Today in Class, Tuesday April 27, 2010

Please do Assignment #5 and then visit your classmates’ blogs and leave relevant comments.

ALSO – on THIS post on THIS CLASS BLOG, please leave a meaningful comment for me giving me your honest opinion of the class blog such as it has been. What do you like/dislike about the class blog? What should I do differently to make it better for my next class? Did you ever have technical difficulties using the blog? Please let me know what you think about the future of electronic communication in education. THANKS!

Today in class, Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Be sure to check the assignment pages on this blog. Use your class time today to do Assignment #4, A Real Renaissance Man. Please be sure to visit your classmates’ blogs and leave comments.

Today in Class, Monday, March 15, 2010

Please finish your Hamlet essay and turn it in first! Then look at Assignment #3 in the right column on this class blog. Try to finish it today if possible. Make sure you have completed all blog assignments up to this point! VISIT YOUR CLASSMATES’ BLOGS and COMMENT each other!!! Have fun!

ATTENTION PLEASE!

Please look at the earlier post on this blog titled “Settings for your blog…” and update your settings on your blog! If you follow the directions in the post, the comments you receive from your peers and from the teacher will appear without having to wait for your approval. (If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!)

Welcome to our Class Blog!

Welcome to our class blog.  I hope that you find this venue for publishing your writing useful and fun.  Please visit each other’s blogs and leave helpful, appropriate comments often.  The exchange of ideas is important!

Create your own avatar!

Visit Face of the Future and create a cartoon character of your own face. You can save it as a jpeg and use it anywhere you would normally use a photograph.  These make cute Avatars for your blog!  (Avatars are the little pictures that show up beside your comments.)

Posting a YouTube Video

First, go to YouTube and get the URL of your video.    When you have your video showing, go up to the address bar and copy the entire address (the URL).  Then come back to your blog.  Create a new post.  Be sure to give it a title.  In the body of the post, type the name of your video.  Highlight it.  Click on the linked chain graphic in the tool bar where you are typing your post.  In the address line, paste the URL of your video (be sure that you do NOT have http:// in the address line twice!).  In the target line, choose “Open link in a new window.”  Then click  “Insert” and then “Save” and then “Publish.”  Your video is now embedded in your blog.

Settings for your blog

In order to see the comments people leave for you, you must have your settings edited correctly.  To do this, go to “My Dashboard.”

Click on “Settings.”

Click on “Discussion.”

The only check mark should be on “Allow people to post comments on the article.”

On the same page, under “Avatars,” click “Show Avatars.”

Under “Maximum Rating,” click “PG.”

You may choose a default avatar for those bloggers who leave comments and do not have an avatar of their own, or you may choose “Blank.”

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Save.”

Also under the “Settings” tab, click “Privacy” and click on the top setting, “I would like my blog to be visible to everyone.”

Click “Save.”

Now you should be able to see your peers’ comments and teacher comments with no trouble and no delay!

Helpful Places on the World Wide Web

I thought you might like to try your hand at creative publishing.  Here are some programs that you can use and some helpful websites:

PhotoStory 3 for Windows (free download; very easy to use; create great slideshows from your images with music and narration)

Audacity (free download; mix music tracks and narration into one file in different formats)

audacity-tips-blending-soundtracks

http://www.zamzar.com/ (free video file conversion website; this is great for cnverting YOUTube video into a .wmv file you can keep and use anywhere)

http://animoto.com/ (Make professional videos from your own digital images and music; I have used this one many, many times!  Here’s and example of one using pictures I took myself on the Amicalola River.)

Fall on the Amicalola

http://www.wordle.net/ (Make neat graphic presentations of words; below is an example)

Just google the programs and you should get several choices of downloads.

The best way to learn how to use the programs is just to play with them.  Have fun!

Inserting Images Into a Post

When you are writing a post and you wish to insert an image, click on the Add media: “Add An Image” button.  (It is the first one after ‘Upload/Insert.’)  You may then choose an image already saved on your computer by browsing files, or you can link to an image on the internet if you have the URL of the image.  The image will be placed in your post when you hit the “Insert into post” button.   Then just hit “Publish.”

Mr. and Miss PHS Class of '82