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This handout will help you understand and write for the appropriate audience when you write an academic essay. It's easy to forget that you are actually writing to someone.

Adam Matson ITEC 2360 Website Evaluation: Overview- http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos is a site that can be used as a resource tool for any language arts writing assignment or activity. It includes directions for writing various types of papers (argumentative, thesis, etc.) along with sentence and paragraph developments and concerns. All links are specific and include great detail on the subject at hand. Examples are given for every instance. The site is easy to explore and find answers to almost any question pertaining to written work. Content- Each link takes you to a specific area about English writing and its uses and rules. The content is among the best I've found so far in this type of site. Examples are given and very easy to follow with directions. Coverage from literature works to essays can be found quickly and easily, all including examples previously stated here with directions. Design- The site is like the others I've found, which is a more basic layout and navigation. Again, the main colors are blue and white with no videos or sound going on. Links are colored and are specific questions or subjects. This site does not use tabs like the others I've found, but relies more on these links. Although the design is not very interactive or flashy, the content of it is outstanding and very helpful to anyone needing assistance.

Cassie Nelson February 3, 2012 Overview The purpose of this site is to help Agriculture Educators teach in their classroom. The intended audience is Ag teachers. This site has multiple website links to different Ag based sites. Overall, I really like this site and will use it in my future teaching. I especially like how it has activities to build awareness for agriculture. Content At first glance the user is able to determine the content and audience of this site. The site has all of the information about the authors and who to contact for questions. The material is clearly identified. The site seems to be updated frequently but there was no revision date on the site. The information is accurate and organized. The site itself worked properly. The links are also related to my needs. Design This site has an attractive eye appeal. You can tell where you are in the site. A downfall is that the site doesn't have a copyright date or date site was established. This site is very easy to navigate. There is sufficient information that is worth visiting.

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Mary Goetz 9/10/11 Overview: ESL Kids Lab is a great resource for teachers. The site provides lessons, handouts, flashcards and other teaching tools for ESL teachers. There are also links to games that ESL students can utilize to practice their English. The lessons are broken down into units and have worksheets, flashcards, and phonics that go along with each unit. The site also provides tips for teachers. Content: The content in ESL Kids Lab is relevant to teaching and learning English as a second language. The content is present in a clear manner and is well organized and easy to understand. There are many functioning external links that lead to other great resources for ESL. The internal links are also functioning and are easy to navigate the site with. There is not a revision date provided on the site but the content appears to be up to date and new information is added. The content of this site provides the information and resources necessary for ESL. Design: The design of ESL Kids Lab is attractive and colorful. The design is also functional and works well. It is easy to navigate the site and find the information needed. There are many internal and external links that are functional. The date of revision is not provided but the contact information for the site is provided. Overall the site is a fun and attractive side that efficiently provides the necessary information.

Posted by Mitchell Clark 9/18/09: Lesson Planet is a search engine designed to save the effort of designing various lesson plans by providing over 150,000 teacher approved lesson plans and over 75,000 worksheets. This site provides material for all subjects in grades K-12 and also includes state standards. Content: This Education World sponsored site has an incredible amount of information that has been provided by many teachers in various fields. It has lesson plans for all grade levels and all subjects including math, science and technology, language arts, education, social studies, health, art and music, and it also includes research resources. Each lesson plan includes the author and date that the lesson plan was posted. Also every lesson plan is rated on a scale of 1-5 by other teachers so you don't waste your time searching through inadequate lessons. Another great feature about this site is that because teachers can post their own lesson plans, there are always new and relevant lesson plans. These plans are easy to access due to multiple links which are designated to different fields of education i.e. science or math. There is also a search bar at the top of the web page that allows the user to search specific lesson plans as well as narrow their search results to grade level and rating (1-5). Overall this is a well organized site that provides a wealth of knowledge. The only thing to keep in mind is that these plans are posted by individual teachers which could contribute to a partial bias in the lesson plan. Another thing to consider is that there is $40 dollar membership fee for this site which is an inconvenience, but this fee also discourages the submission of junk lesson plans and worksheets by other internet users. Design: This site is well designed and very easy to navigate. There are no advertisements or links to unrelated material. The sponsor of the site and contact information is clearly displayed at the bottom of the page as well as t

-Overview: Lesson Planet is an excellent resource for teachers to find ideas and lesson plans for specific topics and grade levels. They are able to type in exactly what they are looking for and it is just like a Google search engine just for lesson plans. There are other links to related articles and blogs for teachers, and there are places where teachers can access the standards. It is a very good place to create lessons from and gain ideas for teaching successfully in the classroom. -Content: The content is easily accessible from exactly what the teacher types in to find. There are specific tabs and easy instructions to help the teacher find what they are looking for. It is a very helpful resource tool that teachers can use to plan activities for specific subjects, for a specific standard and find worksheets and articles that relate to the topic they are teaching. There is a huge amount of content within the website that is easily accessible for anyone who would like to use it. On each page there are tabs to things that relate to the topic as well as a list of subtopics that are easily accessible as well. -Design: The creators are in the process of creating a new design that may be more visually appealing, but currently the design is very simple and professional. It has enough color and visual recognition tools to help you locate specific things quickly and find what you are looking for without creating distractions and taking away from the content. The search portion is big and centered on the top of the homepage so it is easy to type in and find exactly what you need right off the home page.

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Cody The purpose of this site is to teach Spanish to students in many different ways. It has different forms of relaying the information to students such as PowerPoint, handouts, listening activities, quizzes and vocabulary. The intended audience for this site is that of Spanish teachers. Overall I feel that the site is pretty friendly, but needs work to make the site more appealing. A large majority of the site is in English and makes it easier to navigate. There are advertisements on the right side of the site, but not too distracting or problematic. The content of the site is pretty useful. It gives you many options to teach students. They have a variety so that it can appeal to different kinds of students. It is easy to find on the front page and access. They give you suggestions on how to present different kinds of information like grammar, spelling and reading comprehension. It doesn't cover every single aspect but it does a great job of helping teach students at a high school level. They give you the opportunity to look at their culture as well. It is pretty effective for helping kids learn a language. There are many resources you can use to be an effective teacher.

Ericka Chorniak October 9, 2012 Overview: This website is available for students as well as teachers interested in any type of science. Students could use this site to review the scientific method, gathering ideas for science projects, and getting help with their questions. Teachers can easily use this site because it provides them with a 'teacher resources' link that is equipped with handouts and worksheets. With all of the possibilities this site provides, it is easy to say that my overall impression of this site is that it is very well designed, easy to use, and very useful for my needs and purposes as a student and as a pre-service teacher. Content: The user is able to determine the basic content of this site at first glance, as well as the intended audience. The author of the material on the site is identified, information about them is available, and they appear credible. In addition to the author, the sponsor is clearly identified and they provide contact information. This site is current as it provides a latest revision date and that date is appropriate for the material. The links to other sites are current and work properly. The purpose of this site is clearly identifiable (informational) and the content effectively achieves this purpose. The content appears to be complete, is well organized, is easy to understand, is free of bias, appears to be accurate based on previous knowledge, was proofread (spelling and grammar are correct), and is consistent with similar sources. The links that are provided are related to the needs of students, my needs and my purposes, as well as the purpose of high school physics teachers and they are worthwhile and appropriate for these needs and purposes. Design: The site downloads efficiently. The homepage is attractive and it is easy to tell where the user is. There is a table of contents to navigate through the site with ease, making there no need for direction, but there are short explanations as to what the purposes o

Share My Lesson is a resource for teachers to share their lessons with other teachers, and find new ideas for lesson plans.. The page that I was particularly interested in was the high school biology teaching resources page. The intended audience for this page is biology teachers This page has a lot of different links to many different topics, and I think that it would be a great resource for a biology teacher looking for inspiration for lesson plans. The content of the site is reiterated many times, so it is very easy to determine the basic content. I wasn't really able to see who actually edits the site, but the authors of all of the lesson plans are various teachers who are members of this site. This could be a problem because I don't think there is anything requiring members to show that they are actually teachers. However, I think if a user is careful, this website would be a really excellent resource for writing lesson plans and finding worksheets etc.  The design of Share My Lesson is really well done. I think that the website looks very professional, has strong eye appeal, and it's very easy to navigate. All of the links work, and there are a lot of videos and pictures embedded into the site. The design of the site was a real strength.

Adam Matson ITEC 2360 9-14-2011 Website Evaluation: Overview: http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources is almost exactly the same as others I've found that are meant to be as a language arts resource. This one however, is a bit more basic and harder to navigate. It includes things like brainstorming ideas and some writing style directions, but does not go as in-depth or give as many examples as other sites visited. For a quick referencing tool I would suggest bookmarking the site, but there are other sites that may be more helpful. Content- The content I found can be useful, such as a printable handout showing various ways to incorporate transitions into your writing, but the overall content seems somewhat lacking. It just does not cover as many areas and subjects of language arts that many other sites do. Again, it could be used as a quick referencing guide when a student needs help. Design- The design is almost exactly like the sites explored earlier, a white background with black and blue text and links. It is somewhat hard to navigate due to wording and the placing of some of the tabs and links. Locations and members of the actual school seem more prominent in the navigation than actual links to language arts resources, which could prove to be frustrating.