Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Track 15: Web Presence

I am one of the lucky ones in that not only do I have control of my website that is offered through my district but I also have control of my schools website. My principal and I are the two people who have control of the website and because of that I am able to make sure that the library is front and center! I also have control of the schools Twitter account and Facebook pages which is great because I can post not only what is going on in the building but also what is happening in the library.

I believe that it is so important to have a web presence especially because there are still some individuals out there who do not understand how important a library and Library Media Specialist is! I do whatever I can to promote my library and all of the wonderful things that I am doing to show the world that we are needed! Many times the website is like the first impression of you so you want to make sure that it is filled with positive information about you, your program, and what you believe in.

Since I am happy with my platform for my webpage I decided to go in and make sure that it included all of the information that I would want to share with parents, students, administrators, and everyone and anyone who would want to take a look. Some of the things that I always make sure to include on my website are my rules and expectations that I have for my library, the online catalog where the students can find the resources that they are looking for, and the databases that we have for our school. I also have different reading activities and parents can do with their children and some book talk videos that I made showcasing some of the new books that we have in the library. I have library FAQ’s which answers anything and everything you need to know about my library. One thing that I never forget to include is a section about me. I think that the students and parents should be able to get to know me a little bit even if it is only through a computer screen since I do not get to see the parents all the time.

One thing that I explored this week that I LOVE is the online portfolio. I was so interested in this and think that it would be a really great way for not only parents and students to get to know you, but also for your colleagues to get to see a different side of you and see how valuable of a person you really are! I started to create this and even though I am not ready to share it with the world just yet I am excited for what it will hopefully become. I think that this could be a great way to network with others as well and be able to share ideas and other information with Library Media Specialist’s from all over the world.

At one of our committee meetings my principal mentioned creating a newsletter for next year and Smore seems like it would be an amazing tool to use! We were brainstorming ways that we could simplify creating a newsletter and I am so excited to share this with my colleagues. The cost is not bad and for all of the features that are included and would be a great way for parents to stay in the know! I like that it has a simple look and there is not a lot going on. It also seems to be easy to use but one concern that I have would be whether or not I could fit all of the information that our school wanted to share.

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