We read stories daily about budget cuts in education and how Margate’s children are being affected. Teachers are on strict budgets with regard to copies that can be made monthly. Students take home fewer worksheets and supplements. Some of the richest and most timely materials available to teachers are not making it into the hands of students because of the copy quotas.
Some elementary and middle school teachers rely on volunteer parents who make copies at home that are later distributed to the entire class. With the economic squeeze, these helpers are becoming less able to help out donating paper and ink for projects.
Margate Middle’s 8th Grade Viking Team has come up with a solution. Last year, Ms. Ventura, a science teacher had a great website that was updated weekly. It allowed students to access classroom materials either online or in print form. It was a great tool for the child out sick or the parent who wanted to participate in the learning process at home. It also offered great supplements that would otherwise be unavailable. This year most of her team has websites using Teacher Web. And the trend is spreading with a majority of the 8th grade Rams team also offering websites to students and parents. Kudos to the pioneers who are using today’s technology to communicate.
Both Teacher Web and TeacherSites are affordable at $39 per year. “TeacherSites is an award-winning product recognized by Learning Magazine and Teacher Magazine for its feature rich system, ease of use, content management system, and design templates.” Edublogs is a free alternative that supports videos and podcasting. PTAs and classroom parents may want to think about an annual subscription for classroom instructors as an end of year gift.
Here is a listing of Margate public school teachers who have websites:
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