Blog Post #6

    Most schools require teachers to maintain a set of class pages on the school website. The school website that I visited was Elms Elementary School. I visited this blog and looked at a few class pages. The information that I see publicly is that school resources and the Elms Directory. I like the way that this class page was set up and how they organized their information for the students and the adults to view. On this website they have a class pages section that you can click on and read information about arts, computer science, english, literacy, mathematics and etc. 
This is Elms Elementary School and it is filled with ages ranging from kindergarten-fifth grade.
    I envision myself using technology to accomplish my professional responsibilities more efficiently and effectively. I will want to use a school website similar to the this one and the ones that I found online. I think that these websites really help students and adults to view and find out information they need to know. I like that this is used for communication for teachers and parents. I think that using a website like Blackboard and Pinnacle to upload grades for the students to see is also useful.
    Some new skills that I acquired from working on the last assignment is how to make a Web Evaluation Form and how to find information from the websites I am looking at. I definitely learned some critical skills but found the assignment to be incredibly difficult. From now on, I will make sure check websites and make sure that all the information is correct, as well as grammar and everything else.

Web Evaluation Form 

Authority	Yes:	No:
Can you see what authors contribute to the website?		X
Are there links to other forms of media they can found in on the internet?	X
If an author is not found, is there a publisher?	X
Is the author or publisher qualified?	X
Purpose
Does this website end with a professional URL or non-professional? (.org, .edu or .com)	Professional:	Non-professional:  X
Is this website trying to sell something?		X
Does the website provide relevant information?	X
Objectivity
Does this website promote advertisements?	X
Is the objectivity of this website clear?	X
Does this website provide trustworthy and reliable information?	X
Accuracy
Does this website provide actual resources?	X
Does this information seem factual?	X
Are there grammar mistakes?		X

Blog Post #5

     Web 2.0 tools are no longer an optional classroom element due to the ELA standards. First, I think Youtube is an important 2.0 web tool. Youtube videos are very useful and resourceful when presenting presentations and explaining something to the class. Not only can Youtube videos be relatable but they're also interesting to the students. Also, I agree with the podcast that a classroom blog for the students is an important 2.0 tool. I think that a classroom blog is good for students and teachers to discuss different topics and ideas. I like how with a classroom blog, students are able to see what other students think about different things and what their opinion is. When dealing with the internet, it is important to make use of safeguards. I think that the kind of equipment, as discussed in Chapters 5 and 6 would be smart boards and maybe something with audio so that the students are able to hear the information rather than just look at it.

    The interesting web 2.0 tool that I chose was "delicious." Delicious is a newsfeed that has trending topics running down the page. When looking at this, it kind of reminded me of Twitter. I think that this could help my students do research and figure out what kind of topics they like and are passionate about. This also helps the students to know what important things are going on around the world that they may need to know about. Even though it was a page full of trending topics, I didn't like the amount of trending topics that there were. I think my students might get a little confused and have so much to look at. 

https://delicious.com/

    Some new skills that I acquired while working on the last assignment is how to make a concept map in general. I've never made one before so I found it really interesting and fun. I like how you can make the bubbles different colors and add words on the lines to connect the two bubbles together. When I am a teacher, I know that I will probably be using concept maps a lot with my students and it could help them with their assignments. When completing my assignment I liked doing it, but I found that it was a lot of different information to include and a lot of words in each bubble. Concept maps have definitely been one of my favorite assignments. I also learned a lot about World War l!

Blog Post #4

    One standard that I found I could use to teach my students is LAFS1112.L.3.5: The student should be able to demonstrate understanding of word relationships, figurative language, and nuances in word meanings.a.) Interpret figures of speech in context and analyze their role in the text.b.)  Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.-http://www.tc.umn.edu/~rozai001/poetry/index.html
I would use this resource in my classroom for when we are discussing and going over anything that has to do with poetry. I would create classroom assignments and homework assignments with this. This resource could also help my students with making progress in the classroom. The students can analyze their role in the text and nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.

    I have searched for and evaluated Internet-based resources for use in school work in the past mainly by just searching in the the Google search bar or Bang. I want to start using Google Scholar more, now that I know how to use it after learning about it in class. For English class I use the FSU library and search for articles from there, mostly on JSTOR. In the podcast, it says that using OER commons you can reuse, remix, and revise. OER commons is a freely accessible online library that allows teachers to search and discover open educational resources and other instructional material. I found that incredibly interesting. I can't wait to use OER commons in the future for my future students.

    After working on the Web Hunt assignment I acquired some new skills. I actually found the Web Hunt to be incredibly difficult because I have never done an assignment like it before, but I did learn a lot. I learned a few websites that I can use in the future to help me with teaching my students. For example, some websites include blogging websites, mapping websites, and picture websites. I learned how to "hunt" for websites. I also learned a lot about the ELA standards and what those are all about and what they mean. 

    Create 2­-3 of your own web hunt challenges and post them for your classmates to solve. 

Question	Name of Tool and ELA Standard	How did you search for this information?	Link URL
Your students are participating in the Science Fair and you would like to provide them various websites that can help them with their research, where could you find this?	(name of website(s))
You want to provide your students with a website of math problems that they can do for extra practice for their tests, what website could they use?	(name of website)