New discovery

Today I had a new discovery. I wonder what would happen if I targeted my website audience to my students? If I can hook my students into using the site for information, then maybe their parents would follow suit? I came to this conclusion because on the student links page, I put a list of links to research their current project. I thought this would save the students time in using google to search for appropriate sites. As they began to navigate through the site, I realized that for next year, I will have an entirely different way of hooking the parents into my site. Since I didn't have the web site up and running at the first of the school year, I think that this may have hindered my site from being used to its fullest capacity. I also thought of making magnets for their fridge, in an effort to remind them of the site. Just a few ideas...I think that next year's unveiling of the site will be better and I will be linked to the school site. These two things will definitely change the way my students' parents use technology to communicate with me. They won't have a choice! Just kidding!

What to do?

I am feeling really "stuck in the moment" (taken from U2), in regards to increasing the parent usage of my website. I think it is such an awesome tool for families to know what is happening, but I don't see it being utilized to its maximum. My latest idea or rather my next cycle is to gather the email addresses of the parents and ask if they would like to be on a makeshift list-serve, with weekly updates when the site is updated. Included in the list serve would be current class news, upcoming events, and anything urgent. Then they would click on the link to view the updated pages. This seems like a natural way to remind parents and increase their awareness of what is happening in class so they can be actively involved without really being there. Their involvement would be at home in their conversations and preparation for school. Now, I just need to put myself out there and get the information. I don't know why I am so reluctant to take this step because I've been sitting on this idea for some time now. My goal is to get another letter and response sheet within the next two weeks.

Testing

We are beginning to gear up for testing and I am a little anxious about their readiness for the tests. It doesn't seem to matter to me to "prep" them for these tests. I really think that it is just a mere reflection of one day of that child's life. On the other hand I do think that it can give helpful information at the beginning of the year. This shouldn't be the end all, nor should it be completely ignored. Right now is a good time to sort through things and get ideas of what needs to change for next year. The group coming up next seems to be really sharp and very eager to learn. I see many of their parents are involved. I hope that I will have a more active parent group using the class web site as a tool to know what is happening in class.

Redesign the site

My next cycle is to redesign my website. I have decided that maybe I need to look at how easy it is to navigate my site. I have found that some of my links needed to be updated. This is always good to double check active links. I am going to simply change the index page. It will have a photo of the school and below the photo will be "upcoming events" and then a link to the homework page. It seems like the homework page and the project page are the most viewed. I hope that this slight change will be helpful to those visiting the site for the first time.

The Lag

Right now at work, things seem to be in sort of a lag. Not much is happening and it is almost like the calm before the storm. I have been updating the site each week, but I have found that it is very time consuming. Since I cannot upload the site at work, due to the lack of wireless capability, I wait until I get home. Sometimes the site isn't updated until really late that night and I wonder if the lack of updated information, mainly homework assignments might cause a problem for someone who is accessing the site. I should double check my counter to see when people are accessing the information. Also, I should try to plan out my homework more methodically, that way I would only update the site weekly instead of daily.

Survey Outcome

After handing out the survey I had orignially anticapated an overwelming response to the class web site. Instead I received average feedback with 50-60 percent feeling that email and class web sites are effective tools to communicate. Majority felt that phone calls and paper notes are effective ways to communicate. I think that I have misjudged my community. I was expecting a greater response to using the technology over the phone calls and paper notes. This is an interesting stopping point for me to figure out my next cycle. I wish I could collaborate with other teachers so I am not the only person with an active web site. I think that this might be helpful to me if there were more teachers on staff doing what I am doing.

Survey

Today I sent home a parent survey regarding how I communicate with them. I am hoping that everyone will return them, but since I said it was optional I don't think I will. I am quite curious to see how I am rating with how I communicate with them. Some parents think and expect a great deal from their student's teacher. They often believe that they are the only parent around! Needless to say my desire is to be there for the students and the parents, but I have my moments due to bad experiences. Hopefully, I can layer more communication tools so parents don't feel left out or in the dark about their student's school experience.