Portfolio+of+Quality+Education+Web+Resources


 * Summary:**

The Portfolio of Quality Education Web Resources is a collection of a minimum of 50 Web resources that will be posted and tagged on Delicious. Each resource will be listed with a title, URL, description, and tag. In addition to the 50 resources a description of the process used in determining the categories (tags) and why the categories and resources chosen are relevant to me as an educator.


 * The Process:**

Prior to choosing the websites for my list of **//Quality Educational Web Resources ,//** I decided I must first determine what deemed a website “quality”. For the purpose of this assignment, a quality web resource is a web page that meets the following criteria:
 * eContains information related to special education, disabilities, teaching strategies, information about specific exceptionalities, IEPs, inclusion, tools, or techniques.
 * Website is easy to navigate and understand.
 * Information was clearly factual and not based in opinion.
 * Offered information for educators, caregivers, or students to either help themselves or a student with exceptionalities.

Once I determined my criteria I was ready to select web resources. I first selected six websites that I use on a regular basis. I then went through the hundred or so favorites that I had saved on my computer to see if any of them were quality enough to make my “Top 50”. From my favorites I only found four that I felt were of high enough quality to make the list. From there I decided to use a search engine to help me find the remaining 40 web resources. I searched for special education resources and found hundreds and hundreds of sites. From the criteria I selected in advance I narrowed these down to 40. Prior to adding them to my Delicious.com account, I reviewed each, chose a title, description, and tags.

The **__first tag__** for each bookmark was based on who I felt the site would be primarily used by and was indicated by one of the following tags: **//personal//**- only if it were to be used for personal or work use, **//teachers//**- if I felt it was primarily used by educators**//, caregivers//** - if the site was primarily for parents and guardians of students, **//and/or students//** - if I felt the site was primarily used for or by students.

After making this determination, I **__then tagged__** the site based on what the site was primarily helpful for, if it was information-oriented I listed the subject, if not I tagged the site by listing what the site primarily offered.


 * __Examples of information-orientied tags include the following:__**
 * ADHD || dyslexia || behavior || bipolar ||
 * blind || deaf || ASL - American Sign Language || LD (learning disabled, various) ||
 * sped (General Special Education) || TAG (talented and gifted ||  ||   ||


 * __Examples of tags by what the site primarily offers or is used for include:__**
 * activities-games, activities, icebreakers
 * assessments - assessment ideas
 * bysubject - listed by subject
 * character- character development ideas
 * citationhelp - for student research papers- how to correctly cite
 * classroommanagement - management help and ideas
 * college - personal, for college
 * CRjob - for my job
 * donations - donation requests for supplies etc.
 * email - for my job
 * Eschool -for my job
 * forms - form help
 * freewebsite - free website!!
 * games - game ideas
 * gov - government website
 * grading - grading tips for students with IEPs
 * grants - grant help
 * graphics - pictures, photos, clipart
 * Homeaccess - for my job
 * IEP - IEP information
 * inclusion - inclusion ideas, suggestions, strategies
 * lessonplans - free lesson plans
 * parentcontact - parent contact website free for teachers
 * payroll - for my job
 * printables - free printables and worksheets
 * researchpapers - research paper help for students
 * rubrics - free rubrics
 * searchengine - search engine for student use
 * software- free software for teachers
 * standards - goverment standards
 * statistics - educational statistics
 * strategies - strategies and ideas for special education teachers
 * supplies - free supplies or requests
 * supportgroup - for parents of special education students
 * technology - technology ideas and support
 * practicetests - practice for SATs, ACTs
 * transition - transition help for students writing research papers

//At first I planned on the majority of my fifty resources coming from the favorites I already had stored on my computer. After looking through them, I felt that most of them were very specific and not exactly resources I would list as my top 50. I then decided it would be more beneficial to research entirely new web resources. I went through page after page of “top” special education sites and reviewed each to give myself a better idea of what was available. Through this task I found so many resources, strategies, and ideas that I was somewhat overwhelmed. There are two websites that I am planning to use in the near future: ClassNotesOnline.com and ILoveSchools.com. ClassNotesOnline.com is a free website that allows teachers an easy way to update parents with daily agendas, homework, and upcoming events and ILoveSchools.com is a site that allows teachers to request materials and companies and donors to fulfill these requests. I’m hoping to make use of these and share them with my colleagues in the near future. In conclusion, I felt this was a useful project and I found the exposure to a variety of new resources to be very helpful.//
 * //Quality Educational Web Resources . //**
 * //Reflection//:**