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December 1, 2002
Classroom Web sites: Renovating the Classroom
By Pam Lowe
Here's a scenario: you're the parent of a fourth-grade child and you're trying to put the evening meal on the table and start a load of clothes in the washer. Your child reminds you about studying together for tomorrow's spelling test. Later, as you are folding laundry, you discover the freshly washed but now wadded and illegible remnants of that spelling list in a jeans' pocket. Now imagine helping your child avoid the resulting stress by stepping into your child's classroom to get the list from the classroom Web site.
Here's another scenario: you're the proud grandparent of a school-age child who lives some 200 miles away. Can you see the brilliant school accomplishments of your grandchild on a regular basis? The answer is "Yes," if it were posted on the classroom Web site.
Here's a third: you are a teacher, and a parent requests extra work to take home so that he/she may practice a skill with his/her child. Instead of having to dig-out worksheets or activities stuffed into a file cabinet, imagine directing them to your Web site where they can practice the skills, print out worksheets, and even play learning games using the skills.
Those three scenarios are everyday occurrences that demonstrate the value of a classroom Web site to the community, students and teachers. Let's face it, the classroom is being renovated, the walls are being torn down, and learning is available on-demand. Say what you will about the Internet and its effect on education, the classroom Web site puts learning in the hands of students. Students can now access their assignments away from school to continue their educational progress, maintaining an active role in their education. The classroom Web site is a learning center open for business twenty-four hours a day, seven days per week.
These learning centers are not only open to students on-demand; they are also available to educators like myself. I have always enjoyed visiting other teachers' rooms to gather ideas from their experiences, lessons, room arrangements, and bulletin boards. Colleagues learn so much from each other, but the demands of our teaching schedules leave less and less time to visit other classrooms, much less to share ideas with other teachers. Teachers welcome you into their teaching realms when you visit classroom Web sites. They share their philosophies, activities, ideas, and wisdom. You can now visit other classrooms without leaving the comfort of your chair.
Classroom Web sites: the Ultimate Communication Conductor
Educators know that communication is an essential part of providing and receiving a quality education. A classroom Web site increases communication between school and the home, the community, and the world. A Web site keeps your classroom open long after that school bell rings. On weekends and evenings, your Web site can regenerate what you've taught during the school day. Can you imagine the concepts that you've been teaching in the classroom then being reinforced from a home computer, a laptop at Aunt Martha's house, or on mom or dad's work computer while a child is waiting to go home?
It will encourage parent participation in your students' education as students show parents what they are learning on the Web site and parents practice skills with their children. Classroom Web sites are a plethora of information that will keep your parents abreast of classroom learning activities, rules, field trips, events, and supplies. There's also the added benefit of Email, an excellent way to communicate with parents about student progress. Parents can Email teachers with questions, concerns, or comments and teachers can reply at their convenience. Teachers can Email parents with a positive anecdote about a student or to suggest practice on a certain skill. Providing and using a classroom Web site with your students helps your classroom become an organized learning community of parents, teachers and students working together to ensure that the educational goals are achieved.
Classroom Web Sites Celebrate Children
Children enjoy showing their work and accomplishments to family and friends. They can create password-protected digital portfolios viewable via the Web site. Again, the classroom walls are opened and family and community can "come in" to view their work at any time. A feeling of self worth results each time the student visits his/her projects. A child with positive self-esteem is more willing to take risks when learning. When a child feels good about himself and his school success, he will be an enthusiastic learner.
There are still other advantages in maintaining a classroom Web site. Teachers can control students' Internet use and limit the places where they may surf on the Web. Teachers direct the students in the classroom to activities and sites they have created or chosen from the Internet. Clicking on teacher-made links also eliminates the problem of student typing errors when entering URLs. There's also the convenience of storage. Teachers can store lessons they've made or used in Web site files. There's no reinventing the wheel the next time you need activities to go along with a particular lesson, and it's easy to modify these lessons at will.
Making the Internet Work for Education
Corporate America knows the potential and promotes its wares on the Internet using Web sites. Why can't educators do the same? It's the Information Age. Education is in the information business. It creates a perfect justification for classroom Web sites.
If you haven't tried creating a Web site for your classroom give it shot. Even before I became a part of the state of Missouri's eMINTS program, I had a classroom Web site that I designed using a free site that allowed me to get my feet wet and see how a classroom Web site could enhance my teaching. Once I saw the benefits of the Web site for my students, parents, and for myself there was no looking back. Does a classroom Web site have to take up all your time? No. You determine what you want to include on your Web site and how much time you want to spend on it. In fact, once you create your Web site, all you do is maintain it with new ideas and lessons. Does it replace instruction from the teacher? Absolutely not. Does it enhance it? Absolutely.
The Voice of Experience
This is what I know about my experience with a classroom Web site. I know that my students have 24/7 access to the fourth-grade concepts that I am teaching. I know my students feel good when their achievements are posted on the Web site for family and friends to see. I know that parents appreciate being "in the loop" about what their children are learning. I know that many parents like to take that information a step further by being able to help their children learn. I know that parents like the fact that they can Email me about their concerns or questions and such communication is not time-consuming. And I know that having a classroom Web site helps my students become eager lifelong learners.
Think you might like to tear down your classroom walls? Come step inside our classroom by visiting Welcome to Mrs. Lowe's Class to gather ideas, share your experiences or just visit. Pop into other classroom Web sites; you'll find several on the Internet that are fantastic. Then decide if you would like to renovate your classroom and broaden your teaching realm.
Email: Pam Lowe
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