Google Sites

This week in my Google Adventures I tackled Google Sites. I'll be honest here... I have not had positive experiences with this tool in the past and have felt that it is very clunky and not easily navigated. When I first got into this adventure this week I remember making several remarks about how the design and layout of the website itself looked like it was something directly out of 1998. 

Take a look below to see what I mean...

That being said, I did find myself really enjoying that process the more I got into it. Google Sites is a tool that allows you to basically build your own website for free. You can change the template, the look, and the layout of your website and individual pages. As mentioned before, the navigation is a little frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it, the process is pretty painless. If you are starting from scratch on how to build your own site, the video below really helped me familiarize myself with some of the common tools and features that are available to you while you are building. 

Some of my favorite features within Google Sites include the ability to embed documents from your Google Drive directly into a page, HTML coding and embedding capabilities, and the ability to include direct, live links to any page. The image below is a screen grab from the site I created. I was able to include an example essay I had in my Google Drive directly onto one of the pages on the site. 

After playing around with the Google Sites and taking the time to actually sit down and build a site of my own, I definitely do see some of the benefits. As a teacher who previously used Blackboard and has switched to Google Classroom, one of the things that I really miss is the ability to have a place to store information and resources for my students all in one spot. Google Classroom is AMAZING in terms of learning management system that lets you turn in assignments and complete formative and summative assessments. My hangup has been not really having a well thought out way to deliver content and information to my students all in one place that was easy for THEM to navigate. I could add several folders into the "about" section of Google Classroom, but it doesn't look very clean and students often have a hard time locating specific information inside them. Realizing this, I chose to create a Google Site that would act as a storage space for content and resources that my students would need to have for an informative research and writing unit. On the site, students will have all of the information they need to learn how to READ informational texts and take notes on them, RESEARCH specific topics and find credible sources, and WRITE a strong, informative essay about the topic of their choice. The site houses important documents from my Google Drive, links to level-appropriate articles, a custom Google Search engine, videos, slideshows, and a plethora of other resources for my students to utilize. Click HERE to check it out!

Google Sites isn't perfect, but it ended up being exactly what I have been looking for. It was a lot of work up front, but I know that having all of these resources, tools, and information stored in one spot for my students will pay off exponentially in the long run!