Is Your Webpage Dead?

How many times have you opened a teacher webpage and within a few seconds realized the very busy teacher, who created the page, hasn't touched it in months - maybe even since last school year?  Teachers are busy, stressed and overwhelmed. So how do we expect a teacher, on top of everything else, to maintain a current and relavent webpage?

For most of us a webpage is a place where parents can go to see schedules and get classroom updates (maybe). There might even be a link or two. Over the summer and in the first weeks of school teachers will update and add things to their webpage. But then September rolls into October and that very busy teacher gets swamped, the webpage becomes nothing more than a memory and the class updates become outdated. 

I hope this post will give educators an opportunity to examine why they have a webpage. If you ask a teacher you will probably find that most teacher webpages were created because there was an inservice in their district and teachers were told they needed to have a webpage on the school website. Since creating the page they haven't had time to get back to it and have probably forgotten how to manage most of the features. That's the honest truth.

So how do teachers breathe life into their webpage? I believe teachers need to step back and ask themselves - what do I want my webpage to do for me? For my students? Do I want my page to be  for communication with parents? (You might consider a blog instead.) Or, do I want my webpage to be a place for students to go when they need to connect with a site I want them to use? For me it is the latter. I decided a few years ago to make my webpage a place for students. A place to access sites I have previewed and found helpful in promoting learning and engagement. In the past year I have started to link my own math tutorials. These tutorials virtually allow me to be at home with my students when they get stuck on their homework. I also use my webpage to showcase student work and projects. Students and parents have reported how much fun this is for relatives who don't live close by. For example, grandparents get to see their grandchild's latest iMovie project from half way cross the continent! 

So, what does a teacher need to think about when developing their webpage? 
1. Purpose - Who is the webpage really for? What do you want to accomplish through your webpage? Is it a place for parents to get information or is it for the students?
2. Be realistic - Once the year gets started how much time will you realistically have to keep the page current?
3. Keep links updated - At least twice a year check any links you have on your site. Are they still active? Dead links are a bummer.
4. Consider using your page as a teaching or communication tool. Since I often use my webpage in lessons I keep it current out of necessity. This also refreshes my skills in managing the various features of the page. 

So, give it a try. Examine your webpage's purpose and the rest will fall into place.