Multimedia: You and your personal website

It is one thing to be able to teach your students successfully while in a classroom setting, it is another to be able to provide your teachings outside of the classroom. By this I mean, what happens on the weekend when your students are at home and they need to revisit your lessons and materials from the previous classes? Evidently you cannot be at their home teaching on the weekend but you can make your thoughts, presentations, and materials available 24-hours a day. The ability for you as a teacher to set-up a website or blog (such as the one I am contributing to now) is critical for many of your students and parents to be able to be successful contributors to your class.

I have been teaching in schools for four years already and have found that all of my teachers have a website that successfully conveys the program's direction and provides people with necessary materials for the success of the program. These websites provide necessary course information, contact information, and links to the school's website and policies. This provides parents with information as to what you are teaching their children (accountability to the home), provides students with the materials necessary to complete assignments (accountability to the child), and provides administration with an insight to your program and teachings (accountability to the power that be). A website can also be used as a way to provide students and families with a small amount of personal insight into your life as a person, not just as a teacher.

EXAMPLE WEBSITES:

http://www.sd72.bc.ca/southgate/patterson/
This is a website that was set-up by a social studies mentor teacher of mine. He uses it as insight into himself as well as a medium to provide all necessary materials to his students.

http://www.sd61.bc.ca/vichigh/band/
This is another website that describes a band program at Vic High and gives all the necessary info for parents and fans of the band.

This skill is by far one of the most important for reaching everyone necessary for your class. If you can't do it find a parent who can. The Vic high page I linked on here is created by a parent, not the teacher.