Google Searches and Web Portfolios

When I searched my name on Google, I found a few websites which I didn't even know still existed. When I was in high school, I had a Friendster account (a site which is similar to Facebook for those of you who haven't heard of it), a Livejournal and as of now I have a myspace page. So of course, those are all of the sites which first popped up when I typed in my name. Luckily, we had this assignment so that I could remember to DELETE these sites, for I'm sure they have a bit of information on them which might not exactly help me out if an employer were to see them. Oddly enough, my blog was further down on the list than my name on current people's Facebooks! As of right now, if an employer were to search my name on Google, they would find out stupid things that I wrote in high school about my life as it were, and only if they decided to continue to look would they find out the useful sites about me. This assignment has shown me that it can be beneficial for people to search for you on the internet, but that it is extremely possible that certain things may come up that you may not wish for them to see (depending on the situation). I would have been much happier if my blog, and my newly published website were the first on the list of sites that included my name, but this is not the case. Now that I have made a Blog and a website, people will be able to find out about the more professional side of me and what it is that I hope to accomplish with my life. This can prove to be very beneficial say it were an employer or the parent of a student in my classroom. When I tried searching my name on Yahoo!, neither my blog NOR my website showed up. This proves to me that if I would like people to be able to find these things simply by searching my name, then I need to figure out how to get them in that search engine.

I believe that the web portfolio will prove to be extremely beneficial in my future. I hope to be able to use it with my future employers to show them how professional I am and to demonstrate professional development in technology. I also hope that when I do become a teacher, that the parents of my students will feel comfortable navigating about the site, and will use it as a resource to learn more about me and how I plan to be a successful teacher. I believe it will prove to be a great resource, because it allows me to put links to many different pages which I may find to be valuable. I can create a whole page with valuable links to other sites that may have information about how parents can encourage/help their children with their homework or study habits, activities that they can do at home to further their child's education, or even sites where they can find ways to help their child if they believe they have a learning disability. It also creates an easy way for parents to find my e-mail address if they have questions or concerns, which I created a link to at the bottom of each of the pages on my site. I can also incorporate lesson plans into the website, where I can also put activities or even homework worksheets that parents can print out if their child forgets it at school. With links at the top of the page, parents can easily navigate between pages to find any information that they need. I have also been thinking that it may be beneficial to write a description of what people can find on each of the links on my page, so that a first-time user will not have to look at every page if they are looking for a quick solution. I believe that this portfolio will be a valuable asset to my future as a teacher.

Using RSS feeds to help parents learn how to help their children.

The gallery project I chose was the second one. This project asked us to find web pages which would provide students' parents with information about questions which they may be asking. I decided to find web pages that provided information on how to help students learn better study skills and homework management. I believe this is a very important topic for parents to learn. The reason why I believe this is so important is because learning cannot end in the classroom. In order for students to achieve to be the best that they can be, they need support in the home as well as the classroom. When parents are able to take the time to sit and help their children, it not only benefits the student, but it enables parents to know how their children are succeeding, where they are struggling and what they are learning in the classroom. Parents may also have strategies which they implemented when they were in school that could be different from what the teacher is teaching and beneficial to their children. Parents should know their children better than anybody else and should also know their capabilities and temperament and can be a great asset toward their learning. They can help build up their child's self-esteem with words of encouragement and pride and with the proper strategies, can really promote their child's education. At the same time, if the proper strategies are not implemented, this support could prove to be detrimental if it goes against what their child is learning in school. To try to help parents know which strategies to use and how, I believe that it will help students to become the best at doing homework that they can and the best test takers which they could be. For this reason, I searched the web for sites that would provide teachers AND parents with very useful strategies to use in the classroom and at home.

Although I have found that it can be difficult to find good websites which have these RSS feeds, when sites are found, they could prove to be very beneficial when I become a teacher. For student learning, having the RSS feeds on a classroom websites will allow students to easily find pages which I would like them to use for various assignments (without having to search the web and have the possibility of inappropriate sites popping up), coursework or other activities which I wish for them to do. Students will be able to stay up to date about what is happening in our classroom and for their assignments. Having the RSS feed will allow students AND teachers to know when new information has been added to sites which I would like them to be using since new content is automatically added. It is perfect for communicating with parents for many reasons. For example, as I stated above, it can enable parents to easily find tips which I believe prove to be beneficial which they can use to help their child succeed in the classroom. It allows students and teachers to stay up to date on what they need to know for succeeding. As a teacher, using RSS is important for professional development, because in our world of ever growing technology, an RSS feed can help us to find, exchange and implement information and resources which are useful for us in our classrooms. New content will automatically be uploaded for me to view and to be able to use for my own teaching advantages.

How Teachers Use Blogs

The Blog that I have found to like the most is the link to the educational Blogs. I found this to be a very useful site because it was easy to find Blogs that really related to what it is we are trying to learn in this course, and provided great examples of different ways that teachers can utilize Blogs in their classroom for the benefit of their students and their students parents. I believe that Blogs are a great way to remind not only students, but their parents as well, of assignments that we t urned in or that are due. It lets families know what went on in the classroom and what their children need to do as homework. The first example I found was called "The English Corner." It was for a sixth grade Language Arts class and provided a place for students to work with one another for their class. It had all of the assignments which the students were to perform and also required the students to use Blogs as part of their assignments. Technology is a very important part of our society and integrating it into the curriculum is a great idea.
Another example which I found to be interesting was also from the educational Blogs list. It was how a teacher was using iPods in the classroom. The teacher used podcasts in his classroom, which is something I have heard of but have never actually used. I like how the teacher wrote of each of his endeavors in using the podcasts and how he feels that they benefited his classroom.
I believe that using Blogs in the classroom is very important and beneficial to students and their parents. I would like to use Blogs so that when my students get home from school their parents can check my Blog to see exactly what it was that their children learned in school today, the assignments that they have and any papers which need to be signed and returned to me. I also felt that the "English Corner" idea was great in the fact that the teacher was enabling her students to learn a new technology and required them to use it. Kids love to use the computer and I believe that by requiring them to have assignments which use Blogs or Podcasts, that they are opening themselves up to our technological world, giving them a leg up for their future. They will also get enjoyment out of it. I am very interested in geography and I have had to use different websites in my own classes in college. It would be very fun to get students to be able to use these technologies to learn different aspects of geography and to even create their own blogs to demonstrate what they have learned.

My first Blog!

This is my first attempt at a Blog. I think I'm getting the hang of it!