By: Martha Brookley ESOL Teacher Brookland Cayce High School

By: Martha Brookley
ESOL Teacher
Brookland Cayce High School
https://goo.gl/KJ5A75
A website means….
▪ it is easier to assign online work.
▪ safer exploration of the Internet.
▪ organized resources for parents, students and
teachers.
▪ a quick reference point for past lessons and
resources.
▪ easily assigned make up work.
There are a number of great programs to help
you with creating your site, but which one is
the best choice?
I have found the top three site creators to be:
▪Weebly
▪Google Classroom
▪Edmodo
Edmodo
Google Classroom
Weebly
Ease of use
Easiest –like a
Facebook wall
More complicated with add-ons It is easy to use however, you
have to create a full website.
Appearance
Template with apps
Themes with add ons
Different templates available.
Cost
Free
Free
Free – can upgrade to Pro
Pros
Very easy to use.
Student
communication.
Good for google-enabled
devices (Chrome books, etc)
Student communication.
Best method to share links.
No code to access
Easiest for students to use
Work
submission
Ability to submit work Ability to submit work and share Not available
online
to the teacher. Teacher can see
who is finished/working.
Cons
Same site type for
Some issues with non-google
Takes longer to setup and
everyone.
platforms. Must join with a code configure than the others.
Must join with a code
No student communication.
Edmodo
Google
Weebly
My students were….
▪ESOL beginner to advanced
▪At different levels of technology use and literacy.
So I needed….
▪One advanced site – for project-based work.
▪One beginner site – For pre-teaching information, bilingual
support and basic computer literacy.
Beginner Students
Advanced Students
Files
No files to submit
Files to submit
Devices
Regular Chromebooks to use this year
Prep for Samsung tablets next year.
Goal
Build basic computer literacy skills
Increase student technology use
Instruction
Need direct instruction
Need to increase independent work
Choice
Weebly
Google Classroom Weebly support
1. Go to https://education.weebly.com/ and create an
account. Make sure you are signing up for the FREE ACCOUNT!
2. Fill in the introductory information
3. Click “create a website” then click “site”
5. Choose a theme
6. Get building!
This is where you
add to each page
using the site tools.
This is where you
change page order,
fonts and the theme.
This is where you
change your themes
and colors.
Add a title and text
to your page.
Add a single picture or gallery to
your page. Galleries scroll
through multiple pictures.
Break up your pages up. Dividers
break text and spacers break up
elements.
Add documents from
your computer for
students to access easily .
Documents can be viewed
on the site without
downloading them.
Click to add a page
Your page title
Your page layout
options. They can be
changed at any time.
Click and drag pages to the
order that you want. You
can also nest pages.
Click to go back to the
tool page and add to
your new pages
If you do not click
publish then all of your
edits will be lost! Don’t
forget!!
Once you see this memo then you
know that your edits have been
saved and you can close the window.
Say you are giving a presentation and want to make
sure all your materials can be easily accessed by the
audience…
How would you do that?
1)
2)
3)
4)
Make a page under “Pages” (set template and title)
Add all your elements
Upload all documents
Publish your site
Classroom websites are great for:
▪
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Clickable resource-link lists for students
Accommodation suggestions
Picture supports for IEP and ESOL students.
Parent information
Keeping track of past assignments and materials
General classroom info – due dates, closures etc.
Project Based Learning (PBL) support.
Coffee & Graphing lesson beginner ESOL math class.
▪
Students used the class
website to find the
necessary links to
complete their
assignments.
▪
Students worked at their
own pace.
▪
Assignments were be
easily altered depending
on individual student
needs.
▪ Advanced ESOL reading class
▪ This class required students to use Google Docs to share
documents back and forth with the teacher.
▪ Assign make up work.
▪ Keep track of resources.
▪ Provide accommodations for ESOL and IEP
students.
▪ Organize online resources.
▪ Streamline internet use in the classroom.
▪ Reduce inappropriate internet use.
▪ Provide custom support for all students.
▪ GCFlearnfree – by the goodwill foundation, this site offers
interactive grammar and vocabulary lessons.
▪ Esl Fast- Although basic, this site has hundreds of stories
for students to listen to. Covers all manner of topics.
▪ BBC Skillswise English - A great overall literacy support
for middle school and up.
▪ Learning chocolate – an awesome free vocabulary
support. Clickable lessons to practice speaking and build
vocabulary.
▪ Dave's ESL cafe- One of the most comprehensive ESOL
sites, this has awesome lesson plan ideas, games and
forums for teachers and students.
▪ Khan academy – One of the best flipped classroom
supports. Direct instruction through videos and
activities. Great for IEP/ESOL students.
▪ Khan academy Spanish – This awesome free support is now
available fully in Spanish! Great for newcomers.
▪ Merriam-Webster visual dictionary- My personal favorite
online visual dictionary.
▪ Esl video practice - A video lesson site for older students.
Many topics with quizzes. Great at home listening practice.
▪ Breakingnewsenglish – an online news resource for
teachers. Lexile-leveled articles and lessons.
▪ Softschools Math- covers all math topics from Pre-K to pre
algebra. Games, lessons, worksheets and more.
▪ Freemathhelp- A great overall math site. Better suited for
higher-level students.
▪ MathDictionary - A Spanish/English math dictionary.
▪ Mathisfun- Interactive lessons from money to pre algebra.
▪ Mathpickle - A great website with a variety of topics and
videos. Great for middle school and up.
▪ Amathsdictionaryforkids - This is a math dictionary
website. Click on a word to read the definition and then do
an activity.
▪ Mr.Nussbaum's site - A wonderful teacher created
website full of awesome resources and interactive lessons.
The geography section is extra great!
▪ Worldgeographygames- Fun games to practice oceans,
continents and flags.
▪ Havefunwithhistory- A variety of topics in American
History from slavery to WW2. Go to “history subjects” to
find the topic you need.
▪ Teachinghistory.org - a very thorough resource for realia
and first hand accounts of history.
▪ Chnm.gmu.edu - a comprehensive list of some of the best
history education resources available.
For further help in creating your classroom
website I recommend:
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Scholastic article on website creation
Weebly help center
Watch more tutorials online
Mrsbrookley.weebly.com
Please feel free to contact me at:
▪ Mrsbrookley.weebly.com
▪ mbleakle@mail.usf.edu