What makes an effective website?

In order to have an effective website, the structure of the site must be user-friendly. The person accessing the site should be able to navigate through the site with little effort. You should be able to navigate through the pages and return to any page in the same manner. If someone is frustrated by the use of the site they are going to soon lose interest in the message that is being delivered.

The graphics used on the website should be appealing and draw attention to the reader. Poor graphic designs can lead the reader into believing that the information they are reading is not credible.

The core message of the site should be apparent, clear, and compelling. The core message should be the main reasons that people visit your site. Your message should address your user's needs, wants, level of knowledge, and goals.

When I create my website I will use Zoho. For someone with little web-design experience it is as easy to use as Microsoft Power Point. You can easily move text around, add images and sounds, and publish with the click of a button. I will be able to ensure that my message is presented in a friendly manner and that the site is easily navigable.

How multimedia tools can support 21st Century learning

Multimedia tools in the classroom can help increase student engagement and lead to increased understanding and learning. This is especially true in the mathematics classroom that some students in the past considered to be boring paper and pencil work. Through the use of the internet, real-life and student-relevant data can be brought into the classroom to make problems more interesting.

With the use of presentation tools such as Microsoft Power Point, Anamoto, and Photostory students can now use their creative side to present ideas and explain their learning. No longer are math classrooms limited to paper and pencil tests to access learning.

Another Multimedia tool that enhances learning in the math classroom is United Streaming. The videos in the online library are available to teachers in full length and shortened clips. Videos and video clips can be used to teach a concept, enhance teaching, or for re-teaching.

My delicious url

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Week 3 Reflection - Data Driven Instruction

Our vision for Roberto W. Clemente Middle School states that “we will close the achievement gap, maximize student potential, and teach students about the value of service.” I believe that this would not be possible without analyzing classroom and assessment data for our students and using this data to drive instruction towards our vision.

At our school, we have a plethora of data gathering tools at our disposal. For classrooms, teachers can collect data from assessments, formative and summative, exit cards, gradebooks, activotes, scantrons, or by using quick dip-sticking techniques such as thumbs up, thumbs down. All of these tools can be used to help a teacher decide what objectives are being met and what concepts need to be re-taught and re-assessed.

For content specialists a wider view of the data may be necessary to ensure that your program is alignment with the school improvement plan. Some tools that would be helpful here would be FileMaker, SIMS, excel, Achievement Series, IMS, and MyMCPS. These tools will allow you to look at data by course, No Child Left Behind sub groups, teacher, or any other initiative that would be helpful to departments in meeting the goals set out in the school improvement plan. The content specialist also has the task of making sure students are appropriately placed. By using state and local assessment data, a content specialist can now get an overview of student capabilities and make sure that that student is exposed to a rigorous curriculum that will help challenge his learning

Administrators may need an even broader look at the school data. A goal for our school is improving the climate of the school. Administrators will need to use the same programs outlined above as well as survey data from parents, students, and staff in order to assess the climate of the school. Survey Monkey or Test Pilot might be beneficial here in helping the administrator decide if the school is meeting the needs of its stakeholders.

Reflection 1

After reading the article, Leadership in the 21st Century: The New Visionary Administrator, I was able to form a definition of a visionary administrator as an administrator who used technology skills to better communicate and collaborate with staff, students, and parents. This visionary administrator is able to react proactively and become goal orientated with the help of technology. They encourage the use of technology to keep students engaged in the classroom and have more in common with students who are now considered to be ‘digital natives’. They look at technology as a way to increase student achievement.

Visionary administrators believe that classrooms should have students creating multimedia projects, using interactive white boards, using online databases for research, and they value the use of web 2.0 tools. They look at technology as a way to expand the classroom.

According to the article, visionary administrators face many challenges when encouraging the use of technology. Funds for new technology as well as updates for existing technology are constant struggles for administrators. Professional development will be needed to train staff on new technology, update staff as technology updates, and to train new staff that enters a building.

A visionary administrator looks towards the future and sees new ways in which technology can help achievement. The see technology as bridging the home-school divide and helping in preparing students for college &/or careers. They see opportunities for students to connect to the world, for math and science teachers to use real-world problem solving applications, and for opportunities for technology and leadership integration.