Hello Everyone For the past few months I have been working on a proposal for accuweather.com and would love to hear what you think. Their parent company, AccuWeather, provides weather forecasts for local television stations, the Associated Press, and 350,000 businesses across the world. They are a very highly respected company and I have been on the site for awhile, posting pictures and the like. What I am proposing is an addition to their site, called Weather Teams. We would invite students in the homeschooling community to form Weather Teams (they can be a lone member if they so choose). Each Weather Team would be given their own web page to develop (choosing from templates) and once done they could upload photos they have taken, videos of local interest, even do little videos of anything that interests them. Other Weather Team members could come to the site and rate the photos and comment them, urging the students to participate more. The team could post weather information, news, whatever is going on with their team and the area it serves. There would be fun things to do like events with local weathermen, videos made by a youth spokesperson, searches to be made through the regular community site to learn about weather and nature and learning about how to take better photos. The meteorologists would also post weekly blogs with fun things for the Weather Teams to do. The plan in the future is to also add a forum for the students to interact with each other. All web site submissions, including comments and forum posts would be moderated to keep it safe for children. Each weather team will have its own blog on their page, also. The project will start in the USA but we will be inviting students from other nations to participate as well. That will allow interaction with youth of other countries and will provide a unique learning experience for all involved. Students can choose their user name for the Weather Team, they do not need to identify themselves by their name, and they do not need to add photos of themselves. You do not need to purchase anything to make or join a Weather Club, it is totally free. My intention is to gain excitement for the website and to help children from around the world learn about each other's worlds. Please let me know what you think, and if you think there are any potential flaws to the idea. Also, I would love to hear your ideas, and if your children would like to participate. I am pitching the proposal to AccuWeather in a few short days and would love to have this work out. If they accept the proposal it will give me the freedom to work from home helping children learn and, as a single mom, be able to spend more quality time with the girls. Last year I worked as a store manager in the local mall and I barely saw them. This is a great opportunity for the three of us. Thank you in advance for any suggestions you can give me, BeckyB
Personally, it sounds like more work than I'd like to invest, but that's just me. I'm sure others would jump at this opportunity! Good luck with it!
Thank you for your comment and well wishes, Jackie. The plan is to set up the Weather Teams so the children can be as involved ... or not ... as they would like. I never thought of time constraints before, I need to make sure it is easy for the parents, too. Thankfully AccuWeather has a great IT team. I will be sure to mention the templates for the page have to be really easy to use, also, so everyone can set up teams, including younger students. Enjoy your weekend, it is beautiful here, BeckyB
My kids would love it! They have a thing about weather because it affects us so much (drought etc) so they hear us saying "we need rain" and all that wonderful stuff.
My oldest is still a little young for this (5), so I have no idea if it's something my boys would enjoy. I think that most kids would love this if for no other reason than because they'd be a part of something. Would there be any sort of rewards system for those who update faithfully? Something like a "sticker" for their webpage for every so many posts/updates? Or maybe a ranking system (the more you post the higher your rank)? Just a little something that would give bragging rights and keep them interested beyond the initial excitement of joining. I know how I was as a kid and this would have only held my attention for a month unless I had a goal to work towards. But maybe that's just me. lol. How do you plan to moderate the volume of submissions? Just curious, as this would be my main concern. Many adults don't understand enough of text speak or other net code to decipher what the child is really saying. The biggest thing that I see as being an issue for parents would be this: Many parents would not want their child to give away any indication of even what city they live in. I would over emphasize the safety structure in place to parents know the moment they open the site that kids won't be able to be specific about what region of town, their name, their picture, nothing. I guess I just know too many parents who would be pretty freaked out by this idea. I'm not saying cater to them 100%, but at least address the valid concerns that they have.
It sounds like a really great idea.. but as a homeschooler our plates are already pretty full, and I don't think we could find much time to invest in it, unless my son (who I really feel is too young for it anyway) really showed an interest it, and then it would require a ton of work from me to refigure our schedule to fit it in.
I think my kids would really like this! It'd be a great experience for them to work with something like this, and would be great on their "resume'"! I share the concern that Amie posted about anonymity, though. Any comments on how that will be addressed?
my dd would love this. Her favourite TV show is the weather report! And I think she would want to do it on her own time, also. I don't think it would be a problem to identify your area - as long as no personally identifying infomration is given out. And I guess that it is our responsibility to teach our kids to use the net safely. Just like we teach them to cross the rad safely. I hope you get it up & running. let me know if you do so we can join in.
Hi! I love the comments and thoughts .. I have to run and pick up my oldest dd but will comment once I get back. Your ideas are great ... and I will have full attention of the guys on Tuesday so I can get lots of answers. As for being anonymous, the students can select user names and use any picture they want ... it does not have to be them. Photos and videos can be of anything they select .. they do not have to be in it. Awards can be given in their real names by me .. the parent just has to email me their name. Or, they could choose to get the award in their screen name. Whatever is best for the child works for me. Also, everything on the site will be moderated. Goals .... prizes .... contests .... special happenings ... all will be part of the fun. More when I get back ... the neighbor boy got on the wrong school bus so I had to wait until his Mom got back from looking for him ... now I am late for my dd. Oh, well ... she is 16 ... she can handle hanging out for a wee bit... Please keep your thoughts coming ... BeckyB
The parent site has a photo gallery that ranks by number of submissions and ratings of the photos submitted. It is computer generated and changes as the numbers change. Moderators also choose their selections, and blogs are done on certain photos. Being in Johnstown, home of the 1889 Johnstown Flood, which was the greatest loss of life in a disaster before 9/11, we take alot of photos of the historical sites here. Our photos prompted Jesse Ferrell, community leader, to do a blog on what the weather had to to with the Johnstown Flood. He used historical weather data for his blog. This is something that hadn't been done before, and is amazing to watch. There are lots of other perks in discussion for the weather teams, also. We plan to keep it exciting, fun and ... educational (shh .. let's not tell that to the children ... lol) AccuWeather has an incredible main frame, and they don't have an issue with the amount of submissions we expect with the additions of the weather teams. One of the perks of being a huge company, lol As the site grows, we will add additional moderators to the site. No photo or comment will appear on the web, however, until it is approved by the moderators. Questionable comments and/or photos will not be approved. I do not see a problem with a Weather Team being listed just as say ... California, and , of course, the use of user ids is encouraged. Safety is always a main priority. I can understand your concern. My teen daughter is very web savy and knows web speak. She will be very helpful to me in that extent.
Becky, my family was in the flood! My uncle has a silver service that has surviived. He went one time to the park, and was talking to the ranger. The ranger asked the family name, and my uncle replied, "Lorditch". The uncle asked, "Did they spell it like this?" and pointed to his name tag! I heard my g'ma tell again and again how her uncle had one twin in one arm, the other twin in the other arm, and opened the door, and the water came rushing in.
Imagine your children being able to blog about how draught affects their lives ... and that being read by a student in an area that has too much rain. I am sure Jesse and the staff at AccuWeather can help them understand why the area has such a problem with draught, and when it will rain. I will be sure to let you know when we are up and running, also, so your kids can join in the fun ... BeckyB
This might be something to look forward to as he grows older and develops an interest in science and weather, also. I am committed to make this a permanent part of the web once I get approval from AccuWeather. At first he might want to just check out the photos others have posted and maybe comment or rate them. Perhaps he could see what is going on in his area. The possibilities are endless. There is no minimum or maximum amount of involvement necessary, and that is what will be nice for families like yours. BeckyB
Definately it will look great on a resume, and there will be certificates for the children involved. Imagine the connections that could be made, also, with Weather Teams from across the world. I already have interest coming in from England. As I said before, exact location is not necessary for Weather Teams, and user ids will be encouraged. Photos posted do not have to include the child, he can be behind the camera Any photo can be used as an avatar .. a favorite photo, perhaps one of a pet. The list is endless. I will ask the folks at IT if they can make the certificates so the parents can insert the child's name and print it at home. That way no one will know the child's real name. Safety is my main concern. BeckyB
My daughter is very excited, too. She has done some quick videos for accuweather and had a great time doing them. That is what started this all We are suggesting that my ten year old daughter be the youth spokesperson so she will be seen online and once this is underway we will be travelling to areas that have Weather Teams to meet them if they would like. Meetings, of course, will be very public and held in public places. Safety, again, for all involved. I will let you know when we are ready. BeckyB
Absolutely. You can check out the website now. The kids site will be totally changed, however. http://www.accuweather.com I understand your concern. I could be anyone. It is best to check things out before getting involved with anything. Feel free to ask me anything you would like. If I do not know the answer I can ask Jesse. If they accept the proposal he will be my boss .. so to speak. BeckyB
I would love to hear your grandma's story about the flood ... I am a fanatic about it ... lol My great grandmother worked as a maid at the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club Clubhouse, and my great aunt used to own one of the cottages. I got some great photos on the site of those buildings ... Every year on May 31st most of the attractions are free and there are special events. The best one I ever attended was the 100th anniversary of the flood .. they played the silent film with a piano player accompanying it in the church that survived the flood. I take the girls to all of the sites each year to remember those who died. By the way, tell your uncle to be careful with that silver service ... as a survivor of the flood, it is very valuable to collectors. If he ever wants to sell it, I can put him in touch with a man who has more flood items than the Flood Museum My teen's oldest friend has that last name .. and he is homeschooled, too Once I get past the meeting I will contact you and share flood stories .. there are so many wonderful stories of how the people overcame the tragedy ... and how the world came together to help. Here is my video on the 1889 Johnstown Flood. There are some minor errors, it was done spur of the moment ... http://photo.accuweather.com/photogallery/Content/VideoDetails.aspx?pid=25496 BeckyB
I can understand your concerns. Feel free to check out the website at http://www.accuweather.com . Jesse Ferrell is the community leader, you can find him hanging out here. That is him in the upper left hand corner. You can email him, but please don't everyone at once ... he is really busy ... http://www.accuweather.com/promotion.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&dir=aw&page=community Here is the photo gallery as it appears today. It really is interesting. We envision the gallery for Weather Teams to be slightly different. http://photo.accuweather.com/photogallery/content/default.aspx Here is my photo gallery. The videos were done in one take, no rehearsal as part of a contest. It was the videos that gave everyone the idea to create weather teams. Well, their idea was not quite as large as we have developed it into. I have been working hard to develop it into something fun and exciting. http://photo.accuweather.com/photogallery/content/UserProfile.aspx?uid=9030&partner=accuweather These are perhaps the most incredible photos I have ever seen on the web ... http://photo.accuweather.com/photogallery/content/UserProfile.aspx?uid=1275&partner=accuweather Enjoy! Becky
