To start this entry off, I have to thank those of you that commented on my last post. It’s certainly not easy to feel like you’re always playing from behind, but it is helpful to know that I’m not alone here. It makes this all seem a little less daunting.
Now onto the next task, finding out what makes any of these school websites worth looking at. The article by Dr. Jamie McKenzie gave me a decent idea of what I should be looking for, but at first I had trouble identifying some of the things he was talking about. I quickly realized that the problem wasn’t with his guide, I was just looking at some bad sites. Some of the school sites just looked lazy and hastily put together. I couldn’t find anything more than a couple bragging announcements or notices about snow days (and there weren’t even enough of those). But, after blindly clicking on links in DE, I think, I switched over to GH and clicked on Paramus, the most familiar name I saw.
As it turned out, this was a pretty decent stroke of lazy luck. The Paramus site was impressive and very easy to navigate, very important for me. Whatever I was looking for I found and found quickly. I messed around on the site a little longer before clicking on the “teacher’s notes” link, which lead me to the teachers’ personal pages. I liked seeing how every teacher was involved with this project. They posted their assignments online, offered a place where students could ask for help, really made a hub to give the students more of what they need.
Some, however, pushed this idea even further. Mr. David Allocco set up a page that gave his students practice tests and links to independent material that pertained to his lessons, and photography teacher Dennis Dalelio posted instructional videos, sample photos from some of the better-known artists in the medium. All of these professors showed their students how to achieve and gave them their credit when they did. Every teacher in the system was able to use the school site to post assignments and announcements, but the efforts of these professors went above and beyond and showed me a bit more about the potential of these sites as way to reach their students, and make sure that they always have a way to find what they need.
I am glad that you see some value in what he has written. I have searched for simple and useful guidelines to share with teachers. Good websites encourage high traffic and interaction. Keep this in mind when you create your webpage as a teacher. Also, hyperlink the website/webpage you are critiquing. It allows us to directly link to what you are speaking about.
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