Wisconsin teacher Sue Glass uses her class Web site for all sorts of class activities.

World on Our Doorstep
I found that the most motivating tool that I have used in all of my years of teaching has been our class Web site. I developed the site to provide a doorway for my second and third graders to communicate with the world.

I wanted them to be able to easily access information from quality sites and also feel that they were capable of teaching others.

The benefits have been so much greater than I could have ever expected. When we are studying any particular theme, everyone knows that they will be expected to participate in the "web project."

We have had various other enriching experiences because of our site. We have received E-mail from all over, been interviewed by the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel, and even a local TV station. The children feel like experts not only in the academic areas that they have researched, but also in the area of technology. When one of our state senators came to visit and asked questions, my students felt like what they had to say was of value.

You can find our site at www.bdsd.k12.wi.us/dean/buddynew/buddy.htm.

Sue Glass
Dean School
Cedarburg, Wisconsin

Putting Technology To Work
Students are benefiting from the web pages I have researched and created as a remedial reading instructor in the fourth grade. The students, in turn, apply the data they collect from my Web site and create their own!

Teachers have requested specific data and resources. Through the format of a teacher-created Web site, all teachers in the county at a grade/subject area have access to data of interest. Equally important, collaboration within a school, county, and state represent an unlimited opportunity for professional growth.

Listed below are the Web sites for examples of cross-curriculum application integrating technology, Internet, and curriculum across the board in all grade levels:

• www.geocities.com/jwheelershes/
  Heathsweather.html

• www.geocities.com/jwheelershes/
  Yuranslightningbolt.html

• www.geocities.com/jwheelershes/
  Februarynewsletter.html

Joyce Wheeler
Sand Hill Elementary School
Carrolton, Georgia

Oldie but Goody
I go from school to school, reading the children's books that I have written and illustrated on the computer, using computer graphics programs as well as the basic paintbrush program of Windows, and demonstrating to students and teachers how they can do the same thing.

I bring my old but upgraded 386 (its insides are of Pentium II stuff) with me, so that I can show that even an old computer can be rehabbed.

My focus is on the rural and the at-risk kids and the teachers that have little or no access to the few big Nevada cities.

I hook into their monitors to demonstrate how writing and illustrating can be done and saved using the least amount of space.

My aim is to get schools to see the option of e-books instead of textbooks. It is also to get kids to write, draw, and publish online.

Georgia Hedrick
Northern Nevada Writing Project
Reno, Nevada

TALK TO US

Have a nifty classroom tip or lesson plan that uses technology? E-mail a description (under 200 words, please!) to wiredclassroom@list.nea.org.

Is there a Web site, CD-ROM, or piece of software you can't live without? E-mail your favorites--and why you love them--to myfavoritetech@list.nea.org.

Or send your responses by regular mail to NEA Today, or by Fax to 202/822-7206, or through the Web at www.nea.org/cet.

Those published here will receive a sparkling NEA Today mug!

Bytes for Beginners

How can I organize all the bookmarks I've created with Netscape Communicator? How can I get my favorite bookmarks to appear in Netscape's toolbar?

On a Windows machine, follow these steps to organize by topic:

1. In Netscape, pull down the "Bookmarks" menu to "Edit Bookmarks," click, and release.

2. Pull down the file menu and release on "New Folder." This will create a folder in which to organize Web sites with a similar scope and focus. The new folder will be created in the place you select.

3. Name the folder by typing the topic in the narrow white space beside "Name" and click on "OK."

4. When you get to a page you want to bookmark, click on "Bookmarks," slide the menu bar to the right to "File Bookmarks," and click and release on the folder in which you want to place it. It will now be in that folder, rather than a long list.

HINT: You can save information about a particular bookmark such as a username or other information within the bookmark itself. To do this:

1. Follow step #1 above.

2. Highlight bookmark for which you have information you want to save.

3. From the "Edit" menu select "Bookmark Properties."

4. Type your information in the "Description" box then click "OK."

For the second part of your question, follow step #1 from above then:

1. Locate the folder named "Personal Toolbar Folder."

2. Click on and drag any existing bookmark that you want to appear on the Communicator toolbar into that folder.

You can do the same with Internet Explorer.

My favorite Web site

I created an on- line discussion page for seniors to explore Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness and Adam Hosch-child's King Leopold's Ghost, at http://acrophobic.homestead.com/hod.html.

Diana Kimmel
Ayden-Grifton High School
Greenville, North Carolina