Blog Post #6

    To find a school website and look at their class pages I just went back to my old high school's page and then explored some old teacher's pages because I knew that those pages were not locked and open to see. I first looked at the home page of the website and how it had been changed to be easier to navigate for the students and parents, this also allows doe better organization of material. I then went to a history teachers page because this is also the subject I would want to teach and he also coaches soccer so he has a tab for that off to the side. Not only does he have soccer separated he has his different classes separated so that its easier for each class to find the correct material and not go to the wrong page. In my option this website is laid out pretty well, however the design is a little boring but that doesn't really matter in my option because they are older kids they really shouldn't need a fancy website for learning.

    I envision myself using these tools to accomplish my job easier and more efficiently, of these tools I think that I would use the Microsoft Office suit the most often. This is because of the ability to edit and re-use these tools over and over again that way there is less time spent on making the same plan over and over again. I will also use this the most often because I can share with other teachers and that way I can trade and give out lesson plans and worksheets so I can get fresh worksheets for the students that are different from the ones I create. I also think I would use a spreadsheet to keep track of important info like grades, that way if I were to lose something or if there was a mistake in the grade-book I could use my personal spreadsheet to correct the error.

    One of the pieces of technology that I think would be very useful in the classroom would be the Smart Board that I got to play around with in the Sandbox. This board allowed for the direct interaction with the material on the board and unlike a projector can be touched and written on without worry. I could use this to play study games and teach different information with because I know from my experience if I got involved I learned more effectively and quicker. I also think that because of the ability to pull game templates off their website I could find games that would be fun that I never would have thought about before.