Journal #4: Project plan

Site title - Miss Bell's Class 
Developer - Nicole Bell
Rational or focus - The goal of this website is to provide my student's parents with an online resource to answer any questions they might have and keep them updated with the most current information. 1st graders are not the best source of information when needing to know future dates, homework strategies, etc.  I also want to supply them with supplemental resources like videos on how to do the common core math and behavior management ideas.  
Main features outline - 
-Navigation 
-Links to sources
-pictures and videos
-basic styling 

Content - 
-Home page: that navigates to the other 4 pages.
-Announcements and Information: This will have upcoming dates, homework and any other important things I need them to know about. 
-Math: Has the current Common Core standards and videos or tutorials that explain how to teach it.
-ELA: Has the current Common Core standards, what we are learning, and additional resources to supplement what we are doing.
-Behavior Management: Describes how my class is ran, and has resources and ideas of how to implement plans at home. 

Target audience - The parents of my students.
Design considerations: I want this to be user friendly, not all my parents are tech savvy.  Possibly usable on a phone. 
Limiting factors - This is my first class so I am trying my best to pick up everything we go over, but the div and id concepts are still confusing me! 

Journal #3

Kessler, S. (2010, September 29). The Case For Social Media in Schools. Retrieved October 20, 2014, from http://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school/

In this article, "The Case For Social Media in Schools", Sarah Kessler gave the readers 6 reasons why social media should be in our schools.  In a brief paraphrased manner they are, social media is here to stay, it can be engaging, there are safe tools available, promotes social education, used for collaboration and use it to help you.  This article promotes what I believe to be common sense, incorporate what students already know ingot he classroom.  Students already know how to use computers and waste time on social media, so why not show them how to use it productively and trick them into doing classwork and learning.  If you tell a student "DON'T or NO" they are only going to hear  "DO and YES". Instead of resisting and trying to stop the use of computers and social media in school we should be providing constructive sites like edmodo.  I found this year that my district found some of this to be true for teachers. Last year sites like Pinterest and Teachers pay Teachers was blocked, but they found that teachers are using these sites to be productive and more creative in their teaching so they were unblocked this year.  

Q1:Could telling students they can use social media be beneficial?
I think that showing students the safe and proper way to use it is better than prohibiting something and them figuring out how to do it on their own with no guidance.  It is just like everything else with kids, if you make something taboo they are only going to want it more.  But those who are given some freedom but shown how do it safely will be more likely to be successful.  

Q2:  Are teacher equipped to handle this new way of teaching?
In my experience, most teachers are too behind the times to even know how to work a powerpoint.  There is a huge gap between the new and the old teachers.  I think once the older teacher are gone, it will be easier for such schools to exist like the one mentioned in the article.  As of now, teachers are just complaining about having to integrate new tablets or laptops and refuse to do new trainings on sites such as edmodo.  

Journal #2

For my affinity group, I have chosen Haiku.  Haiku is a black board type of site that I am currently using for my induction.  This site allows me to post my submissions, read others posts and ask them questions.  I hope to learn different ways of implementing curriculum and mastering the CSTPs.  

Link :  https://rcoe.haikulearning.com/do/account/login?xauth=0&login=nicole.bell

For my digg reader, I found that it does not have that many options under topics.  I was looking for some behavioral/ classroom management blogs but there weren’t any.  However, I did find a free technology blog for teachers, and a few good resources for 1st grade teachers.  I would also like to find some tips for 1st year teachers, or tips on how to destress as a teacher.  

Q1: How can you manage your time and read the post that are “worth it”.

Filtering through all the posts can be overwhelming.  I have found that “Made for 1st grade” has been my favorite so far so I make it a point to click on the page first to skim through before looking at the whole list. However, I would like it if they could color coat them so it would be more visual at a glance.  

Q2: How can I use my affinity group as being helpful rather than just another thing to do?

I need to set aside an hour a week to do my work for induction and read through the posts of other teachers to see if they have the same problems as I do and what some of the suggestions are.  

Journal 1: Chapters 1-3 Response

Robbins, J. (2012). Learning web design: A beginner's guide to HTML, CSS, Javascript, and web graphics (4th ed.). Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly.

Summary: The premise of the first three chapters is to get people new to web design a quick overview of some important vocabulary and concepts.  Chapter one delves into the components of web design and the different jobs and their duties.  This gave me more insight into all that goes on in creating websites and how it could be a one-person job or 30 people's jobs.   I enjoyed the concept of the web design layered cake, appealing to the girl's mind.  Web design has many layers to it, first with HTML creating the structure, then CCS focusing on presentation and lastly JavaScript that creates the behavior of the site.  Chapter two describes how the web works and how to not get it confused with the Internet.  All of these different components to the web makes me thankful for the domain name systems, which make it easier for the every day user to find what they need.  Just looking at a simple URL, there is the protocol, the site name that has the host name and domain name, and the absolute path has the directory path and the document.  This leads us to Chapter three that discusses some big concepts starting with multiple devices.  This concept talks about making the site with bare bones, so that it can be formatted for different devices, since mobile and tablet use are so predominant now.  Lastly, I was surprised to read that there is the Web Accessibility Initiative that requires websites to be usable for all kinds of people. 

Q1: What is the difference between the intranet and the extranet in how they are formatted? 

         The intranet has firewalls up that only grants access to people inside the company so important information cannot be leaked.  The extranet is the same but allows select users outside the firewall to have access.  The extranet limits what people can see with the use of passwords. 

Q2:  What kind of computer would be better for a web designer?

         Windows has been around for longer than the Mac and therefore is more compatible with multiple softwares and browsers.  For example, Flash does not work on Mac products and is used in many websites.  However, many in the graphic design professionals use Macs, especially for the large monitors you can get.  It is important to test your designs on the opposite machine to check for compatibility. However, it says to use Windows on the Mac, so now you are using the PC operating system. 

Nicole Bell Introduction

Hi, I am Nicole Bell.  I received my Bachelors of Arts and Multiple Subject Credential from Cal Poly Pomona.  This is my 4th class in the Educational Multimedia Masters program.  Currently I am in my first year of teaching as a 1st grade teacher.  Therefore, I am also going through my first year of induction. Since I have grown up with technology, the switch to using technology has been easy.  In my class we try to go to the computer lab 1 time a week and have 5 mini iPads a few times a week.  I use a document camera and create powerpoints with ease.  I have never created websites or blogs so I am beginner there.

I just bought a condo less than a month ago in Rancho Cucamonga ( the city I grew up in) , so any free time goes to shopping for things (Homegoods and I are on a first name basis) and cleaning and organizing my new place.  My colors are Tiffany Blue and silver, so feel free to pick up anything sparkly for me! :)
I am huge sports girl.  Teams are Angels, Chargers, Kings and the Oregon Ducks.  I would love to be at some type of game every week. I also love country music.  Going to country concerts is also a big past time of mine.

My goals for this program is to be able to integrate what I learn into my every day teaching seamlessly and not have it be a big ordeal to create something.  I am most excited about this class because I have been wanting to implement a class website, because with the new common core, parents are always confused and I would like to have  a one stop shop of references and videos for them.  Looking forward to what this class has to offer!