April 5, 1997

"INTERNET: The Next Generation"

I have unleashed upon the world a new generation of web designers. 30 of my Language Arts students entered the World Wide Web on March 21, 1997 with their fledgling efforts at publishing a webzine called "The Evergreen Extra." This was no easy feat. They had to use all of their editing skills, their wordprocessing skills, and their newly acquired HTML skills to make it happen, and they had to squeeze all of their hard work into a schedule heavily laden with other classes.

I began teaching all 85 of my language arts students how to use basic HTML (hypertext mark-up language, the coding necessary to produce a web page) because I wanted them to publish writings for a real audience. Though some may argue how "real" the audience is in cyberspace, I contend that there can be no better way for my students to seriously learn how important the printed word can be and how many it can reach.

Of course there are weak spots in volume 1, number 1. In order to learn such new skills I had to ease up on my usual demands for high level content. The students needed to practice using tags, finding backgrounds, and grabbing legally usable graphics. They also had to have fun doing all this, so I gave a no-brainer theme for them to use: food. Surprisingly, several students rose above the mundane subject matter and created clever little pieces to go with their wild backgrounds and vivid fonts.

Fortunately for my students, I have friends with far greater skills than I, and we were able to turn to Anders, Karsten, and our favorite web service, Stevie's, for technical support and advice whenever my limited abilities met their match. We were even brave enough to add a guestbook so that the kids could have the thrill of hearing from readers near and far.

Issue 2 should reach the public by April 11 and issue 3 should be out by the end of the month (assuming I can get the other two classes to focus and hussle). At the moment we aren't planning any more themes. Our eclectic offerings will hopefully keep the readers entertained long enough to make them want to come back on a regular basis. Each student should get to publish at least 3 times before school is over in June.

Do me a favor. Support some really neat 13 year old kids in their efforts to become better writers and at the same time have a little fun yourself. Visit "The Evergreen Extra" and peruse our pages. Come back again and again to check our progress. And while you're at it, sign the guestbook to prove to my students that I'm telling them the truth when I say that they have readers from all over the world!

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