Two Teacher's Websites

In last week's blog I observed at Ms. Lau's webpage and found that it was fun, interactive, and helpful.  Ms. Lau's webpage was easy to navigate, and does a good job at integrating learning and fun using videos, Facebook, and even rap songs to learn biological concepts. This page was similar to Ms. Hanson's webpage in that it is also easy to navigate, is interactive using the flashcards to study, that made me feel like I wanted to learn Mandarin, and outlined all of the course objectives. It also has good outside links to a dictionary, and to a typing program. The biggest difference I found between these two webpages is that Ms. Hanson's webpage focuses on the student and the parent. It has sections for the parent to understand what Mandarin Chinese is, and how it is read or write it, and course objectives. Whereas, Ms. Lau focuses on the student, and not at all on the parents.While I do think that it is important to keep the parents informed, and this is a good way to do it,  if I had to choose I would also focus more on the student's learning. Both webpages are very good, educational, detailed, easy to navigate, and an extension of their classrooms  which is the most important aspect.

Week 2- North Bergen High School

North Bergen High School's webpage was overall acceptable, not stellar. The website is comprised of tabs at the top, where one is able to access all of the schools k-12 in the North Bergen district, and then you can be re-directed to the page of the school in interest by choosing the appropriate tab. Once I reached the North Bergen High School page i began to look through it. At first, i was impressed by the colors and pictures shown of different parts of the school, especially of the athletics. 

On the right side of the website there are some shortcuts for faculty, students, and parents. Each tab should be able to help them reach some information in real time. For example, the parents tab allows them to log in, in real time, to access their child's attendance and grades. This feature is very helpful for some parents, and can keep them informed, i know this would have been a very helpful tool for some of my classmate's parents when we were in high school.

The website does provide some insight into the courses offered, and into the curriculum. It also seems to have a large focus on  athletics. It provides contact information for each school, and shows the names and some information on each teacher. Although, most teachers did not have webpage, some did but only provided minimal information, i did find one biology teacher who did have a good webpage. Her webpage was up to date, it was geared toward her lesson plans, and even encourages her students to contribute information they would like to add to the site.

The best part of the NBHS website was their media center. Any student would be able to access the library catalog online through Bccls, get help making  a bibliography, read newspapers etc.

The website is not stellar is because many parts seem to either be under construction, or have not been updated in a long time. For example, the dates provided under counseling for taking the SAT have passed long time ago. As per Dr. Mckenzie's Reasons for Websites, there also wasn't any extra information about outside sources, and no published works of any students which could be used to show the kind of curriculum used at the school. Also, there was no information under announcements, or in the calendars. Most importantly, I hope that the pages to the students and parents in real time show more information that is not available to just anyone who visits the page, because they have to insert username and password. Some parts were good and others not so much, i think that if the page was updated regularly it could go from acceptable to stellar.

Technology

             Technology for me is a scary thought, sure i can use the most common programs that one uses most often, and i can use the internet for searches or different things. But, apart from that i am very technologically unfriendly, i have avoided technology as much as i can, mostly because i feel that since i don't know what things mean i always seem to do something wrong. When i try to change something in my computer i always manage to delete something i am not supposed to, or click on something i shouldn't on the internet and have damaged a few computer with viruses. 

            Even though technology intimidates me and i try to stay away from it, once i have someone walk me through it i can learn rather quickly, which is something that helped me tremendously in my current job. I have worked at my current job all throughout my undergraduate, as the CAD Dept. Manager in a manufacturing company. My job is productive and i do like it, but it is not my passion.
 I have a bachelors degree is in Biology, and a minor in chemistry. Now, i am pursuing the Masters in Biology to teach in secondary schools, because i have always enjoyed teaching and helping others learn what i already know.

           As i was reading the article assigned, Grow Your Personal Learning Network by David Warlick, i was impressed that there are programs that can keep us updated when certain keywords i might be interested in are found so that i can have the capability to go straight to something that i might be interested in. That feature can be very helpful in the world of science since every day there is something new to discover, and new studies and articles with different discoveries.

          Technology integration is a great new thing, I have heard of schools now where each child has their own laptop and they can follow along on it, search further for something they are interested in, or something they do not understand clearly. I remember in my college genetics class my professor used to encourage us to bring our laptops and every once in a while during her lecture she would stop and say some new term and ask us to Google it and explain it back to her. I found that very encouraging because not only was it funny when she did that, but it grabbed our attention, and allowed me to learn more because i would find out more information when i did Google it. I think each child having the opportunity to do this is a great idea, and a great tool not only for the student but for the teacher also. Both can learn, the student by always being able to be communicated and find new information, but for the teacher it also allows for one to communicate and interact with other teachers. I hands down agree with the Learning to Change - Change to Learn video, technology integration will allow students to be more prepared for whats to come in the job market. The job market doesn't always want a textbook answer, it is very important to be able to research the answer, synthesize it, and communicate it not just memorize a right and wrong. This is an important change because while the world has taken giant steps toward being more technologically advanced, most classrooms still shut it out, which should not be there should be more of an integration between the two worlds.
        

About ME

Hi everyone, i am Veronica Gonzalez I am married, and have 3 dogs. I am currently enrolled in the Masters for Teaching Biology in secondary schools and work full time as the design dept manager in a jewelry company.  I am a little worried about this class because i am not very technology savvy, and this is the first time i have ever written a blog, but hopefully I improve as class progresses, and i am happy to learn something new.