MACUL Face of Your Classroom Dr. Jennifer Parker-Moore, Macomb ISD Mr. John Thero, Warren Woods Public

What is the FACE OF YOUR CLASSROOM? How do students, parents, and community members see your classroom? Do you have an online component for communicating with parents?

Creating an “ONLINE PRESENCE” Your classroom's appearance to the online world, or the Face of Your Classroom, is about teachers providing an online way for students and parents to access information about their classroom. Everyone else is on the web – why not you?

Create Your Face These include: Personalized homepages or start pages Blogs Classroom management systems Webpage Creators

Personalized Homepages or Start Pages 1. Personalized homepages or start pages such as: Pageflakes, Netvibes, and Protopage· Personalize homepages or start pages allow uses to quickly create a web presence using widgets provided by each company. They require no software, they are free and you are given a free sub domain name (URL) for your site. PageflakesNetvibesProtopage

NetVibes NetvibesNetvibes is a website that allows the user to organize web content in one place for easy access. Teachers can use these websites to organize content for their particular classroom quickly and efficiently so that students and parents have a place to get information quickly. Other websites that offer similar experiences is Pageflakes and Protopage. To see some examples of these types of pages, click one of the following links: Protopage

Blogs 2. Blogs (which is a contraction of the term "Web log") have a web site feel and are maintained with regular entries. Common Blogs for educators include: VisitMyClass, EduBlogs, 21Publish, Blogmeister and Live Journal. Blogs are also very simple but differ from the others. Think of a blog like a daily journal. They are designed for teachers to add information on a regular basis. Teachers use blogs to post daily assignments, student writings, podcasts or links to resources. VisitMyClass EduBlogs21PublishBlogmeisterLive Journal

Basics of Blogging What you want in a blog Moderated comments Functionality Usability How to use it Posting assignments Communicating with parents Sharing expertise Interactive lessons or projects Comment moderation is an important feature for educational blogs. In addition, users should be aware of acceptable use policies and web safety considerations when selecting user id's and making posts. Sample Blog sites include:

Classroom Management Systems 3. Classroom management systems like Blackboard, Moodle or Sakai. Class management systems are really an extension of a classroom and the most robust of all the options. However, they are a secure environment that requires an ID and password to gain access. Teachers have the ability to post documents, videos and tests online. Most class management systems are purchased by a district and offered to their teachers.

Blackboard Blackboard is an online classroom management system that is provided to all teachers and students in Macomb county by the Macomb Intermediate School District. Using Blackboard a teacher can easily communicate with students, give and collect assignments from students, and maintain grades that students can see 24 hours a day. Blackboard

Webpage Creators 4. Webpage Creators like Weebly. Webpage creators like Weebly are the easiest way for a teacher to have a website. Weebly offers the ability to easily upload text, images, documents and web links and a site may include multiple pages and even an imbedded blog. Weebly is free and we will focus on it for this segment.Weebly

Weebly Web Page Design Weebly is a free webpage creation site that allows you to create and store, or customize your own URL. You can drag and drop elements, add custom HTML or insert multimedia or widgets. Select from over 50 designs/backgrounds that change automatically with a “hover”. Publish on Weebly or archive a complete zip file to upload to your server. Advantages of Weebly: Brain Dead Easy Free Professional designs and backgrounds Multimedia and expansion options Archive for use in other web design software See pages created with Weebly:

Contact Us For further information about courses, training, or ideas affiliated with this web site, please contact: Frank Miracola, Interactive Learning Consultant Instructional Technology Department Macomb Intermediate School District Dr. Jennifer Parker-Moore, Interactive Learning Consultant Instructional Technology Department Macomb Intermediate School District John Thero, Instructional Technologist Warren Woods Public Schools