More on Using SchoolRack
Well, hopefully you are up and running on SchoolRack. I just wanted to give you a few more pointers on how to get the most out of the site. One of the features is the calendar. I have found this to be quite useful for posting due dates that are coming up. I also use it for future test and quiz dates. This way the students (and parents) can see what is going to be due at a glance, instead of having to scroll through the material in the “Sections and Entries” category. If you are putting dates in different months, you will notice that the font changes. It looks a little funny when you are creating it, but on the actual website it looks normal. The main idea here is to let you distinguish between the different months.
The “view statistics” feature is always interesting to check out. It let’s you know how many people have checked out your site. Additionally, if you have multiple sections, it will let you know how many people have looked at each section. This way, if you have listed sections by periods, you can notice if one period in particular is not accessing SchoolRack and have a little “talk” with them! :-) I usually use the “reset all” on a weekly basis so that it gives me a clearer picture each week of how many students are using the site. I get an average of 500 hits a week; some weeks more, some weeks less. It does take a while to get the students used to using it, but once they do, it’s wonderful!
I teach on a block schedule, so many times I do not give the exact dates that we are having a test or a quiz. I do not want to tell the students the wrong date. Consequently, I always tell them to check SchoolRack. Most students are really good about this. Occasionally one or two students come in unprepared for a quiz, but they get the idea quickly enough.
December 18th, 2008 at 10:34 am
500 hits a week! Thats really amazing! I get somewhere around 100 on a good week. My school is NOT on block schedule though so I see my students every day, probably giving them less reason to visit my website!
Do you know how many of your weekly visits include parents, other staff members, and friends??
December 18th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Susan, thx for this post.
How exactly do you promote your website..do you simply write the url on the whiteboard or do you do more than that??
December 19th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Fantastic!!! I wonder if anyone hits quadruple-digits every week
I’ve thought about this and think a reasonably goal for me to set is 250-300 website hits a week. I’LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I MAKE IT THERE!
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Points taken! Haha I like the idea of singling out a particular class if website visits are at an all time low.
Like Hilgard above I don’t teach on a block schedule so I am able to remind students of assignments more often but thats no excuse to visit the classroom website less! I mention to my students on day one of class that visiting the website daily is imparitive … i tend to forget to tell them things in class and rely on the website to cover for me!!
Best,
Sea
December 28th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Some of my students do not have access to the internet at home. Part of my website is devoted to a weekly newsletter. For those students that do not have access, I print them a hard acopy to take home. I leave the website address on the newsletter all year so that they may acess when they can. I also have each student write the address in their agendas at the beginning of the year.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Hi Brett,
Well, I include the website on my classrom rules that I send home. I also send home personal progress reports about every three weeks and I include it there as well. Additionally, I send home emails to parents every two to three weeks and include it there as well. Hope that helps!
December 30th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Hilgard 2,
At this point it is not possible to tell how many hits are students and how many are parents or just those checking out the sight. I imagine that the majority are students, checking it multiple times a week (to see if I have made any changes). However, I know for a fact that several parents are usuing it because they call and ask me questions!
Susan
January 20th, 2009 at 11:14 am
There are many ways that I promote my website. At the beginning of the year I write it on the board. I also include it in on my sheet of class rules that I send home the first day of school. I send home progress reports every three weeks. On each of these progress reports I include a short paragraph to the parents. In this paragraph I include the SchoolRack website. I also send out generic emails to my parents every three weeks. I remind them of the website in these emails as well.
Occasionally I include something special in schoolrack like….You don’t need to bring your books to class tomorrow (the kids really like that one). The students that check SchoolRack are rewarded, the ones that don’t aren’t. This usually gets a few more students to check the site, even if it is for a short while.
Anybody else have other ideas on how to promote the website???
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