Weebly – what a great tool!!! I use it everyday in my classroom and wouldn’t run a classroom without. Last year I was looking for a program which could display the student’s work that they had collect electrically (we hardly ever use our books) so I need an online version. We started to create a PowerPoint hyperlinking portfolio however I wanted children to be able to share their work with their peers and parents also we were having problems with saving and taking them to and from school. So my aim was to find something that would encourage peer collaboration and bring parents into our classroom with just a click of the button. So I was fortunate enough to visit another local school that was using weeblies – a kid friendly website creator. WOW – my dreams had come true!
It is very easy to use and the students prefer to do their class work and homework on weebly then any other media. I have trialed it with Year 5 and Year 4 – I have found it to be very successful. Each student has their own website which is linked to the class homepage (which has a parent page, useful elearning links, the entire student’s website links, prayers, documentaries, notes, term planners and a grade blog). All sites are protected by a password. On the student’s websites they have created all the 7 KLA’s which has been separated into terms. They have a comments page which their teacher writes comments and so do their peers. Students only upload work they are comfortable with. Weebly encourages and promotes our digital classroom which enhances a collaborative environment, elearning across all KLA’s which is integrated and allows students to see their progress over the year. It allows all students to have a voice, gain feedback, allow their strengths to shine and work on their weaknesses. Students can create up to 10 websites each and this term they have created a human body website which is linked to their Science and Technology homepage. Students have developed how to critically analyze information (not just to comment ‘it is fun and interesting’ – how does this help you to learn?), create, synthesis and collaborate. It has increased student’s confidence with their learning particularly with sharing, especially those students that are reluctant to share in class but have so much to offer.
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