Want to create your own website?
Weebly.com is a great tool for creating a teacher website. It is easy to use and set up and allows the user to easily embed many different types of tools and content into the site. The first step is to visit www.weebly.com and to set up an account. Once the account has been created, at the top right, click the arrow and in the menu, click the + to “create an account”. The site will ask what type of website the user would like to create. There are two options – just a website or a website with an online store. For a teacher, the best option is “just a website”.
Weebly then will ask the website creator to select a theme for their site. For an educator, the business outline seems to be the most beneficial. Once selecting a theme, the Weebly website will ask the creator to preview the theme. When the creator has previewed the theme and decided that it would work for the purpose of creating a classroom website, they can click the blue “start editing” button.
The next step is to set up the web address for the website. Weebly allows a user to create a free website if the web address includes “.weebly.com” at the end of the address. If the website creator does not want to include the Weebly name in their domain, they can pay a fee. Weebly is completely usable without paying a fee, so in this instance, it is okay leave the .weebly.com part of the address.
The user is now ready to craft their website. The first step would be to create the pages that the user would like to have as part of their site. In the gray bar at the top, the website creator can click “pages”. On the left-hand side, the user can click the + button to create whatever pages they would like to include. For an educator, a “classroom resources” page, a “homework” page, a “contact” page and a page where students can print copies of any lost handouts might be helpful.
Once the user has created the pages, they can be customized for their individual purposes. At the top, the user will click the button labeled “build”. On the left-hand side in the gray bar, the website creator can choose to drag various elements into each page of the site. For example, titles can be added, regular text boxes can be added, and a spot for images can be added. Once those items are set up on the page, they can be customized. To change the font, color or size of text, once the user clicks in the textbox, a new menu will pop up to allow the user to make those changes. If the user wants to add an image, once the image box is added to the page, the user can click inside the box and a new menu will appear. The user can then choose to upload an image from their computer, search for an image on the web, or add the URL for an image to be added to the page.
Another thing a user can do is to add links to outside sources or documents to their page. For example, a teacher might want to provide students with a link to print a new copy of an assignment. If the website creator drags a text box onto the page, they can then highlight it and a new menu will appear. Within that menu, the creator can click the link button (it looks like 2 links of a chain) and provide the link for the resource, for example, a document from Google Classroom. (Note: the user should be sure to check all sharing settings when including a resource from Google.) The creator can also link students to websites that might be helpful.
A website creator can also embed videos into the site. Within each page, in the gray sidebar, the user can drag in a box that says “YouTube”. After clicking in that box, another box will pop up for the creator to copy and paste in a YouTube URL. The video will then be embedded right into the page and students who visit the page can watch the videos without being redirected to YouTube.
A great aspect of Weebly is that the websites are easy to edit and teachers can very quickly and simply add new resources and material that they feel would be beneficial to their students. The website is never truly finished since it can be changed to meet the needs of all learners at all times.
Weebly then will ask the website creator to select a theme for their site. For an educator, the business outline seems to be the most beneficial. Once selecting a theme, the Weebly website will ask the creator to preview the theme. When the creator has previewed the theme and decided that it would work for the purpose of creating a classroom website, they can click the blue “start editing” button.
The next step is to set up the web address for the website. Weebly allows a user to create a free website if the web address includes “.weebly.com” at the end of the address. If the website creator does not want to include the Weebly name in their domain, they can pay a fee. Weebly is completely usable without paying a fee, so in this instance, it is okay leave the .weebly.com part of the address.
The user is now ready to craft their website. The first step would be to create the pages that the user would like to have as part of their site. In the gray bar at the top, the website creator can click “pages”. On the left-hand side, the user can click the + button to create whatever pages they would like to include. For an educator, a “classroom resources” page, a “homework” page, a “contact” page and a page where students can print copies of any lost handouts might be helpful.
Once the user has created the pages, they can be customized for their individual purposes. At the top, the user will click the button labeled “build”. On the left-hand side in the gray bar, the website creator can choose to drag various elements into each page of the site. For example, titles can be added, regular text boxes can be added, and a spot for images can be added. Once those items are set up on the page, they can be customized. To change the font, color or size of text, once the user clicks in the textbox, a new menu will pop up to allow the user to make those changes. If the user wants to add an image, once the image box is added to the page, the user can click inside the box and a new menu will appear. The user can then choose to upload an image from their computer, search for an image on the web, or add the URL for an image to be added to the page.
Another thing a user can do is to add links to outside sources or documents to their page. For example, a teacher might want to provide students with a link to print a new copy of an assignment. If the website creator drags a text box onto the page, they can then highlight it and a new menu will appear. Within that menu, the creator can click the link button (it looks like 2 links of a chain) and provide the link for the resource, for example, a document from Google Classroom. (Note: the user should be sure to check all sharing settings when including a resource from Google.) The creator can also link students to websites that might be helpful.
A website creator can also embed videos into the site. Within each page, in the gray sidebar, the user can drag in a box that says “YouTube”. After clicking in that box, another box will pop up for the creator to copy and paste in a YouTube URL. The video will then be embedded right into the page and students who visit the page can watch the videos without being redirected to YouTube.
A great aspect of Weebly is that the websites are easy to edit and teachers can very quickly and simply add new resources and material that they feel would be beneficial to their students. The website is never truly finished since it can be changed to meet the needs of all learners at all times.