Technology Medley

This year, all teachers in Salem are being asked to have some sort of online presence for posting student assignments and other class information. Many of you already have a web page or blog, and you do an awesome job with these! For those of you who are just getting started, here are a few options:

Salem provides web space for all employees, so this is probably your most reliable option. However, it can also be time consuming to create your own web site. For that reason, we do have some templates available to help you get started. Here’s an example of one that Mrs. Beamer at West recently created. If you would like to start with something cute but easy, let me know and I’ll send you more information.

For more flexibility, but a steeper learning curve, you might want to create your site completely from scratch. Katie Crotts at South has a really cute kindergarten site that you might enjoy looking through.

You can update your web pages from home by using either FrontPage or Expression Web. You can find those directions here.

Other options include creating a blog or a wiki. Edublogs is designed specifically with educators in mind, but the free version does include advertisements. This is a wonderful blog site, and they will remove the ads if you upgrade to an Edublogs Supporter account for $40 a year. With this comes the ability to remove ads for up to 30 additional blogs.

Google’s blog platform, Blogger, is very easy to use. The only issue with this site is the Previous – Next Blog links that show up by default at the top of the page. These literally take you to random blogs, many of which are not appropriate for school use. There is a simple script that can be added to the code to remove these links, so if you want to use Blogger, go ahead and get started. Let me know when you’re set up and I’ll help you get rid of the navigation bar.

Wikis are very simple and quick web pages. There are several options online, but my personal favorite is Wikispaces. If you go to this page, you can apply for an ad free wiki. Our India wiki is a good example, but yours does not need to be this involved.

There are also numerous web sites that provide space for web site creation. I have not used any of these, but if you’re interested, please check them out. Be sure to check for ads and make sure you can live with them if there are any. If you find one you really like, let me know and we’ll find a way to make it work for you!

Weebly

Google Sites

Bloust

Yola

ClassJump

SchoolRack

Hipero

I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

Chances are excellent that if you’re reading this, you don’t need to read this! However, since I sometimes get questions from teachers about now to navigate a blog, I created a document with general instructions that I shared with the folks in my schools. I am well aware of how difficult it is for educators to keep with a multitude of papers and other resources they are given along with their very busy schedules, so I’m going to repost the information here. Hopefully, someone out there in cyberspace will find this helpful.

What is a blog? It started out simply as a log that was posted to the web. So, if you say “web log” quickly, it sounds like “blog.” I’m using my blog to communicate with the teachers in my 2 schools. You no longer need to try to keep up with emails or handouts that contain information you may need later on. You can just return to my blog page (http://blog.pamelgin.net) and search through the posts until you find the one you need

A blog is a very simple web page, but the readers can interact with the author by posting comments after any of the blog entries. Sometimes, whole conversations take place within these comment sections. Don’t hesitate to leave comments on any of my posts. I have this set so I have to approve comments before they actually show up though, so you may not see your comment immediately. You can also click on the comments links to see what other people have said.

To link to a blog, or to save it to your favorites, just choose the main blog address. For example, mine is http://blog.pamelgin.net. When you go to this web address, you will see the most recent post at the top. If you scroll down the page, you will see several other posts as well. But what if you want to see something that was written a few months ago? There are a couple of options in this case. In the right sidebar, you will see a list of categories. If you click on one of these categories, a page will appear that shows all of the posts that have been written about that particular category. So, for example, if you need some information about Accelerated Reader, you would click on the AR link. Underneath the Categories, you will see an Archives section. If you want to see what was posted earlier in the year, you click on one of the months and you’ll be taken to posts that were written in that particular month.

People add all sorts of extra things in the sidebars of their blogs called widgets. The blue box that contains handouts is an example of a widget. It actually links to another website where these handouts are stored

There is usually a Blogroll which is a list of links to other blogs that most likely are similar to the blog you are reading. There is often a Search textbox that allows you to search through all of the posts for a particular subject.

That’s about all there is to it! Blogs are very easy to create and maintain. If you’d like to create your own, let me know and I’ll help you get started!

Another vital part of my personal professional development is the time I spend in the evenings reading blogs written by other people who work in the field of instructional technology. Many of these folks share new resources and reflections from their own experiences. These blogs provide invaluable information for me as I strive to stay one step ahead of the teachers in my schools.

If you’d like to check out some of the blogs I read, they are listed in the sidebar under the title Blogroll. I also read some general motivational and inspirational blogs that are not necessarily education related but are still quite interesting.

I use Google Reader to keep up with new posts in these blogs. There is no way I could visit each of these sites every day to see if there was anything new. With Google Reader, I go to one page on the internet and that page tells me what is new on all of the blogs I subscribe too. That’s the magic of rss….but that’s a post for another day.

Here are some examples of teacher blogs at both South and West Salem Elementaries. Check them out, and if you like what you see, leave a comment! If you would like to create your own blog and need help getting started, let me know!

Books and More Books
Mr. Harrell has students and teachers at South Salem respond to questions about the books they are reading

Math Survivors
Mrs. Hollar has her students (and former students) respond to questions about her math class

Mrs. Edwards Fourth Grade Class
Mrs. Edwards is using her blog to post homework assignments and to communicate with parents

Mrs. Atkins Fourth Grade Class
Mrs. Atkins has her students comment on books they are reading

Mrs. Bowles Fourth Grade Blog
Mrs. Bowles just set up her blog, so stay tuned for more entries here later. She plans to use the comments sections for student responses to her questions and topics.

Mrs. Crotts Class Blog
Mrs. Crotts uses her blog to keep her parents informed about events in her kindergarten class

Mrs. Hall’s Blog
Mrs. Hall is planning to use her blog for student responses to novels they are studying in fifth grade.
If you have a class blog that is not listed here, please let me know so I can tell everyone about it. Blogging is easy, it’s fun, and it can be addictive. Check out the handout in the blue box widget on this page, and become a part of the edublogging nation!

Welcome back to school! I’m going to start posting information on this blog that I think will be helpful to the teachers at my two schools. You will find a link to my blog underneath my signature on my email messages, and I will let you know when I make updates. You may notice an ever expanding list of categories in the column to the right. By clicking on a category item, you will be able to see all blog posts that relate to that particular tag or category. Watch for categories related to digital images, Accelerated Reader, and Kerio webmail coming soon.

By the way, blogs are a terrific way to communicate with parents without the time involved in creating an actual web page. Even if you already have a web page, you might want to consider a blog for posting homework and other information that changes with some frequency. You can always link your blog from your website.

Why not check this simple and new form of communication for yourself? I’ll be happy to help you get started!