As a classroom teacher, I use my webpage as an additional means of communication with my parents, students, fellow teachers, and even administrators. I am able to post my daily schedule, our weekly newsletter, our activity schedule, online curriculum resources, and so much more. Although my webpage is not a means of two-way communication, I am able to provide useful information to anyone who might be interested in my classroom. For a media specialist, a webpage can also be a great way to communicate with your all of your stakeholders—students, parents, teachers, administrators, and other educational partners within the community.
The options for what you can post on your website are virtually endless.
- First and foremost, attractive, attention-grabbing format and graphics (not too busy, but not boring either)
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- The
- Contact information for the media specialist and the media clerk
- Brief bio sketch of media center staff
- Welcome letter from media center staff
- Media center hours
- Media center rules and policies for use
- Calendar of media center events (program dates, book fairs, special dates such as author birthdays and anniversaries)
- Highlight on media center volunteers
- Link to the school’s OPAC
- Subpages or links for all media center programs, with guidelines and standards included
- Links to online research for teachers, students, and parents
- Curriculum resource links for teachers, parents, and students
- Links to free educational websites, including educational games
- List of most popular books in the media center
- Suggested reading lists by reading level and genre
- Online book club including a blog for sharing perspectives on book club selections
- Link to the local public library
- Links to educational partners’ websites
What a great way to promote your media center. “If you build it, they will come.”
No matter what you choose to include on your media center webpage, updating the information on a regular basis is a must. You don’t want to have a first-time visitor (or any visitor, for that matter) to be frustrated by incorrect or outdated information. You will also want to check links to outside websites periodically. Following a broken link can also be maddening for users.
In the end, have fun and be creative!
I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on the webpage. Like you, my classroom webpage is not a two-way communication tool, but I think it is a great idea to do that with a media center webpage. Most parents will not ever see their child in the media center or be able to see all of the wonderful things that go on in the media center. Finding a way to keep in touch with parents is crucial for those who do not have a homeroom class.
ReplyDeleteI love all of your suggestions of things to include on the media center webpage. I especially loved the book club suggestion. What a great way to get students involved with reading and technology!!!
Providing links to other important websites is also a must. The website is a great way to make sure the important information gets to the parents. Paper copies don't ever make it home a lot of times. Since we are all using the computer more and more, making the webpage the primary communication systems just makes sense.
Thanks for the idea! :)
I liked your idea that the web page can include a link to other important websites. I did a full day in a middle school media center and I was amazed by the great links that the media specialist had included on the media page and how she had them so organized and easy to navigate. She anticipated the need that students would have for research helps and resources. She had information on the web page about plagiarism, so that students could conduct research in an ethical manner. She also had links that support particular curricular priorities and school events, like Science Fair and US and Georgia state information. The links were accompanied by icons to make it easy for students to quickly find the newspaper or database that they need. This is so cool, because it is like having the media center right at your computer whether that is at the school or at home. I think that is what the 21st literacy standards is all about.
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