Mr. Higgins’ Blog

In my Advanced Web Development class we are currently working on a project that excites both me and the students.  I am a huge baseball enthusiast and have a pure love for the game.  I could sit and watch baseball at almost any level for a long time and just appreciate the sound of the bat hitting the ball or the ball hitting the glove.  

So when the local youth baseball program named Lefty Grove Baseball, Inc. asked me over the winter to create them an official league website.  I obviously took the offer and volunteered them the services of my Advanced Web Development class.  Soon after planning how we would build up the website, I realized that the students are going to learn much more than website development.  They will learn community involvement, presentation structure, work ethic on a long project, and how to work within a group atmosphere all with the same goals.  Here are a few observations I have made…

1. The students are all of the sudden really concerned about how the pages actually look and if the grammar is correct.  They do not want to create pages where the viewer is distracted by either the look or the feel of the website.
2. Many of the students are eager to remove the default/temporary page that we have currently posted on the webspace.
3. Part of this project is that we are going to hand this off to someone who is below average to average in web development.  I told the students that we had to made ALLL PAGES editable.  They are taking precautions and most are avoiding any major complicated designs.
4. The commissioner in charge of the league, is an 8th grade teacher, who has reached many of their lives.  I also had the privledge of having him through school, so I know that the students want to complete this project for him and themselves.
5. Often, when you go to college, there are large projects you have to complete and they mean little to nothing.  This is a project which is going to define the group of students as long as the website continues.
6. We are making pages which deal with everything from sponsors, teams, schedules, and community involvement.
7. Finally, that little ClustrMap is serving as the final piece of motivation.  I simply love this project and hope the students realize that they are part of something that is not defined by size, but effort and accomplishment.