comments cut off

It looks like part of the below is cut off. It can be viewed on my google site, masters classes, 619 link.

Website done

Thanks to Marla and Professor Herr, I think my website is done.

SED 619: Educational Website Development

Here is the SED 619 Class website. Here is the SED 619 Wiki page to help with any questions about the class. I created this google site you are viewing for SED 619. I am also working on a professional website that was created using Dreamweaver. I created a first day survey and survey results that can be seen on my Educational Survey page. I created a class calendar that can be seen on my calendar page. My editorial comments can be seen on my Editorial Comments blog. My chroma-keying photos can be seen here with chicago in the background , me at Wrigley Field and my son and I on the moon. My picasa web photo albums can be seen here with my teaching photos on picasa, and pictures of my family. I created a table to display my hobbies and interests pictures and picasa web album. My state standards can be seen here with mathematics, science, and social studies. I have an anchor for How to contact the teacher that goes back to the main page to my Contact Me section. I added a graph paper resource from graph paper I created--can be found under Math resources for teaching. I added an excel spreadsheet with muliplication and addition tables--see under resources for teaching. I created a spry tool tip with pictures of different triangles in my math page-- teaching resources. I created another spry tooltip on the Declaration of Independence off my social studies standards page. I created a spry tabbed panels with pictures from Ellis Island also in social studies, in the state standards. I added an educational video to show convection current in my standards page--see convection current youtube video. I added links to schoolhouse rock videos to "No More Kings" and "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" from youtube. I created an interactive map with a photo & comment to Castlebay Lane Elementary school. I created a powerpoint for the Revolutionary War which can be reached from my social studies standards page. It can be viewed as ppt, pdf and html. The above link has an anchor on the page to bring you right to the powerpoint. I created a pictoral directory of women involved with the American Revolution. Here is my template directory --it can be found in glossary/help off the main page under Templates. Here is my cascading style sheet directory--it can be found in glossary/help off the main page under CSS. I created a flash animation for my 618 class of a jack in the box. My google groups link can be found on my link page.

re: Final review

Thank you Marla for reviewing my website so thoroughly.
I have bolded the words for my spry pages--that was a great idea.

I added the convection current pdf to my site, so it doesn't have to go to google docs, so there should not be a permission problem anymore.

I'm glad you like the American Revolution Women picture directory...it took quite a while for me to put it together...I'd be happy if someone was able to use it (like your husband).

Professor Herr had recommended we put in links to movies & I found those movies in Youtube, so I guess I would have to ask for access to them from the school site when I get a job.

I'm still having the issue with the template directory...I don't know why it isn't working anymore. I'm hoping professor Herr can figure it out tomorrow when I see him.

I believe I have met all the requirements for the class.

Thanks again for checking things out!
Janice

Final Review

Here are my comments:

1. Spry tool tip on triangles and Declaration of Independence: I think you should underline or bold the words that link to the spry so the reader knows something is there for them to see if they hover over it.
2. Convection Current diagram: Is not available
3. You Tube videos cannot be viewed at by school sites/district unless you get approval by the tech dept. They are classified as adult content. I’m not sure how easy this is with a big district like LAUSD. Also, every time they update firewall, you need to request access again. Great idea! I love Schoolhouse Rock.
4. Revolutionary Women: I loved this photo album. I will share it with my husband. He teaches US at the high school and is always looking for photos.
5. Template directory: I get the entire home page when I click on it.
6. Glossary: Very impressive. If I have any time this evening, you’ve shamed me into adding content to mine. I like that you put a link to template and css directories in there. I may steal the idea.

Your site looks great. I love what you have done with the css. It looks like an A+ to me!

Marla's update of site & recommendations

I reviewed your sites and here are my comments:

I have an anchor for How to contact the teacher that goes back to the main page to my Contact Me section. Marla: I really like this; maybe you can share how to do this with me.

I created a spry tool tip with pictures from Ellis Island in my social studies page--photos used in teaching. Marla: I really like this feature.

I created a spry tabbed panels with pictures from Ellis Island also in social studies, in the state standards. Marla: When I clicked on this tab, nothing happened.

I created an interactive map with a photo & comment to Castlebay Lane Elementary school. Marla: This is good. I would replace your Map To School link on the home page to go this page or make it an additional link under Map to School. Change banner to match home page.

I created a powerpoint for the Revolutionary War which can be reached from my social studies standards page. It can be viewed as ppt, pdf and html. The above link has an anchor on the page to bring you right to the powerpoint. Marla: This was nice; however, it took a really long time to load. Not sure how avoid this; maybe Steve knows.

Some other things I noticed when I was looking at your site:

Science page:

The Notable Scientists photo album is gone. It takes you to a CSUN web page saying there is an error. I cannot access Weather Map—no access error message.

Math page:

I would add some graph paper docs. I think we did this with Dr. Herr and they are probably in a folder on your flash drive. You will need 1 cm graphing paper for elementary school math. I know my son has used it for area & perimeter in the geometry unit of Everyday Math.

Help/Glossary:

You are doing better than me here. However, I didn’t see a link to Condensation or Convection Current.

Animation:

I would create an animation page and put your Jack in the Box and Scratch game here.

I love the look of your site now. The banner and headings look great!

Review of Academic Site

Banners: I love the Castlebay banner on the home page, the math equations on math page and historical figures and places on the social studies page. The science banner is blank on the home page, yet is personalized on the standards page. I would make them the same.

Purely aesthetic: I think the navigation bar and heading 1 would look better if they were the same color—maybe match it to the navy blue in Castlebay banner or California Distinguished school seal. It looks like your name is matched to that color. Maybe match the heading 2 to the school color or heading 1 and heading 2 to school colors if there are two? Also, it may look nice if you use the same color for heading 2 and the hot link on the navigation bar. Also, I agree with Steve about putting a home link on navigation bar on outer pages. Viewers need a way to get back.

Math: Looks good. I would search the web for more content, or use some teacher created handouts, link to the book you used when student teaching with curriculum covered (units or chapters) as bullets. I think the LAUSD schools use the same curriculum. Check with Steve. I know all Conejo and Moorpark elementary schools use the same state adopted material. That way, you have it ready when you do get a job. :-)

Social studies: Same as math.

Science: Same as math; however, you did some great graphics on the water cycle in SED 618. I would add them as links to standards and curriculum topics. It may be a nice spry tools touch?

Fundraiser: I love the way you linked this to the elementary school fundraising page. I wish my son’s school had a page like this.

Back to School Night: Instead of linking to the school’s calendar, I would put in the flyer you created in EED 515.

Scholarship link: I’m not sure if Castlebay has it; however, most PTAs give scholarships to students who can’t afford the fee for extracurricular activities. You can see if there is a link like that at Castlebay.

Keep working. It looks great!

Re: Steve's Update Recommendations

Steve,
Thanks for reviewing my website. I have updated the banners to try to make them a little more readable...I hope they are better. There is a lot going on there, so it's hard to select a color that will stand out well.

I updated the Woodworking and Habitat titles to be heading 3, so they would stand out...thanks for bringing that to my attention...it looks much better.

I need to add a home button somewhere...I think that is a great idea and it will be my next task, along with looking for more content.

Thanks again for your review!
Janice

Review of Professional Website.

You've been working on the content, that's good!

I think the paragraph subtitles could pop out more.Perhaps they need to be bolded. WoodWorking.

I see that you've changed the links in the main horizontal menu, that's good, not many people seem to have done that.

I'm wondering If one of those links should be "Home". If a visitor comes from google and lands on the mathematics page, how does that visitor go to your main page? A knowlegeable user could discern the home site from the address bar, but what about the others? Maybe you could do the "hot spot" link trick on the banner. These types of things might be best done in the template.

Following the first link to the mathematics page I see a black "Fifth Grade Mathematics" title against a dark background image. It's tough to read. Maybe try something with greater contrast.
Check the 5th grade social studies title as well.

5th grade science page looks good.

The link to the LAUSD school calendar is good.I may steal that idea. I think that is useful.
At the time I was checking the link to the School Faculty, the Castlebay website was down. Mrs. Moore was probably updating it.

I see you have obfuscated your email address from the bots. Nice technical touch.

Your teaching philosophy is well thought out. Shows professionalism. Sure beats my three sentence philosophy.

The map to the school is handy.

Not your fault, but the google poll / survey thing irritates me that I can't see how my results compare to other poll takers. I can't remember a poll on the net that didn't let you see results, that's 90% of the appeal of taking a poll.


Overall the site has come together nicely. You are further along than many others. Keep working on the content.

Flash Review

I like the jack in the box. You're right, the handle does spin fast! Your site still looks great. I like the way it links directly into your professional site. I also like the way you posted your projects on the 618 page. Very nice.

Personal Website Requirements & updates

I believe I have met most of the below requirements. I have updated my website to reflect Marla's & Steve's comments--thanks both of you!!

My academic website is beginning to be formed. I don't have a lot of information to put in it, so right now I am using the information I taught during student teaching.

Build a personal website using Google Sites. Your site should include:
Personal Introduction
Education
Work Experience
Educational Philosophy
Hobbies & Interests
Photo of you
Photos relevant to your interests, hobbies, etc. (Picasaweb)
Other relevant information
Links to your CSUN website and personal domain
Links to all Masters Degree Coursework
SED 618: Educational Multimedia
SED 619: Educational Website Development
SED 600: Research Methods for Ed Technology
Elective (SED 646) Computers in Math and Science
SED 690: Special Topics in Ed Technology
Elective (SED 671) Designing Instructional Materials
SED 610: Seminar on Secondary Education
SED 697: Preparation for the MA
Links to the collaborative resources used for instruction

Searching for needles in Janice's haystack

It readily apparent that you have put a lot of energy and time into your content. Clearly there is nothing lacking and I now have to begin a needle in a haystack hunt or go on a nitpicking expedition.

On the about page, the text is quite a bit below the top of the page. It's an issue with text wrapping around the image. It would be nice if the text wrapped closer to the top of the page and there were a bit more spacing or padding between the image and the text.

On the main education page, the content is impressive and to the point. I see you've already added links back to the schools on their respective pages. How about adding links on the main education page? Might be overboard, but maybe link to a mapquest or google map of the places. Or perhaps a school logo or mascot or just images of the campuses.

On the education philosophy page, the title "Teaching Philosophy for Janice Nardella" needs to be called out with bold or size or color to visually delineate it's role as a heading. The content itself is excellent in my view. I really like the detail.

On the Hobbies and Interests page I really like the image and logo, it's visually appealing and a nice touch. This is just a great read. One of the best pages.

On the Work Experience page, "Good observational skills"?? how about excellent, outstanding, superior ? Good is too toned down. Same for "well organized" Sell it a little more. Think "What would Billy Mays do?"

"Successfully educational field trips to ...." I think you're missing a word in there. Lead? coordinated? orchestrated?

"Proficient in Office 2000 applications" Are you sure you aren't proficient in something newer like office 2003, office 2007 ? What about Macs or Mac apps ?

" 20 years of Information technology experience, including database ........What kind of databases ? Oracle? SQL ? Postgresql ? all of the above?

Overall, the content is rich and full. It's apparent you've accomplished a lot educationally and professionally. You've continued to grow with your hobbies and you give back to the community. It's very impressive.

Review of Personal Website

This looks great! The only comments I have are that under Master's Coursework, you have two active links to SED 618 and none to Dr. Herr's SED 619 course.

The next thing I notice is there is no academic website link. Not sure if you omitted it b/c you are not teaching. However, I think it would be nice to build a resource site for yourself from your student teaching experience. For example, for Grade 4: Standards, curriculum content, teacher developed material, planning guide, resources, pictures from student teaching, etc.

Anyway, you are a great role model for me. I want my site to be like Janice's!

Marla

YAY!! I found you!