Portfolio+of+Quality+Educational+Web+Resources

=**Portfolio of Quality Educational** **Resources** =

__**Description of** **Assignment:**__ Throughout this assignment, we had to explore the web and find great site that we could use in our classrooms to implement technology. As a teacher, there isn’t always the time to search for an abundance of resources, rather you find one that works and just settle and use it. This project gave us the time and the means to find quality websites that not only work but also enhance our students’ learning experience. When I begun this project I started with the subject I was most familiar with being it is my primary focus, math. I tagged all the great sites I could use with our 5th grade math curriculum math. The descriptions were just to remind me what part of math they would work for. I found some amazing sites that I never would have stumbled across if it weren’t for this assignment. I also teach Language Arts, which opened a whole other area of tags. I now broke up the great Language Arts websites into 3 tags: spelling, reading, and writing. I did search for grammar sites but I chose to put them in a different more vague tag, skills. In the skills tag, I included some all around great sources for either Math or Language Arts. I plan on using the resources tagged skills for skill building time at the end of the day when the kids have some free practice time. These sites, since not specific, allow the students to explore and practice what interests them or what they feel that they need to improve on personally. The next set of bookmark tags has to deal with Science: environment, recycling, and general science. My core and I work together to teach lessons across curriculums and do many Earth Day activities so these sites will be put to good use. The other subject area we focus on, as a core is Social Studies so I tagged websites in geography and news. Our students spend a lot o time preparing for a geography bee and working on current events so again, I am glad I was able to find such useful sites. Lastly, my passion on music made me explore the available music sites. The arts are typically lost by the youth but these websites make it very assessable and interesting. I hope they can spark some interest in my students.

__**My Delicious Tags**__ -Math -Science -Reading -Writing -Spelling -Skills -Geography -News -Music -Recycle -Environment

[|Portfolio of Quality Educational Resources]

__**Reflection:**__ Technology is being worked into the classroom everyday in the US. It is more that just an added bonus; it is now a requirement. We have developed 21st Century Skills Standards that will lead our students’ to their futures and careers. Text books, notebooks, and worksheets are being backed up with interactive websites, word processing, and online sources. The students need to be exposed as well as informed by a teacher who is comfortable with the technology. We need to take leaps and bounds to get ahead of the students or at least catch up to them in order to use technology in a productive and example giving way. We need to set the example and use technology to let the kids know that is is more than video games and online chatting. The use of technology needs to be of quality. Just because you put a website up for the students to look at does not mean you are using technology. In searching for websites for my portfolio, I have become very aware that there are quality web resources and ones that are not so good. Taking the time to search is half the battle but being aware is the most important part. I find that the most useful and worthy websites are those that keep the kids engaged and give them some chances to make their own decisions. We just always have to remember to ask ourselves when using technology, how will this benefit the students?