What is Weebly?
"We are going to build a lower school website for our school community and Weebly, in my opinion, is the simplest and fastest way to do it!," my eyes beamed excitedly as I talked to our librarians - Riza, Rose and Angelo .
During our first mentoring session we talked about the project and my vision. We also looked at the idea bank document that I had shared with them a week ago and talked about how we can develop our ideas further. I was really impressed with the list of brilliant ideas that our librarians came up with . Right at that moment , I knew this project would be a success!
We then focused on the basic elements of weebly and familiarized ourselves with the icons and their uses. We went through the beginning process of building a site from looking at themes, making pages to designing our pages and switching between themes. Basically, our first formal meeting was just getting familiar with the platform we were using and getting al our ideas together.
For their first homework, I asked our librarians to look for existing library websites that inspire them and take an idea they would like to add to our website and make our own.
During our first mentoring session we talked about the project and my vision. We also looked at the idea bank document that I had shared with them a week ago and talked about how we can develop our ideas further. I was really impressed with the list of brilliant ideas that our librarians came up with . Right at that moment , I knew this project would be a success!
We then focused on the basic elements of weebly and familiarized ourselves with the icons and their uses. We went through the beginning process of building a site from looking at themes, making pages to designing our pages and switching between themes. Basically, our first formal meeting was just getting familiar with the platform we were using and getting al our ideas together.
For their first homework, I asked our librarians to look for existing library websites that inspire them and take an idea they would like to add to our website and make our own.
Basic Elements
Today we explored on Weebly's basic elements.
Our librarians learned how to add texts, pictures and captions , and columns to our page. We also experimented on using different headers and features. We spent some time putting links to images and texts. Riza , Rose and Angelo were such quick learners . I only had to teach them the feature and then they were on their own - trying out different things, making their learning their own. It was such a treat for me to see them so engaged in this project.
We also focused on our Teacher pages which will allow our teachers to make online media reservation for projectors, dvd's, or library space. We talked about the different challenges we might encounter with the feature and came up with clear rules that can prevent them.
We found a neat and inspiring website that inspired a lot of our website features. We'd like to thank the Borchard Library for giving our team great ideas to add to our web pages today .
For homework, our librarians had to explore on multimedia features and play around with the website.
Our librarians learned how to add texts, pictures and captions , and columns to our page. We also experimented on using different headers and features. We spent some time putting links to images and texts. Riza , Rose and Angelo were such quick learners . I only had to teach them the feature and then they were on their own - trying out different things, making their learning their own. It was such a treat for me to see them so engaged in this project.
We also focused on our Teacher pages which will allow our teachers to make online media reservation for projectors, dvd's, or library space. We talked about the different challenges we might encounter with the feature and came up with clear rules that can prevent them.
We found a neat and inspiring website that inspired a lot of our website features. We'd like to thank the Borchard Library for giving our team great ideas to add to our web pages today .
For homework, our librarians had to explore on multimedia features and play around with the website.
Blogging
Blogging 101 @ Weebly - some people have this misconception about blogging - that it is so DIFFICULT to do. Today, our librarians formed a new thought on blogging : It is FUN!
Why blog? In our library website , we decided that our blogs' feeds should be featured on the homepage. The blog will serve as a way to keep the community posted about the library's latest news and programs.
Today I learned that often times we have pre-conceived thoughts about things and this stops us from exploring or trying out new things. But once we let go of those fears and ideas, we open ourselves to a whole new world of possibilities.
Today's homework was to study other blogs , get ideas from other people and then create our own. They also had to try putting different features on the blog.
Why blog? In our library website , we decided that our blogs' feeds should be featured on the homepage. The blog will serve as a way to keep the community posted about the library's latest news and programs.
Today I learned that often times we have pre-conceived thoughts about things and this stops us from exploring or trying out new things. But once we let go of those fears and ideas, we open ourselves to a whole new world of possibilities.
Today's homework was to study other blogs , get ideas from other people and then create our own. They also had to try putting different features on the blog.
Multimedia & More ...
I'm so impressed by our librarians' efforts towards this project. During meeting today, they showed me all of the new things they have put on the site - we now have an About the Library page, Meet the Staff and Library Rules. What a great way to start our meeting .
We went tech-savvy today as we explored the multimedia features of the site. We looked at photo galleries, slideshows, embedding files, audio players, videos , inserting maps and creating forms . It was such a smooth session for everyone . What I thought would overwhelm them turned out to have inspired them even more. Boy am I lucky to have an awesome team !
As usual , they were on fire after I introduced the new features to them. They practiced embedding You Tube videos and creating slideshows ,
We also talked about where we want to use these features on our site. We agreed that videos are great to show special features on authors and books. We also came up with launching a book trailer and rave reviews program for the kids to be able to promote books . The slideshow can also feature new books that we have in the library.
We went tech-savvy today as we explored the multimedia features of the site. We looked at photo galleries, slideshows, embedding files, audio players, videos , inserting maps and creating forms . It was such a smooth session for everyone . What I thought would overwhelm them turned out to have inspired them even more. Boy am I lucky to have an awesome team !
As usual , they were on fire after I introduced the new features to them. They practiced embedding You Tube videos and creating slideshows ,
We also talked about where we want to use these features on our site. We agreed that videos are great to show special features on authors and books. We also came up with launching a book trailer and rave reviews program for the kids to be able to promote books . The slideshow can also feature new books that we have in the library.
Designing our Site with a Vision
Now that we're familiar with the site, our pages and how Weebly works, talking about our vision and embedding the vision in the pages was our next step.
Our final vision or tagline for the library was : READ, CONNECT and ENGAGE . At present, the library is doing a great job serving it's purpose as a venue for reading and exploring . With the website, we would like students to connect more and be engaged in learning. So, the big question was : How can we put our vision in the pages of our site ?
With this question in mind, we finalized all the pages and features we wanted to include on the site. We decided that our book raves , book trailers, and book rating features will allow students to connect with each other online . We also thought about putting in a chat box or something about social media (ideas are still brewing on this). We thought of having a page for appropriate resources and search engines students can use to search so that they will be more engaged in their classroom research and homework.
Our final vision or tagline for the library was : READ, CONNECT and ENGAGE . At present, the library is doing a great job serving it's purpose as a venue for reading and exploring . With the website, we would like students to connect more and be engaged in learning. So, the big question was : How can we put our vision in the pages of our site ?
With this question in mind, we finalized all the pages and features we wanted to include on the site. We decided that our book raves , book trailers, and book rating features will allow students to connect with each other online . We also thought about putting in a chat box or something about social media (ideas are still brewing on this). We thought of having a page for appropriate resources and search engines students can use to search so that they will be more engaged in their classroom research and homework.
Finalizing Site Details
After 3 site design changes, test runs and a gazillion revisions. We're getting closer to our site completion.
We decided to launch our site on May 9th to teachers and the following week to students. To promote our site, we are going to have a Lower School Raffle. In order to qualify for the raffle, participants must look for the 10 hidden Dr. Seuss icons in our library site. This way, each page of our site will be viewed . Initially, we had planned for the hidden Dr. Seuss icons to be interactive. However, after a long consultation with our smart IT guys, we realized that this wasn't possible with Weebly.
Today, I feel glad to have engaged in a tech conversation with our IT guys, Alvin, Eric and Manny and our 2 computer teachers, Chris and Sam. This could be the start of a wonderful collaboration !
We decided to launch our site on May 9th to teachers and the following week to students. To promote our site, we are going to have a Lower School Raffle. In order to qualify for the raffle, participants must look for the 10 hidden Dr. Seuss icons in our library site. This way, each page of our site will be viewed . Initially, we had planned for the hidden Dr. Seuss icons to be interactive. However, after a long consultation with our smart IT guys, we realized that this wasn't possible with Weebly.
Today, I feel glad to have engaged in a tech conversation with our IT guys, Alvin, Eric and Manny and our 2 computer teachers, Chris and Sam. This could be the start of a wonderful collaboration !