Homework+&+Practice

= Homework and Practice =

( @http://venturebeat.com/2009/09/30/weebly-brings-its-simple-website-builder-to-schools/ ) **Technol****ogy 1: Weebly for Education** = Rationale: = Using Weebly for Education teachers can easily create a website for their classroom. Having a class website will allow teachers an online space to provide class resources for students and parents that have to do with homework and practice. First, teachers can post their homework policy, homework assignments and due dates. In addition, teachers can provide students help with homework in the form of specific website links that have to do with the content of the homework, or that will provide opportunities for practice. Both students and parents can access this information on the website from anywhere, using a variety of different technologies. Weebly also has an “assignment” element that allows students to submit work online. Weebly for Education is very intuitive and has many features, which makes creating websites easy for teachers. In addition, Weebly for Education offers bulk creation of up to 40 student accounts for free, so teachers can create, manage, and moderate individual websites for their students. It also has a blogging feature that both teachers and students can use.

=Resources Needed:=
 * ====Computer with Internet access====
 * ====Free Accounts with no outside advertising for up to 40 students (website: @http://www.weebly.com/)====

( @http://eduscapes.com/sessions/handhelds/ ) = Technology 2: Handhelds  =

**Rationale:** Handhelds, including netbooks, MP3 players, Smart Phones, and PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistants), can be beneficial to students in terms of completing homework and practicing skills in a variety of ways. First, using handhelds, students can access the Internet, where they may visit their own class website to get an assignment, review the homework policy, or get links to other websites that will help them if they are having difficulty with homework assignments. Internet access also helps students find websites with information that may help them with assignments, allows them to connect with online help “experts” who can help them locate information, provides a variety of media for skill practice, and could also allow them to collaborate with other students regarding homework assignments using a blog or a wiki. In addition, certain handhelds are capable of downloading applications that can provide skill practice and many can be used as a calculator and/or a graphing calculator. Since many students already have some sort of handheld device, this is a technology that many students already know how to use, which would make it easy to apply the use of the technology to the homework and practice strategy.

=Resources Needed:=
 * ====Handheld Devices with access to Internet, cost varies====

( @http://middleschool101.edublogs.org/2009/09/20/homework-scholastic-homework-hub/ ) = Technology 3: Scholastic Homework Hub = = Rationale: = ==== Scholastic Homework Hub is a website that is useful for the Homework and Practice strategy because it provides many different kinds of resources to help students with the work they do outside of school. One section of the site is a practice section with activities and quizzes that will help students boost their skills. The research and writing sections give tips for students to do the research they may need to do for home projects and also helps students with different types of writing they may be asked to do at home, including interviews and book reviews. The research section also provides links to resources students can use for their research. In addition, the organize and prepare for the test sections give students and parents advice on how to stay organized, study tips, and test-taking strategies. Though, many other websites will also be beneficial to students when it comes to homework, especially skills practice, I believe that this website provides very good information for students about how to manage homework and to prepare for tests. ====

=Resources Needed:=
 * ====Computer with Internet access====
 * ====Free access to resources (website: @http://www.scholastic.com/kids/homework/)====

= = =Educational Challenge: School-Family Connections= ====Parental involvement is linked to higher student achievement and technology can help foster stronger parental involvement in terms of encouraging communication, understanding of homework expectations, and helping students to share their learning with their parents. The creation of a class website by a teacher can provide a place for a teacher to post a homework policy so parents can understand the rationale and expectations for the homework assigned. Such a website also allows for teachers to post assignments and their due dates, provide links to websites that may help students complete assignments or practice skills, and it may even allow for students to turn in their assignments online. A section of the website could also be devoted to a homework help blog, where students could ask each other and the teacher for help with assignments as they are completing them. In addition, teachers could use part of the website as a place to share projects students have completed or to post class newsletters. Sharing projects and posting newsletters would help to involve parents in their students' learning and in recognition of their efforts.====