Amy+Rousselo

1181052750 Amy7@ku.edu or Facebook messages

My name is Amy Rousselo and I am from Basehor, Kansas. I am a junior and I will be beginning my first year in the School of Education in the fall. I hope to teach either junior high or high school English. I love literature and writing. It would be great to teach a literature class where we examined great works and then wrote crtically about them. My hope is to work in an urban school with lots of diversity. This environment is the most exciting and challenging to me. I think technology is important because it is constantly changing with time. Students, in the same way, have grown up with this technological world and hopefully it will interest them to use it as a learning tool. It can also help inspire kids who struggle with more traditional teaching styles and tap some creative energy into the classroom. I have definitely seen examples of techonology in the classroom that were not effective. I had a geography professor my freshman year at KU who tried to use technology, but failed every single time. The class was only 50 minutes long, and he would spend the first 20 minutes cursing at whatever device he was trying to use. Typically, he would just give up and revert back to the same boring lectures. Luckily, by this time, the lectures were only about 30 minutes. I would like to learn more about creating a sort of resume using a website or some other source. I know that many administrators who are hiring teachers are busy and would benefit from looking at a website for a teacher that included pictures, important acomplishments, and other items helpful to the hiring process. I think it would be a much more interactive way to "sell" my ability to teach to a school district.

[|Bad Website Example] This site is an example of a web page that I would not be inclined to show my students. While the information is from the A&E Television network, it is simply a less fulfilling example of an encyclopedia article. The site claims that this article is the “kid’s version.” This title would lead the reader to believe that the page may include a game, a bright and colorful background, or some images that would help the learning process. However, “kid’s version” apparently means that many important facts are left out of the article to make it as short as possible. I do not think that high school or middle school students would be inclined to read and article with very small words, one picture, and a plain background.

[|Good Website Example] This website would be excellent for the high school or middle school students. The words are large and there are many pictures that aid what the students are learning in the text. The information is broken down into different categories which helps make the page seem less daunting for a student. This site also includes several activities that would allow students to test the knowledge they learned in a fun way. While some of the activities are a little too simple for this age group, there were some pages that would be great review. The information could use some more details, but not so many that the site would lose its simplicity. I love the diagram of the ship because it could help the class better visualize the life of Columbus.





I think that a good instructional website should include as few distractions as possible to the actual information. There should be no advertisements or unnecessary graphics. You should be able to recognize that the information is from a reliable source and will not mislead students of slanting information. It should also be clear and concise and appropriate for the age group you are working with. I liked Meaghan's good example of a website. The information was broken down into categories which I think seems less daunting to students. While there were a few unnecessary links, it was an overall good site to use in a classroom. I also agreed with Meaghan on her bad example of a website. There were graphics that did not enhance the information but were distracting instead. Some of the graphics even had a constant motion which is even more distracting. The text was large and centered which made it hard to read. These were both great examples of what to do and what not to do when working with websites in a classroom.

Amy Rousselo 6/14/07 site design
Four rules for a goos site map 1. Site organization should be very simple and direct so the user knows where to click. 2. There should not be so many links that users never go to or can not find. 3. The site should not have distracting text, color, or pictures. 4. Links on the site should be well titled so the user knows where they will go if they click on it. Eric's map looks great. I like how he has only a few links on the homepage. This will help users not become overwhelmed. His links are also named very well. The user will know where the link will take them. While the communication link is great, it might be a good idea to have a parent link on the homepage, so parents don't have to hunt around on the site to find it. The page may need a specifc link that helps with website problems, since technology can be confusing. Overall, the map is great!

Atticus Finch Facebook

[|English Kansas Website]