New Teacher Web Templates Introduction

Purpose of teacher web pages To inform parents To inform students To contribute to the bigger picture of our school

Content is King! Basic information must be located in a standardized location Visitors should find what they want with the fewest number of clicks in the shortest amount of time Content must be relevant and CURRENT Keep pages clean, simple, easy to read and should contain minimal distractions

Why will visitors come to your site? Parents? Students? Staff/Administration? Community Members?

Good Examples Royanne Baer Brook Baxter Kristi Harding

Required Pages in Order: Home About News Students Parents Syllabus or Class Pages

Home Page – Update Monthly Let your visitor know where they are – name your site: “Mrs. Fansher’s 6 th Grade Science Class” –Name –Grade –Subject This is your “welcome mat” Update once per month to reflect time of year or make generic to last for months.

About Page – Create Once A paragraph about yourself including: Professional background (education and teaching experiences, a glimpse of your past life if teaching is a second career) Personal teaching philosophy General hopes or goals for your students Personal information (family, hobbies, etc.) Contact information

News Page – Update Weekly Must be CURRENT – contains events for this week and next week, maybe reminders for important upcoming events Update AT LEAST ONCE PER WEEK Use days of the week AND dates, Monday, April 16

News Events Current unit Homework assignments Vocabulary Quiz, test and project dates Fundraisers, events specific to your class Praise and good news

Students Page – Update Once Welcome to students Classroom expectations Classroom rules & consequences Required materials Daily Procedures Grading method

Parents Page – Update Once Summary of what you teach Classroom expectations Wish list Daily schedule Contact information

Syllabus Page – Update Once Attach copy of syllabus (rather than cut and paste) Attach documents, notes, presentations Keep this page(s) current – remove information as you finish with it, move new information to the top Remember to use Student Home Directories to store older documents

Optional Pages – Update Regularly Don’t start something you can’t finish Calendars – don’t use it if you aren’t going to use it! Photo galleries – don’t go overboard, keep it relevant to your class. Resize photos before uploading.

Learn your new addresses: To edit your site: – To view your site: – I will link new sites on Friday afternoon for everyone here today.

3 Areas of Home Page 1. Banner 2. Mission Statement 3. Class Schedule Double click to open editor

New Editor Very similar to Microsoft Word Fonts are limited, but any font can be cut and pasted. Keep in mind readability – avoid using fonts with “ tails ” or silly script Font color, size, bold, italics, alignment, bullets, numbering, hyperlinks, etc. Upload and insert media (clips, presentations, sound, pictures)

Editor Tools

Adding Media Copyright – if you don’t own it, get WRITTEN permission or don’t use it! DO NOT PHOTOGRAPH LETTERS – submit to Mrs. Fansher and keep a list Use wide group pictures of class rather than individual student pictures Only use first names or don’t use names at all

Admin Page

Admin Options Change Theme Manage Pages – add, update, order Manage Subsites – clubs & organizations Manage Users – add users and permissions Manage Components – reset homepage Manage Pictures – upload and create galleries Manage calendars – add and update

Change Theme

Create a New Page

Name New Page

Edit New Page

Additional Resources Patrick Crispen’s Guide to Good Web Design Patrick Crispen’s Guide to Good Web Design eachers/webs/index.asp eachers/webs/index.asp