Wiki

Using Google.sites instead of a wiki

Since graduating in 2002 I have tried using a webpage of some kinda professionally. Initially it was a webpage that was designed as a portfolio that I could leave with perspective employers. My first four years of teaching I learned that the internet was not widely available to parents of my students. During the past 5 years this has changed dramatically and I continue to adapt and change my website as needed. Initially I used geocities until I came to South Dakota and for the first year in Harrisburg the state website was a nice adjustment, but using a Mac was tedious to update. I changed to Google.sites when I learned that is the direction Harrisburg was likely to go, and I changed a second time when they decided to move to Shutterfly. I learned that Shutterfly is a nice simple webpage, but it still has some flaws that I wanted to get rid of. Perhaps the most difficult flaw is that Shutterfly is a photo-sharing website that is often times blocked by big corporations such as Avera and Sanford. Going back to Google.sites this year has been exciting because of the improvements they have made and continue to make.

My website http://www.tinyurl.com/plahnclass is a great way to communicate to parents. With the internet as many peoples finger tips parents can stay connected with what is going on in the classroom. By accessing my website parents can view a calendar of what is happening, the weekly schedule, and view students work that has been published online in formats that include blogs, videos, and podcast.