School Web Pages

I have to say that I love my town's school webpage site. It has all of the information relevant to feeling like you, as the parent, are "in the know". Check it out at http://www.monroe.k12.nj.us/monroenj/site/default.asp. Each school in the town has their own webpage and you can access any school. Some of the important information listed is: teacher contact info., classroom webpages (not all teachers--although it should be mandatory), PTA info., school policies, upcoming events, past events, recognition items, extracurricular activities, etc.

Web Page Observations

Welcome back! I hope you all had a great Spring Break. I, unfortunately, have been stuck in the house for the last 3 weeks with 2 sick kids! They were taking turns spreading the germs, back and forth, back and forth....Anyway, I had a chance to check out some teachers' webpages that Dr. Luongo posted. Here's my thoughts...

On the positive side...
1. Great to have links for both kids AND parents.
2. Synergy is created when the webpage includes themes or overall school goals/ideas.
3. Helpful to have bilingual sites when a large minority group is present.

Be cautious about...
1. Posting student achievements--like honor roll, best grades on tests, etc. I do think it's important to publicly recognize student achievement, however when doing this, remember the kid that will NEVER make the honor or get an A on the math test. Be sure to find a way to recognize these kids for something so they feel included and worthy too!

Obama's Education Plan

I pasted this article from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29612995 about Pres. Obama's Education Plan. I couldn't agree with him more when it comes to merit pay for teachers. I truly feel that if you are a good teacher, you would want merit pay instead of union scale pay. Why should you be paid the same as some uncaring, ineffective teacher if you are a great teacher???


Obama: 'We've let our grades slip'
The president takes on unions, backs teacher merit pay in new plan
getCSS("3088867")
Video

Obama unveils education planMarch 10: President Barack Obama, speaking at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, unveils the first piece of his education plan.
MSNBC
getCSS("3088874")
INTERACTIVE

100 days timeline interactiveA president's first days in office can be defined by landmark victories — or memorable failures. Explore our timeline gauging hits and misses from Roosevelt to Obama.
NBC News
getCSS("3053751")
Slideshow

First 100 days During his seventh week in office, President Barack Obama made moves to curtail government waste, serenaded an ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy, and visited police cadets whose jobs were spared by stimulus money.
more photos
getCSS("3088874")
INTERACTIVE

Track 'emExplore and track Obama's campaign pledges. See if he keeps his word, and vote on his progress.
NBC News
getCSS("3088867")
Video: White House


Obama’s 50-day report cardMarch 10: Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California and Republican Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana grade President Barack Obama on his first 50 days in office.
Obama: American dream at stake
Obama unveils education plan
Is Obama losing focus on economy?
getCSS("3053751")
An historic election
Take a look back at the election and inauguration of President Obama.• Decision '08• The Inauguration
var tcdacmd="dt";

updated 2:20 p.m. ET, Tues., March. 10, 2009
function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) {
var n = document.getElementById("udtD");
if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) {
var dt = new DateTime();
pdt = dt.T2D(pdt);
if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));}
}
}
UpdateTimeStamp('633723060485630000');

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Tuesday embraced a new approach to public education that adds up to merit pay for the better teachers and longer days and school years for students.
These proposals, which constitute the new president's vision of an education system that meets 21st century challenges, were sure to generate loud criticism, particularly from teachers' unions.
Educators oppose charter schools because they divert tax dollars away from traditional public schools. Merit-based systems for teachers have been anathema to teachers' unions, a powerful force in Obama's Democratic Party. Obama acknowledged this in his talk to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Story continues below ↓
advertisement your ad here
dap('&PG=NBCMSN&AP=1089','300','250');
Advertisementvar inDapIF=true;window.setTimeout("document.close();",30000);\n\n\n'));" frameBorder=0 width=300 scrolling=no height=250>

"Too many supporters of my party have resisted the idea of rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay, even though we know it can make a difference in the classroom," he said, delivering the first major education speech of his presidency. "Too many in the Republican Party have opposed new investments in early education, despite compelling evidence of its importance."
'An economic imperative'But he argued that a far-reaching overhaul of the nation's education system is an economic imperative that can't wait, despite the urgency of the financial crisis and other pressing issues.
"Despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us," Obama said. "The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, unsustainable for our democracy, and unacceptable for our children. We cannot afford to let it continue. What is at stake is nothing less than the American dream."
The ideas the president promoted were nearly all elements of his campaign platform last year. He only barely mentioned the reauthorization of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind Act, which introduced sweeping reforms that schools are struggling to meet without the funding to match. Obama said his administration would "later this year" ensure that schools get the funding they need and that the money is conditioned on results.
Among the principles Obama laid out were:
Challenging states to adopt world-class standards rather than a specific standard. Obama's economic stimulus plan includes a $5 billion incentive fund to reward states for, among other things, boosting the quality of standards and state tests, and the president said the Education Department would create a fund to invest in innovation.
Improved pre-kindergarten programs, including $5 billion in the stimulus plan to grow Head Start, expand child care access and do more for children with special needs. He also said he would offer 55,000 first-time parents regular visits from trained nurses and said that states that develop cutting-edge plans to raise the quality of early learning programs would get an Early Learning Challenge Grant, if Congress approves the new program.
Reducing student dropout rates. To students, Obama said: "Don't even think about dropping out of school." But he said that reducing the dropout rates also requires turning around the worst schools, something he asked lawmakers, parents and teachers to make "our collective responsibility as Americans."
Repeating his call for everyone to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training, with the goal of highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the year 2020.
On charter schools, he said the caps instituted by some states on how many are allowed aren't "good for our children, our economy, or our country."
Teacher policyObama also spoke at length about what he described his policy toward teachers, what he called an `unprecedented commitment to ensure that anyone entrusted with educating our children is doing the job as well as it can be done." In up to 150 more school districts, Obama said, teachers will get mentoring, more money for improved student achievement and new responsibilities.
Click for related content
Vote: Should students spend more time in school?
Also, Obama said, "We need to make sure our students have the teacher they need to be successful. That means states and school districts taking steps to move bad teachers out of the classroom. Let me be clear: if a teacher is given a chance but still does not improve, there is no excuse for that person to continue teaching."
The president acknowledged that a rethinking of the traditional American school day may not be welcome — "not in my family, and probably not in yours" — but is critical.
"The challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom," Obama said. "If they can do that in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of America."
Click for related content
Promises Made: Childhood educationObama agenda sparks Dems' internal revoltWill Congress trim sub 'stimulus' program?Lawmakers step up defense of pet projects
After the speech, Obama stopped at a hotel to drop in on another meeting, an already scheduled and ongoing round-table discussion between Education Secretary Arne Duncan and the Council of Chief State School Officers, which involves the heads of education from every state and U.S. territory.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

So Easy, A Child Could Do It...

I had the opportunity to play around with creating my own class webpage at Scholastic Web Page Builder and it was so easy. Quite frankly, it was simple, the directions were straightforward, and it took minimal time. Obviously, when doing this for a real class, you would need to spend time updating it and keeping it fresh, but really, it pales in comparison to creating a WebQuest. When I worked in corporate America, I was responsible for building and maintaining an Intranet site for HR and the class webpage, although not as detailed or involved, is very similar to this. As a teacher, I think to ensure that the students are using the class webpage is to make it mandatory for them to check it at least once a week or post their homework there, or give them a "preview" of what "tomorrow's" class will be about, etc. Also, to get them really involved, you could even have a section that they take turns maintaining and creating...like a little class newspaper.

Creating a Web Page

I am excited to get started on our next major assignment--creating a Web Page. I know most school's have their own websites, but I wonder how many teachers actually have webpages listed on those websites. For my kids' school, the website is very thorough and for those teachers who want to post webpages, they can. Unfortunately, the three teachers that my children have had have not opted to do so, but I do think that doing this is very helpful to all parties involved, the teacher, the student, and the parents. For example, if a child forgets the homework assignment or the ditto for the homework, it would be great if the webpage posted it and the parent or student could print it off at home. Also, I think it's a great way for teachers to keep parents informed about upcoming events, lessons being studied, etc.

Rocket Reader

I subscribed to a free trial for Rocket Reader at www.rocketreader.com and am using my 5 year old as my guinea pig. Anyway, I tried the site out first and was impressed with what I saw. I love that the site has audio because many early readers need the reinforcement of sound because they cannot figure out the words by themselves. Also, I liked the reward system that was used when a child finished a lesson. In addition, I thought that the "report" section was very informative for both parents and teachers. It gives a report about the child's knowledge level regarding the words s/he is working on, enables the production of flash cards, etc. I would definintely incorporate this website into my lesson plans when I become a teacher.

Did You Know video

The "Did You Know" video was eye-opening. It really goes to show how far the educational system in this country has to come just to keep pace with other countries. Aside from the technology issues that we have to address in order to compete, I have always felt that one of the U.S' weaknesses is that most of our citizens are single lingual and are students, although taught another language in school, are really not bilingual due to the school system. Most truly "bilingual" students are bilingual because another language is spoken at home. In most other countries citizens are at least bilingual and many countries are multilingual. I have a friend from Italy who speaks 5 languages, English, Italian, French, German, and Spanish---and this was not uncommon in his country. Although giving this some extra thought, maybe we don't have to be bi or multilingual, if we communicate via computers, there are programs that will automatically translate the information into the receiver's language. Things that make you go hmmmm....