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CONTENT:
Teacher Focus is made up of three parts: a teacher bulletin board area, a calendar area, and an area with listings of teacher resources. Users are asked to check out the FAQ area the first time they visit. The contents of the bulletin board area and the resource area are excellent.
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AESTHETICS:
The site is visually pleasant.
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ORGANIZATION:
The three areas of TeacherFocus are accessible from the main page and all other pages. The site is easy to navigate. As bulletin board sites go, this one seems to make threads easy to follow. There is a link at the top of the Forums page to "View Today's Active Threads."
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REVIEW:
This appears to be a well-organized education resource. It would be a good place to find contacts with other teachers and share ideas. Most of the posts seem to be helpful, with good questions and good advice. For users not familiar with bulletin boards, the FAQ is quite complete and helpful. Forums available include Introductions, New Teacher's Place, Educational Technology, Special Education, Library Media Center, Laboratory Experiments and Safety, Languages and Literature, and Other Subject-related forums. The Teachers' Lounge: Off Topic Conversations forum is described as the place to discuss important issues, such as current events, school violence prevention, and professional development opportunities. In addition, there are boards for Teacher Resources and Money Talk -- grant opportunities and advice. Some boards are moderated. According to the FAQ, moderators are usually selected from users who are particularly helpful and knowledgeable in the subject area. Registration for the boards is free. Users must be registered to post new threads, reply to threads, edit posts, receive e-mail notification of replies to posts and threads, send private messages, enter events into the calendar, or set up a buddy list. The Calendar section of the site was the least helpful area. Although easily accessible and easy to read, it appeared mostly to have holidays, state conferences, and members' birthdays. You do not have to be registered to access the Resource area of Teacher Focus. The resources available are links to Web resources in areas including curriculum and teaching, professional organizations, educational suppliers, home schooling, and professional and popular journals. These lists are comprehensive and should be helpful to any teacher.
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RELATED REVIEWS:
Reviewed by Hazel Jobe
Education World®
Copyright © 2002 Education World
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2/22/2002
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