After much review of Wiki Spaces, Google Sites, Weebly and PB Works, I recently chose Weebly as the new home of my virtual learning space. Weebly is a free web hosting site that also provides website editor online. The excitement arose when I found I could create separate pages for each grade level in which I could post mini video lessons, link to other educational websites and allow for file uploads.
In my classroom, I have used this to facilitate digital learning centers throughout the room on the iPad. The daily objective is to learn at least 3 new concepts in 20 minute sessions. The Weebly provided a link to the lesson I created in ShowMe. Students watched the ShowMe and then returned to the Weebly to find a survey or instructions for a board game that would allow them to practice their new skills. No more worksheets or chalk board lessons that cover me in yellow dust! The only exciting moment there was when I wound up with yellow streaks across my back!
Furthermore, the Weebly has also served as a review portal for students at home. Many students report that they watch the instructional videos at home when they were not quite sure of a concept or skill. I can also provide optional or enrichment activities for High Ability and those who need extra practice thus allowing for a differentiation in the classroom as well as out of the classroom.
For me, the Weebly has allowed me to connect to ALL students in a way that they find appealing!
http://sellersmusic.weebly.com/composer-complication.html
http://sellersmusic.weebly.com/note-identification.html
http://sellersmusic.weebly.com/melodic-shape.html
http://sellersmusic.weebly.com/rhythm.html
I introduced the Weebly to three elementary classroom teachers. At first they were hesitant but when they realized that students could practice math concepts at their own pace in a progressive manner, they were hooked! One stated, "Oh my gosh! Now I can spend time with students who need just a little more support and not feel bad about the lull in class time. Class goes on this way!" I very much agree with her statement as now, students are learning at their pace and as often as they wish.
I would suggest Weebly to anyone. Recently, Weebly has offered Weebly for education! Check it out!
http://http://education.weebly.com
Maria,
ReplyDeleteI use Weebly as well for my website and really love it. I find it very user friendly and versatile. We also have to use eChalk in our corperation as our content deliver platform which makes for a lot of duplication of entries for me. But eChalk is just too limited. I am learning that just about the time I fall in love with a technology it is time to learn a new one. For instance I think we are moving to My Big Campus from eChalk which I think I'm going to love and if so I will probably get rid of Weebly. It's no wonder teachers who are not fans of technology get frustrated. I think as teachers we have to realize change will be much faster than it has ever been before in education.
Linda,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the constant change of technology. I actually use both My Big Campus and Weebly. Weebly for the Elem students and My Big Campus for MS/HS.
I found out about weebly.com at my state art ed conference thus year and instantly created one. For art it works great as well to publish student artwork, post community and field trip notices and to post links to other worthwhile sites. I just started it this year and my site still needs major work but I have a tab for each class and have even experiments with creating and importing google forms for my HS students to take quizzes over artists...the results automatically post to my google account! It is practically fool proof! rooma42.weebly.com
ReplyDeleteWe have k-8 in our school and I will have to show the lower elementary teachers about weebly. How awesome!
ReplyDelete