Eleventh Week

The Lowell Website  http://www.waterloo.k12.ia.us/schoolsites/lowell/


Our school website is fairly prescriptive.  All schools have the same template from Wordpress, and each school has a list of features that are required to be in place (mission statement, staff emails, etc.).  This is very helpful in many ways because when I started being in charge of the website I knew what needed to be on the page and didn't have to spend a lot of time re-inventing the wheel.

But as a result of getting all these teacher blogs, I feel that the Lowell website is more and more useful.  The class blogs have been added to the website, as well as the Art blog and the Music blog.  The media/library website is more useful as a result of learning more about how blogs are set up.  We have set up a Professional Development blog for the Math Coach and the Reading Coach.  Both coaches post their information from classes that they teach on Wednesdays, along with useful information and resources for teachers.

Then, as a result of looking at the website more often, we have gotten ideas to jazz up the home page a little.  We now have a "Spotlight on Success" part of the home page where we post student work which is nominated for a Principal's Award.  All teachers can nominate students for these awards.  They are nominated for writing, math, leadership, research, anything that teachers feel is a stand-out piece from a student.  I take a picture of it, and post it.  We spotlight classrooms too.  The Reading Coach spotlights parts of classrooms that encourage literacy.

The Lowell website is now becoming more of what I believe a school site should be, a combination of information and celebration.  A family or student should be able to answer many questions by going to the school site, and also find out how much we value and appreciate students and teachers and parents.  There is more work to do.  I don't think the home page is clear enough, it is too cluttered for my taste.  But it is going in the right direction.

This is a good example of unintended consequences.  I did not start out this pilot project intending to improve the website.  But it has been improved as a result of working with teachers on blogs.  I love this.  I believe that if when we take a positive action, positive things ripple outward like wavelets when throwing a pebble into a pond.  Every time we take a positive action, like help a teacher communicate with parents, more good things happen, like the the website gets better!

Yay blogs!