Journal 2

In this week's readings I did learn somethings and was reminded of some of the things I noticed after looking at the 10 websites last week.  First, I need to make sure that I have a clear picture for my site.  Weebly stated that "the number 1 reason why people don't finish their site is because they don't have a clear vision for it."  This is why it is important to have a site map and wire frame.  I also liked the analogy of "bottom up design".  With this in mind the website designer has to first decide where they want to take their users.  Also, as a side note you only want 3-5 core pages.  I compared this to backward design in assessments.  In backward designing assessments you first look at what you want the students to be able to do and create the assessment first, then plan what lessons/activities you will use to accomplish that.

In the iCloud article, I didn't realize that there actually were storage centers around the US and other parts of the world.  I did know that it was a way to access files on more than just one computer very easily.  Honestly, I don't know why I have never really used it.  As much as I email documents between my home and school computer, just sharing them in Drop Box would be much easier.

I did look at Weebly and created an account.  It looks very user friendly and much nicer than the classroom blog I created on Blogspot.  I also am visioning that I can do more of the things I want to do on Weebly, because the blog can not be organized the way a true website can.

I also did some thinking on what types of things I want on my site.  They are listed below.  I will hopefully post my site map and wire frame here, as well as in Drop Box, once they are completed.

-Core Page: Parent Info. (Info. about first grade subjects, core content, pacing guides, how to contact me, etc)
-Core Page: Students (games, links we use at school, etc)
-Core Page: Classroom Management (info. about classroom and school policies)
-Core Page: About Me (bio, pictures, contact information)
-Core Page: What's New? (will post updates on special events, pictures of things we are doing in class, etc)