Mr. D's Digital Classroom

Although I did finish reading LOL...OMG, I felt that I wanted to write about my experience in setting up my website. At the beginning of this course, I felt very overwhelmed by the idea that I was going to need to create some sort of digital portfolio that I would be using with my students. However, after weeks of playing around with the format and adjusting the page to reflect the things that I wanted my students to have access to, I feel like I am well on my way to successfully incorporating my website into my classroom.

To start with, up until I began putting together this website, I relied heavily on EdModo as a way to give each of my students digital access to my content, expectations, etc. The problem with this was that, quite often (no surprise here...) students would forget their log in information and would claim their inability to complete projects or homework assignments due to the fact that they "couldn't access the site." The weebly is a work around for this issue, as it makes the content directly accessible to each of my students without having to go through a password system. Additionally, I like the idea that it allows for me to have a running News Feed for my students to constantly see the major headlines currently trending in their world.

For me, creating this website will enhance my classroom twofold. First, although I haven't figured out how to do this yet, I plan to connect a blog to my website. Through this blog, I anticipate having my students respond to their reading (and to each other) in an effort to communicate digitally and bring the classroom conversation into their homes. (This meets Common Core Readiness Standard for Writing # 6: Use technology to produce...writing and to interact and collaborate with others.) Additionally, having my students use my website (and use the blogging tool) meets the NET standards for students, #2- Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

Moving forward, I would like to utilize my website as a main portal for information for my students. One way in which I am already using it is for rubrics. I have a new grading process that includes specific numbers reflecting specific commentary/feedback. Instead of printing each student a copy of this rubric, I instead have posted them on the website. All a student needs to do is log on, look for the rubric (for instance, the rhetorical analysis rubric for AP) and they will be able to decode each of the comments written on their assignments. In addition, I would also like to use the website as a place to display model student work for students and parents alike to see what types of learning are happening in my classroom.