The Website

For this last week of HTML, we were to design our own website. For me, this was stress-free. I've been toying around with this for the last year, and I currently finished up a series of websites for my students to use as portfolios.

As a result, I could've been casual about it, and just submitted something that I've done. However, I decided to add onto the existing site that I currently run, and the final project was creating a subpage in which my students could access information to a debate that they will be producing for me in the next few weeks. Setting it up isn't bad---my recommendation, though, is to really plan out what you want to do before you set out to do it. I had to draw out what I wanted to do before actually sitting down to design it.

Is this something to do with the students? Definitely. I think that I'd like them to design their own and get an actual "real-world" activity to participate in. So, yes, this is definitely something worthwhile to do.

Well, that sums it up for now. By all means, leave any comments, questions, or concerns if you have them.

Web 2.0

This week, we went into a comparison of Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0, and it was interesting. I've heard about Web 2.0, but I never really grasped what it was about until now. It's truly amazing how far the innovations have come in the last 10 years or so.

During the conversation, items such at Netscape brought me back to the days of Dial-Up, AOL Online, and a bevy of other innovations that existed in the past. Today, here I am toying around with my iTouch, and I'm sure that it's already on the fast track to becoming obsolete. I hope that I'm more prepared now for helping my class than I was a few years ago.

I think that's the key, here. This time, I'm aware of the tools that are out there. I try to look at this with a bit of humility---I don't have to be the innovator and creator of every tool; instead, I simply need to broaden my horizons and try out new items as they become available. In the last 1 1/2 of class, I've learned a ton that I've already used in the class. I hope to continue that in the future.

So, back to Web 2.0. Am I embracing this? I believe so. I currently have 45 students on Google Docs performing research papers in which they have to work with partners, and all of this is being done online. I believe that I'm preparing my students for the future; the scary part is, I don't even know that future looks like...

Continuation of Web Design on an Empty Stomach

Of course, when you've had stomach flu all week, then it's understandable to not want to eat. I mean, for real, it couldn't wait 'till AFTER break? Aargh....

Well, right now I have a webpage designed, and now it's just about adding bells and whistles to it to enhance or update it. I think that it's just a matter of me sitting down and doing it. I'm using the Google Sites application, and I've been using it for about a year, now. The page in question is something that I'm having the students use to plan out a project that they have to do throughout January. So, in other words, it's something that I will definitely use.

Other than that, I'm slowly but surely transferring all of my portfolio stuff from one site to a new one. I had already completed and submitted my first draft of my site, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out that I had to re-do all of it through a template that I wasn't aware was in existence. Oops. Oh well, at least I have a lot of the hard work done...

Well, that's all that I have for now. I'd love to talk more, but I'm not sure that the stomach flu is gonna allow that... Gotta run!!!

Yea, I Knew I Forgot Something...

And it was this week's blog!!!

Sorry about that.

Well, in this week's class, we read about e-portfolios. For me, that hit very close to home, as I am currently in the process of creating those for the kids that I have in English. Our district complained to our school about the way in which portfolios were done. This is my first year in Language Arts, and I wanted to make sure that I had all the bases covered for the portfolio.

The purpose was this: I wanted to be able to show the various projects that the kids were doing, instead of cramming the portfolio folder with rubrics. I'm currently 70% done---the big work is to take place over break, where I have to upload and attach a lot of the projects to the students' pages. However, this will save me a considerable amount of work down the road, especially in the sense that I won't have to tear up my room looking for lost work or projects. It's right here, and it can be accessed by future schools for reference.

The negative---I can only do 5 sites a week! Argh! Oh well, can't win them all...

CSS (or CCS) or, um, err, wait, I'm not done with HTML yet!!!

So we're now on Week 2 of class, and this week, we learned how to add tables into a webpage. It took a while to get my mind wrapped around this one. Remember how I said that last week's class was a bit meticulous and complicated at first? I guess that I should not say that again. I just curse myself for that...

Anyway, I did gain a bit from class. For example, I've learned a roundabout way to design tables in different forms and methods---that's something that I think I can find ways to use in class. I still have to think about how to put them into a webpage---I'm still wrapped in creating tables for Math and Science purposes---I'm not sure how I would use it within my own page, for example.

Well, we're also learning other ways to make a webpage catchy and powerful. This is again, something that has obvious merit. I'd like to use some of this with my own website-I'll have to see how Google Sites handles the HTML on that...

Well, that's all that I have to say now. I'm sure that as I try to toy around with some of this during the week, I'll have more ideas for you. As always, any advice, I'm more than happy to hear it...

HTML (aka I'm glad they've made it easier to make a website since this...)

So, to be honest, it isn't quite so bad to use HTML to design pages. I'd call it a bit tedious, but that part actually doesn't faze me too much. I've always been fine with that; as a result, I actually picked up a lot of the code tricks rather quickly. I think that as I continue to experiment with it, it will become much more habitual. However, I can't believe that this used to be a way that websites used to be designed. Man, the amount of time it had to take to create a single page...

On a side, there are some pains. Adding color, for example. It's almost like you need to have a cheat sheet just to know what colors are available. Then again, it's probably recommended to have a cheat sheet for all of the HTML items that need to be compiled to compose a simple page. Again, I actually don't mind it too much. It's just SO particular. This is not for the impatient, I'll tell you that. You really have to run through your pages with a fine tooth comb if errors pop up. I was able to troubleshoot so far. Now, with the resume that I have to create, we'll see how well that one goes...

I'll keep you informed as it goes. I guess I'll wish MYSELF good luck this time...

Better late than never...

Sorry for the absence in blogging---wife had the flu, infant has pink eye, and I had 2 weeks of inservices out in Stevens Point. But here's the update on the research...

Kinda slow, actually. We had WKCE testing, so I reduced the amount of research study out of respect of the testing cycle. I also had to walk a fine line, as I didn't want to even come close to anything resembling 'teaching to the test' or cheating. So I did not run my research during that 2 week period.

However, now we're back to normal, and that means that my research is back to normal as well. I'm about at the halfway mark, and we'll be taking another benchmark in December. Then I'll really be able to see how effective this research is going. I'm looking forward to that (I may be the only teacher in the school who has that feeling.)

As for the new course, don't worry---my blog for that will be happening this week. Stay tuned...