Cutting across the curriculum online

NEA Today, Apr 2001 by Glass, Sue, Wheeler, Joyce, Hedrick, Georgia

World on Our Doorstep

I found that the most motivating tool that I have used in all of my years of teaching has been our class Web site. I developed the site to provide a doorway for my second and third graders to communicate with the world.

I wanted them to be able to easily access information from quality sites and also feel that they were capable of teaching others.

The benefits have been so much greater than I could have ever expected. When we are studying any particular theme, everyone knows that they will be expected to participate in the "web project."

We have had various other enriching experiences because of our site. We have received E-mail from all over, been interviewed by the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel and even a local TV station. The children feel like experts not only in the academic areas that they have researched, but also in the area of technology. When one of our state senators came to visit and asked questions, my students felt like what they had to say was of value.

You can find our site at www.bdsd. k12.wi.us/dean/buddynew/buddy.htm.

Sue Glass

Dean School

Cedarburg, Wisconsin

Putting Technology To Work

Students are benefiting from the Web pages I have researched and created as a remedial reading instructor in the fourth grade. The students, in turn, apply the data they collect from my Web site and create their own!

Teachers have requested specific data and resources. Through the format of a teacher-created Web site, all teachers in the county at a grade/subject area have access to data of interest. Equally important, collaboration within a school, county, and state represent an unlimited opportunity for professional growth.

Listed below are the Web sites for examples of cross-curriculum application integrating technology, Internet, and curriculum across the board in all grade levels:

www.geocities.com/jwheelershes/ Heathsweather.html

www.geocities.com/jwheelershes/ Yuranslightningbolt.html

www.geocities.com/jwheelershes/ Februarynewsletter.html

Joyce Wheeler

Sand Hill Elementary School

Carrolton, Georgia

Oldie but Goody

I go from school to school, reading the children's books that I have written and illustrated on the computer, using computer graphics programs as well as the basic paintbrush program of

Windows, and demonstrating to students and teachers how they can do the same thing.

I bring my old but upgraded 386 (its insides are of Pentium II stuff) with me, so that I can show that even an old computer can be rehabbed.

My focus is on the rural and the at-- risk kids and the teachers that have little or no access to the few big Nevada cities.

I hook into their monitors to demonstrate how writing and illustrating can be done and saved using the least amount of space.

My aim is to get schools to see the option of e-books instead of textbooks. It is also to get kids to write, draw, and publish online.

Georgia Hedrick

Northern Nevada Writing Project

Reno, Nevada

TALK TO US

Have a nifty classroom tip or lesson plan that uses technology? E-mail a description (under 200 words, please!) to wiredclassroom@list.nea.org.

Is there a Web site, CD-ROM, or piece of software you can't live without? E-mail your favorites-and why you love them-to myfavoritetech@ list.nea.org.

Or send your responses by regular mail to NEA Today, or by Fax to 202/822-7206, or through the Web at www.nea.org/cet.

Those published here will receive a sparkling NEA Today mug!

My favorite Web site

I created an online discussion page for seniors to explore Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness and Adam Hoschchild's King Leopold's Ghost, at http://acrop hobic.homestead. com/hod.html.

Diana Kimmel

Ayden-Grifton High School

Greenville, North Carolina