: Managing Transitions comes from Teachingchannel.com. It is a great example of how to use the Word of the Day technique in upper grades.

Technology: How does it Relate to Humanity?

As with many things, technology has its pros and cons. But technology is an aspect of the world that will not going away, it is of the present and of the future. Our students have grown up in a world … Continue reading →