DVELOPING A HOME PAGE FOR YOUR CLASSROOM

Teaching With the Internet:
Tama Forth's Class

• At the beginning of the year, Tama took a workshop on developing a classroom home page on the Internet. She worked her way through Writing HTML: A Tutorial for Creating WWW Pages. HTML is the programming language used on the WWW. She also learned how to use Netscape Composer, an HTML editor , to quickly make her home page. This made developing pages for the WWW as easy as typing with a word processor.

E-MAIL FOR YOU                           From: Janice Smith Janice's classroom has a home page at http://home.earthlink.net/~jesmith/.

Examples of Classroom Home Pages

• We have already seen many examples of classroom home pages throughout previous chapters. As we consider developing a home page for your classroom, you may wish to explore three additional examples of classroom home pages. In Carlsbad, California, Brittany Buchel's Classroom Home Page shows parents and others what takes place in her class.

E-MAIL FOR YOU                           From: Sharon Hall Sharon found that developing a classroom home page has been a wonderful experience. Visit their home page at http://mrshall.cjb.net.

• Sue Pandiani, a teacher on Cape Cod, has spent the past several years organizing her class around the theme, "The North Star Navigators," an idea based on an online book by Peter Reynolds, The North Star. Her class has been fortunate enough to work with this author as both of them explore new worlds for students. Sue is inspired by this book. It contains sections enabling her to publish students' work, forge links with parents, provide resources to several Internet projects her class is completing this year, and share teaching ideas with others who visit her site.  Constructing a classroom website can be fun.  Consult web resources for assistance and model classroom sites. 

E-MAIL FOR YOU                           From: Doug Crosby Doug and his first grade class published their field trip report on the Internet. Pay a visit at http://www.digisys.net/cherry/Mr.Crosbyfield_trip.htm.

• Mr. Hos-McGrane and Linda Swanson, at the International School in Amsterdam use a home page to display the wonderful work of students in social studies classes.

Learning How to Develop Your Own Classroom Home Page

• You might also wish to use a word processor containing an integrated HTML editor. The latest version of most word processors now come with an HTML editor . Separate HTML editors such as FrontPage Editor or Adobe's PageMill are also available. You may also wish to see if one of these programs is supported by your district. Copies may already be available for teachers in your district to use.

• Others will take you into the world of HTML coding. These are very easy to follow and get you immediately into the world of HTML without assuming any prior knowledge. The best tutorial we have found for teachers who wish to learn HTML code is Writing HTML: A Tutorial for Creating WWW Pages. Others also exist, including:

Internet FAQ Many teachers are using the free space available to them with their home Internet Service Provider (the company that provides you with Internet service). Others are using sites on the Internet that will provide you with free web space in return for an ad for their company or a rotatig series of pop up or banner ads. They include Geocities, Tripod, Angelfire, and others.

E-MAIL FOR YOU              From: Terry Hongell & Patty Taverna Pay some visits to see their work at: • A Children's Guide to Vietnam • Charlotte's Web • Pocantico Hills School Home Page

E-MAIL FOR YOU                           From: Jodi Moore Jodi recommends several sites which her students enjoy visiting: • http://www.weather.com • http://www.allrecipes.com • http://www.schoolnotes.com

Instructional Resources on the Internet

Listservs/Mailing Lists for Developing a Classroom Home Page