Creating a Classroom Website

1. Ask yourself why you want to create your site. What will its purpose be?

• A classroom site is a great tool to foster communication, but it also can be the perfect backdrop for student work and accomplishments.

2. When you know why, check with the technology people in your district to see if there are resources already in place for you to build a site. If your district does not have resources available there are some places that offer free site space for teachers. Some examples would be Scholastic or teacherweb.com My district has provided us with a resource tool from our area education agency, so I am not very knowledgable about the free domain areas.

3. Now you know why and where you'll put your site. You need to know what you want to put on it. A great way to get ideas for what types of things you want to put on your page is to look at other teacher sites on the web. As you check these out, keep a notebook with ideas you come across that you'd like to include on yours. (Check out our classroom links page for some examples of other classes on the web.)

4. You are about ready to begin. My first piece of advice is do a story board. A story board is like a blueprint for your page. Start out simple with your basic information. You can always change any graphics later.

5. Once you are ready to actually start working on your page, keep in mind that Rome wasn't built in a day. Start slow and simple. It's better to begin that way and add to your site as you have time, instead of trying to do everything at once and overwhelming yourself.