Hey all! Haven't posted in QUITE some time but here goes...
My web design goals are to make personal web pages that look professional. As a teacher, I will make sites to organize my classes and provide information for my students, and I want these sites to look professional because I believe the way your site looks says a lot about you. I love making pages that are multi-colored and visually appealing that look sleek and sophisticated yet fun and exciting, but because I haven't had much experience in web design I've had to rely on available templates at Googlepages. Using this site was fairly simple, but I found that I often had trouble with it inserting odd text that I didn't include or not formatting the way I wanted for no apparent reason...but thus is the nature of the template. I'm looking forward to learning web design so I will be able to create pages that reflect my personality and vision, even if it will entail a little more work. As far as tools for my own work, I only have IE on my personal computer, and I don't have any good design programs due to my computer's age (4 years old...I know time for an update), my current financial situation (a broke college student much like the rest of you), and my recent involvement in design classes. I would love to get a new computer early next year (preferably a Mac), Dreamweaver, Photoshop, a new digital camera and videocamera to assist in designing and creating interactive webpages for my future classroom.
Links to my previously created webpage:
http://mollymcallisterportfolio.googlepages.com/
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Ideal Classroom Layout
Our ideal classroom was a student-centered environment that was highly technological and manipulative. Our furniture was easily movable allowing for multiple floor plans to suit various activities and learning formats. Our room also used laptops for each student, various pieces of software, a smartboard, and flypens to enhance student learning as well as teach the skills necessary for 21st Century students. To put together this project, our group collaborated in class, through email, and especially on Google Docs. Using this medium allowed us to stay in teach even though we had very busy schedules that weren't conducive for group meetings.
Engaging in this process helped me see what was out there as far as classroom technology and furniture layouts. I learned what kind of floor plan would best suit my teaching and learning styles as well as what to expect for price ranges. This also opened my eyes to the opportunities available for students through the use of classroom technology. Many new activities can be done to enhance the learning if the tools are available to the students.
In the future, I want to include technology in my classroom. When planning my lessons, I want to know various strategies and activities I can use to increase student learning and participation for predetermined content. This also helped me in seeing the opportunities that are available for me as a teacher, and the various tools and softwares that I must familiarize myself with before I begin my teaching.
Engaging in this process helped me see what was out there as far as classroom technology and furniture layouts. I learned what kind of floor plan would best suit my teaching and learning styles as well as what to expect for price ranges. This also opened my eyes to the opportunities available for students through the use of classroom technology. Many new activities can be done to enhance the learning if the tools are available to the students.
In the future, I want to include technology in my classroom. When planning my lessons, I want to know various strategies and activities I can use to increase student learning and participation for predetermined content. This also helped me in seeing the opportunities that are available for me as a teacher, and the various tools and softwares that I must familiarize myself with before I begin my teaching.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Ed in '08
Hey guys!
Check out this video about the need for public education reform in the U.S. and let me know what you think. How could we improve the system and keep the U.S. competitive with other world powers?
http://www.edin08.com/voicefored/?gclid=CP_qic71pZECFUtyOAodHwW5eA
Check out this video about the need for public education reform in the U.S. and let me know what you think. How could we improve the system and keep the U.S. competitive with other world powers?
http://www.edin08.com/voicefored/?gclid=CP_qic71pZECFUtyOAodHwW5eA
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Brrrrr....it's freezing outside!!! I'm glad I can sit at home and cuddle with my blanket all night :)
Yesterday at the MySpace Generation Webinar, I was very intrigued by several pieces of information. For instance, I knew that Wikipedia was a very popular website, but I had no idea that it was now the top free online education site. I am very disappointed that a site this well known and used is banned in so many schools. I believe that it should be allowed for student use as long as a teacher addresses the fact that it can be modified by anyone, and that students should be very critical thinkers when using this information. Another idea that really impressed me was when Mr. O'Neal suggested using blogs from political and news websites as a lesson in effective vs. ineffective writing. Several such blogs often have people posting their opinions with no relevant backup information and many times complete with very explicit language. This would be an excellent real world example of why it is beneficial to have good writing skills. I also loved Mr. O'Neal's recommendation of sites such as Ning, Edutopia, and Teacher Tube because without his recommendation, I probably wouldn't have known of these excellent teaching resources.
So now what? How am I going to translate this to my own teaching? I believe that having a class Wiki will not only engage students in course material, but it will offer a great resource for students I will have in the following years so they know what to expect and the expectations I have for them. I also like the idea of using various sites to get my students communicating and collaborating online.
This webinar was very interesting and has really expanded my resources. We'll see where else I can incorporate these great ideas that Chris O'Neal presented!
Yesterday at the MySpace Generation Webinar, I was very intrigued by several pieces of information. For instance, I knew that Wikipedia was a very popular website, but I had no idea that it was now the top free online education site. I am very disappointed that a site this well known and used is banned in so many schools. I believe that it should be allowed for student use as long as a teacher addresses the fact that it can be modified by anyone, and that students should be very critical thinkers when using this information. Another idea that really impressed me was when Mr. O'Neal suggested using blogs from political and news websites as a lesson in effective vs. ineffective writing. Several such blogs often have people posting their opinions with no relevant backup information and many times complete with very explicit language. This would be an excellent real world example of why it is beneficial to have good writing skills. I also loved Mr. O'Neal's recommendation of sites such as Ning, Edutopia, and Teacher Tube because without his recommendation, I probably wouldn't have known of these excellent teaching resources.
So now what? How am I going to translate this to my own teaching? I believe that having a class Wiki will not only engage students in course material, but it will offer a great resource for students I will have in the following years so they know what to expect and the expectations I have for them. I also like the idea of using various sites to get my students communicating and collaborating online.
This webinar was very interesting and has really expanded my resources. We'll see where else I can incorporate these great ideas that Chris O'Neal presented!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
My First Post Ever...
So...this is my first ever blog post. Pretty cool huh? I must say that I'm not sure how I feel about the whole thing so far. I don't think I'm really interesting enough to have my own blog and I'm sure no one will read it, but oh well. I think I'm going to use this space to post cool things I find on the internet and stay tuned to see what those are :)
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