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Well, I just got the site redesigned by a professional who knows what he is doing (I think) and it really made me think back to when we first got started. Dyan and I didn’t know what we were doing, but we pressed along anyway because we felt our mission of supporting new teachers was important. I do remember thinking that we must have a website. At this time websites were still fairly new and it seemed as though everyone was jumping on the bandwagon. If we were going to be successful, we had to have one.

While I was using Microsoft Publisher, I noticed I could create a webpage using this program - thus our website was born. Our first site was a whopping one page that gave information about our book, Survival Kit for New Teachers, and how to purchase it. After a month or so of doing research about websites and their importance, I realized that we could implement our mission even better through this tool. That same month I uploaded our first “Tips” page and began the process of creating a different tip for each month for the following year. We named our new website “Beginning Teacher’s Tool Box.” Slowly our site grew in content as I was determined to get information out to the new teachers any way possible. We also added the “Ask a Mentor” form to our site so that new teachers could ask us classroom-related questions when they felt embarrassed or unwilling to ask their school mentor or administrator.

Over the next nine years it evolved and has become a place where not just new teachers can get helpful information, but all educators - especially those who work with new teachers preparing, mentoring, training, and observing them. I have to confess that the site really became a bit unwieldy and was difficult to navigate, but every time I came up with a new idea I simply had to add it in! With almost 400 pages the Inspiring Teachers website had become almost more than I could keep up with. After having done the website myself for nine years, I finally contacted a local web designer and spoke with him about updating the look and feel of the website.

We are finally live, December 2007, and I am so pleased with the outcome. I hope you are too! The new website seems so much easier to navigate the many resources available for teachers. Please let me know what you think! Now that I have someone to keep up with the technical aspect of the site I can concentrate on adding more articles, tips, webinars, and other helpful resources for new teachers. Hoo ray!

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