Designing a Web Site to Support Students’ Learning

and CommunicationOctober 20, 2011NCTM Conference

Kimberly SummeyEast Tennessee State University, Johnson City,

TN

Benefits of a well-organized pageParents and students are more likely to

visit if they can find information efficiently

Visitors will spend more time on your page

Reduces the number of repetitive questions about classroom management/the learning environment

Encourages parental involvement by keeping parents “in the know”

Additional benefitsFewer students without homework

Better projects

Silent learners interacted via e-mail

Significantly reduced hand-written requests for assignments when students were absent

E-mail rather than telephone calls for child-specific questions*

What information do you expect to find on a teachers’ web page?

Ask fellow teachers

Ask students

Ask parents

Results of Ms. Summey’s students’ surveysPractice problems for each state objective

Answers to even problems after current homework has been discussed

Worked out answer keys for quizzes and tests after the papers are returned to students

Free web page sites for teachershttp://www.educatorpages.com/

(includes ads)

http://www.schoolrack.com/ (ad free)http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/web_site/

http://www.yola.com/make-a-free-website.html

http://snappages.com/

http://www.hipero.com/ (not a good starter site)

Free group access builderhttp://www.google.com/sites/help/intl/en/overview

.html

Pointers for Math TeachersNavigation should be simple and clear to

makeLimit the number of unnecessary imagesA clean look exhibits professionalism Avoid noises and distractionSeparate large content into smaller

understandable partsKeep it easy to read – Be considerate of

people with disabilitiesOPEN LINKS IN A NEW WINDOW

Ideas Q & A section for parents each year A weekly update letter about class

activitiesQ & A section for projectsSupplies listImportant testing datesProjects from students (without names

or as school policy allows)Links to a weekly game

More ideasStudent expectationsExtra credit opportunitiesProject deadlinesMath team meeting datesA weekly (or daily) challenge problemBefore/after school help scheduleStudy guidesAdditional practice problems with

solutions

Free printable graph paperhttp://www.waterproofpaper.com/graph-pa

per/

Include links to existing information

http://www.coolmath.com/linktocoolmath.htm

http://www.purplemath.com/index.htm

by Elizabeth Stapel

http://softschools.com/math/ (K-8)

Elementary Reourceshttp://resources.oswego.org/games/mathmagician/cathym

ath.html Math Magician

www.lizardpoint.com/fun/java/buyit/BuyIt.htmlBuy It

http://www.gamequarium.com/addition.htmlGamequarium

http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/nl.cgi?A1=s&A2=1 FunBrain

More Elementary Resourceshttp://www.allmath.com/Fun_And_Games.php

Allmath

http://www.mathcats.com/ Math Cats

http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/ Math Dictionary

Advice about linksConsider a disclaimer about external

links

E-mail the owner/developer and request permission to link

Respect copyright rules

Check links periodically

Meet students’ needsCopies of presentations

Smart Notebook Express http://express.smarttech.com/#

PowerPoint Viewer http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=13

Responding to student requestsSearch for existing information and link to it

Construct a well-developed response and post it

Protractor issue http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/reading-a-protractor/8EkJCCqj46p_f1E2G5eJ9A

Current data for real-world applicationshttp://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ National

Debt

http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html

Population

http://www.thecapitol.net/FAQ/payandperqs.htm Salaries of Congress

Happy Building!

Kimberly Summeysummeyk@etsu.edu