In a few weeks I will be doing a presentation for some local teachers about creating a classroom website. I would like to recommend some different options, and I think I will go with
*Weebly
*Google Sites
*Wikispaces

My own class website is on Wetpaint, but they no longer support ad-free edu sites so I can't recommend that.  

Am I missing other great hosting options?  Some criteria would be ease of use, flexibility (widgets, etc), and customization.

Please respond with any links that could be helpful as I research this process. I would love to check out 

*examples of great teacher websites (especially from those 3 hosting options)
*resources for developing a class site
*widgets or other fun add-ons

Thanks!!

Tags: class, google, sites, teacher, website, weebly, wetpaint, wikispaces

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http://www.bloust.com/
http://www.weebly.com/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/homepagebuilder/index.htm
http://new.schoolnotes.com/

These are a few that I use. Usually you can upgrade for a small fee. You may want to check to see if your district hosts teacher pages.
Mine is with Weebly...www.mrwylie.com
Thanks Jonathan, through the forum search I did find your previous post with the link to the article on Weebly. From there I also was checking out your blog and bookmarked it for later reference. Thanks for all that work which is benefiting the rest of us!! (I am also a 4th grade teacher btw)

I was just talking with a colleague about her Weebly site, which she had 'upgraded' to have full feature access. You obviously have purchased your own domain... do you have an upgraded account on weebly as well? What are the biggest reasons to do so? What domain registering service did you use?
I have Weebly Pro, which I basically earned for free by referring other teachers to Weebly. I think they still have the referral program, so check it out. The biggest advantages of going pro are extra media formats that you can embed, an audio and video player, and the ability to password protect pages in your site.

I got my domain from GoDaddy. There are a lot of coupon codes flying around for that so you can usually get a new domain pretty cheap. Weebly host the domain for free, which is nice too.

You may also want to check out Webnode, if you haven't already.
More GoDaddy codes...

http://livecodes.blogspot.com/

...I just snagged an $8 renewal! :o)
thanks
One of my favorites is Yola. They host free sites, they have a drag and drop interface, and there is a lot that can be done with them, without having a great amount of tech-savvy. They also include some cool widgets, and can handle html blocks easily.

here is a very very simple one I have used:

vonbankenglish.yolasite.com
another free site. This is open source. Problem with free websites, eventually they start charging
http://drupal.org/project/openscholar
I use Wikispaces. Here's my wiki for 5th grade, 4th grade, K-3. By fifth grade, students can add their own pages, which makes the website much more relevant to them.

I also use an internet start page top organize the week for my K-5 classes. I like Protopage because it has tabs so I can make a different tab for each class. Sometimes I let a lower grade use something on an upper grade's tab which makes them feel so accomplished. Teachers also have access to the startpage so they can add their own links, Todo items, etc.

Our school uses FalconNet for classroom websites. I wouldn't recommend them. They're difficult and not terribly flexible.

Let us know what you decide. I'm always looking for something better.
Thanks Jacqui, I like the start page idea. Have you ever used pageflakes for that? So far I have talked to several people who are liking Weebly, and I am going to use that for giving my students their own accounts for posting work, blogging, etc. because it is so simple and you get 40 free student accounts.

When my presentation resources are done I will post.
I look at several before I picked Protopage, including iGoogle. Protopage seemed to have more of what worked for my classroom.

Please, do share what you think of Weebly. I've heard a lot about that. I teach 400 kids, so it won't work for me, but might be a good rec for my faculty.
Great class sites! How long did it take you to set them up? I am asking because I think I will try it this year with my students, but also with the teachers I will be coaching in working with ELLs. I need something that won't frustrate the teachers. Kids take to technology like fish to water, but teachers...not so much:)

Denise

www.ellteacherpros.com
www.teachingsuccesseswithells.blogspot.com

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