Exemplary Classroom Websites!
Exemplary Teacher’s Websites
What makes a good classroom or course website? Are you thinking of starting your own (I think you should be, it is invaluable for students and their learning)?
I just spent a wonderful 3 cups of coffee morning, browsing through a lot of websites of other teachers. Looking for resources but also gathering info. on how to set up a site and what makes a good site. So many great sites out there.
I belong to a community where I am one of the “Teachers in the Trenches” and give advice, guidance to preservice teachers in teacher’s college. I’ve collected some of the websites mentioned/talked about as being “exemplary”. Browse when you have the time and you’ll get lotsssssss of ideas. Great, backdoor look into what is happening in other classrooms.
I also recommend taking a browse at Teacher’s Web. Just start your search here and find classrooms/teachers in your part of the world. See what they are doing. Invaluable for your own ideas/development as a teacher. Also try Moodle sites and search the whole world and find out how teachers are using moodle (an open source courseware application) to make their classrooms Web 2.0 friendly.
Happy hunting.
David
My classroom web site is http://www.opencourtresources.com it doesn’t look exactly like a classroom web site because it has contributions from teachers across the country. I started it as a way of sharing with another first grade teacher at my school and it’s grown exponentially since then.
My favorite teacher web site (besides mine) is http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/ there’s just a lot of stuff going on and because there is lots of work by students I’m sure parents visit.
I’m a teacher in a 5th grade inclusion class. My co-teacher and I combined our names to create the South Paris Collaborative. Here is our web site: http://herricks.org/webpages/spcollaborative/ This is our blog site http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=88116
Some of my favorite websites: Great teacher resources for teachers
http://tappedin.org/
http://classroom20.ning.com/profile/Teeneelove
http://discoveryeducatornetwork.com/
http://www.brainpop.com/
http://www.unitedstreaming.com/
Alicia, http://english_studio.blogspot.com/
Susan,
http://www.protopage.com/maaganim
Mrs. McDavid – Muscogee County School District http://www.ourclassweb.com/
Mrs. Reed – Richardson Elementary School http://www.richardsonelementary.org/reedbkschool.html
Mrs. Hayes – Christian Center School http://www.cceschool.org/hayes/
Mrs. Brannon’s Busy Bees http://teacherweb.com/CA/LaVorgnaES/MrsBrannon/
I really liked that this website had so many features on it. The first thing that is so important is having class rules posted so the parents can see them; she has these listed under the Top Ten link. I thought the Wish List link was very creative. It just lists simple things the students need in the classroom. The last thing I loved about this website was the Tips for Parents. She went in and listed tips for them to help their child with reading at home – which is SO IMPORTANT!!
Team Newingham http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/
This teacher makes movies in her class and has links for pictures of them behind the scenes and links to download the movies they create. The theme of her website is Team Newingham. She has pictures of all of the students in racecar uniforms to put up on the site (first names listed only). It is so cute! The last thing I really enjoyed about this website was the Technology link. The 3rd grade students use laptops as often as they can, so she has placed links in for projects that they use the laptops for. One example is Virtual Shopping Spree…It’s great!
Mrs. Lowe’s Class http://schoolweb.missouri.edu/poplarbluff.k12.mo.us/lowe/
This website included podbytes (podcasts) with the students doing different activities. Another thing I liked was they are using a classroom blog! The parents also have a link to go in and see what they’re children are blogging. I also like how the teacher has listed presentations she has given, her website nominations, as well as links to other educational websites that the parents can go in and browse through.
http://www.sms.sevier.org/%7Ebriansmith/
http://www.powayusd.com/teachers/cweidetz/
http://mrsstahlheber.com/
Mrs. Stahlheber is a third grade teacher. Her background music is kind of distracting but her page is nicely decorated in a fall theme. It is up to date with today’s date on it. There are class pictures of the kids doing fun things and a scrolling list of all of their names. She has a photo show on there that shows all kinds of pictures with captions on them. This is a great added touch. She has the student’s homework assignment on the page and links in every subject among many other things. Check this one out!
Ms. Anabella’s First Grade Class http://firstgradeonline.com/index.html
Mr. Miller’s Class
http://www.powayusd.com/teachers/gmiller/
Mrs. McDavid’s Class
http://www.powayusd.com/teachers/gmiller/
Mrs. McDavid created a home page with a school on it. When you click on the door of the school you then, go into the “classroom.” When you go into the room she has a link for parents, students, teachers, blogs, curriculum, homework, classroom, and more. It seems she has everything! Another cute one!
A colleague of ours on Classroom 2.0, Nancy Bosch, edits wonderful blog/websites that her students produce and those she produces for educational purposes. All these websites are listed within this Shawnee, KS portal website, Broken Arrow Enhanced Learning Center.
http://quest.carnegiefoundation.org/~dpointer/jennifermyers/index.htm
http://teachers.emints.org/mathysl/index.html
This site gets your attention and keeps it. There are lots of neat things for kids. I added it to my del.i.cous site. I think my fourth grade daughter would love it. I recommend taking a look. I loved the learning games.
Mrs. Tonnessen’s First Grade Class http://www.home.att.net/~etonn/firstgrade.html
Mrs. Lynch’s First Grade Classroom
http://www.kllynch2000.com/
Mrs. Weyher’s Kindergarten Class!!
http://www.mrsweyhersclass.com/kindergarten.htm
This site is the best out of the ones I have looked at. It has music in the background is very visually appealing. It makes me want to explore and visit it more than one time. I love the way she uses the site to communicate with parents about what the class is doing and needs that they have, such as certain supplies. She has set up the site it be easy to access and it keeps parents informed about what their children are doing.
Here is the link to my website:
http://www.usd367.k12.ks.us/webpages/wwelch/
I try to use my website to support the subjects I am teaching in my classroom. If you click on the classes link on the left side, the links to my class sub pages will appear. I am working on integrating the message board into some lessons to try and get the students to discuss and respond to each other, that is still a major work in progress. The blog is so I can lighten the mood by posting whatever comes to mind on certain days. There are videos of class, student projects, and the T-Shirt Tuesdays special (recognizes the funny t-shirts I see throughout the week and the kids eat this up).
http://wt2.cherokee.k12.ga.us/collins.trott/default.htm
http://www.isd361.k12.mn.us/teacherwebsites.shtml
This is the website for International Fall, Minnesota and in it you can click on a teacher’s name and go to their individual website. I particularly liked Mr. Casareto’s site. He has a puzzle of the week that is interactive and once you solve it an interesting fact pops up. He also has a video clip of the week and live animal cam from the Minnesota zoo! I like these ideas.
Mrs. Kennedy’s Fifth Grade http://teachers.emints.org/fy05/kennedyb/
Ms. Taylor’s Third Grade Inquires
http://schoolweb.acsd14.k12.co.us/ectaylor/
Mrs. Thonus
http://mrsthonus.com/
This website took awhile to load which is not very good but I like the way she has some of her links set up. She has a lot links on her home page and this could be why it takes a little longer to load. One of the things I liked about her website is that she has little pictures beside the links. For example, she has a little calculator for math and a globe for social studies. I also like the fact that she lists all her units and you can click on these units and it takes you to another page with information about what the students will be learning. I also like the links for quizzes and slide shows. This teacher really has a lot of information. Take a look at this website!! I think everyone will find something useful.
www.teachingfirst.net
This website is too cute! Mainly for teachers who want to or are teaching first grade. I love this website because it is what grade i want to teach and it has helpful hints from a number of teachers not just one. It has suggestions about word walls and worksheets. You can choose from a number of different teachers to look at.
http://teacherweb.com/PA/WyomingValleyWest/MrsMiller/h5.stm
http://teachers.olathe.k12.ks.us/~skabrielce/
I liked Mrs. Kabriel’s class website also. I liked her background and how she put a secondary background to ensure you could see all her links. I like how she added a link to email her. She also added many classroom materials that are beneficial to have. One thing I noticed on her site that I did not see on others was an introduction tab for herself. I think this is very beneficial for students and parents who get onto her website.
http://washington.usd489.com/teachers/sdemel/
http://www.pickens.k12.sc.us/hesteachers/laboonac/Web%20Pages/homep…
http://www.richardsonelementary.org/reedbkschool.html
I thought all three of these websites were good because they are helpful to both parents and students. The students can find games to play at school or at home and the parents can stay involved and know what their children are doing in the classroom. I thought all three were easy to navigate and user friendly!
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