E-Learning Facilitation Our Vision: Together we will develop & sustain an effective e-Learning community, maximising the potential the 21st century learner. My Goals:
1. To strengthen understandings, infusing e-Learning to enhance both the teaching and learning process.
2. To make effective use of innovative resources enhancing future capability through inquiry learning.
Article posted July 19, 2012 at 04:34 PM GMT0 •
comment (3) • Reads 495
I have just had a fun time playing around with SymbalooEdu.
I used the Olympics as my theme and created tiles which can now simply be clicked on by anyone to access the sites.
I then decided to create a page for the theme under 2012 (see the right hand panel) just as I would for a new student blog but instead of the student's name I used the Theme name. I then posted the Symbaloo weblink creation there. I think this will be a useful practice for other learning area links.
What do others think?
Article posted July 19, 2012 at 04:34 PM GMT0 •
comment (3) • Reads 495
Article posted July 9, 2012 at 12:53 AM GMT0 •
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I have just subscribed to Steve Spangler's Science Experiment of the Week Notification. Embedding these into a class blog could be a great way to inspire homelink activities that the whole family can get involved in. Generates tea time discussions if talking at the dinner table is ever a problem :-)
Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori is also providing resources FREE OF CHARGE to the public in an effort to help us all learn Te Reo Māori . Click Here To Find Out More
Article posted June 12, 2012 at 01:31 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted May 23, 2012 at 03:07 AM GMT0 •
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Learning to read can be a challenge! Sometimes our kids need a fun reminder that they can do it! Dance along with Maggie, Jordan, Delaneigh & Jordan to "You Can Learn to Read!" This song was inspired by Taylor Swift's hit, "You Belong with Me'. Lyrics can be downloaded at http://tinyurl.com/KHazelrigg
Article posted May 23, 2012 at 03:07 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted May 14, 2012 at 10:33 AM GMT0 •
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Wahoooo! My ipad has arrived and I am steadily learning more and more. I spent the later afternoon today catching up with Yvonne and the wonderful work she is doing with her students. We poured over the apps her team are already experiencing. Oh such fun! Trouble was the hours whizzed by and suddenly it was dark and we should really have been at home already.
I'd love to hear recommendations from others too. What apps really tickle your fancy and how is the ipad making a meaningful difference to your student's learning?
Is it really about the apps? How are others innovating with the basic tools: camera/video etc?
Article posted May 14, 2012 at 10:33 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted May 9, 2012 at 03:31 AM GMT0 •
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Tumblebooks is a great library with a myriad of anomated books. Click on the red oval to enter and view the range of story books available. Search the Index to see the large number of titles and authors, Read the information alongsode each book display to select an appropriate reading level. Enjoy!
Article posted May 2, 2012 at 08:11 AM GMT0 •
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Have you used Anticipation Guides in your learning programme?
Go inside Cathy Doyle's second grade classroom in Evanston, Illinois to observe how Cathy uses the anticipation guide strategy to pique her students' interest in the book they are about to read together, Jin Woo by Eve Bunting. Cathy asks questions designed to activate the kids' prior knowledge and to encourage them to make predictions about what they think will happen in the story.
Article posted May 2, 2012 at 08:11 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted August 10, 2011 at 01:55 PM GMT0 •
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I have just found out that I can EMBED the Little Bird Tales too.
The Embed Code Can Be Found When You Log Back In and Go To The "My Tales" button. This code can then be copied and pasted into an article in Text Mode.
Note: the Tales are subject to moderation and can take a wee while to become available.
Article posted August 10, 2011 at 01:51 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 711
This great site, Little Bird Tales, has children drawing a picture or uploading one, adding their voice and then text to a page, saving that page and being able to add yet another. They could go on to create a book or they could create one page, save and continue, allowing a new students to work on the next page etc, thus working to create a collaborative class book.
Once the teacher has logged on....
Click "Create A Tale"
Click Draw to access the tools to draw a picture. Have children explore all the tools that are offered
When You Save The Picture and Close (X) the Drawing Canvas the image appears in the Tile Cover area.
Time to Record Your Narration - Green Circle. When the Adobe popup appears, click Allow. Experiment with the record, stop and play
Add Tale Title And Tale By
Save & Continue
That's the title page done. Yeee haaa!
The Next Page Appears - This page has the option to add text.
Continue using the Step 2 button to add more pages
When Done, Click the "Step 3" button on the site
Enter your own email address
When the email appears, click the link as suggested. A Window will open that has a website address in the title bar. Copy this
Open a new article in your classblog
Open to a new Article - In the Graphical form
Write some content and format it then add a hyperlink so that viewers can click on your text or picture and jump to the Little Bird Tale
Article posted August 8, 2011 at 05:29 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 751
Adding a hyperlink within an article Like This One is easy using the Graphical Interface and much better than simply adding the website address
1. Access the site you want to hyperlink to
2. Copy the Web address for the site
3. Begin your artcle adding the text that you want to appear e.g. Click here
4. Highlight that text and select the icon on the graphical toolbar that shows as a globe wiith a paper clip below it
5. In the window that appears, paste the URL Check to see that http:// does not appear at twice at the beginning.
6. Publish and Test
# Tip: Always be careful when doing this. I recommend always copying and pasting the URL. If you try to add it as text yourself, one simple mistake can take children into some rather precarious and possibly risquee avenues.
Article posted August 8, 2011 at 05:29 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted May 19, 2011 at 12:58 AM GMT0 •
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We have been learning to blog in our class. Use your knowledge of how to write a persuasive essay to complete this assignment.
Computer technology is becoming an increasing part of our learning programme however not everyone is comfortable with using technology in this way. Sometimes it can be a great tool for learning. At other times, it can be frustrating and it seems easier to use paper and pencil.
Choose a side. Do you think it is better to have technology to use all the time or do you think paper and pencil still works best? Convince us to agree with your side. Follow the directions to complete your assignment.
1. Follow the format for a persuasive essay. Be sure to be convincing.
2. Give at least 3 reasons for your side.
3. Explain why the other side is wrong.
4. Edit carefully for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.
5. Be sure to use higher level language and voice to make your blog interesting.
Your planning page/graphic organizer is due on May 25th. This needs to be reviewed before you blog.
This assignment is to be completed by the 31st May.
Article posted May 19, 2011 at 12:58 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted November 11, 2010 at 08:09 PM GMT0 •
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Wow! I have just enjoyed watching Jared's cool presentation with Sally and Bob on "Bull Sharks" What a fantastically cool way to share learning! The presentation is clear, funky, and "edutaining". It has great audience appeal and I bet Jared thoroughly enjoyed making this too.
The production is made with a free web 2.0 tool which is such fun, easy to use, and a delight for students and adults. It lends itself to so much. Great for narrative writing development, movie production strategies, publishing processes etc.
Certainly worth checking out.
Thanks for sharing this Jared - or should I be thanking Sally and Bob?
Article posted August 15, 2010 at 06:09 AM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 670
The one school wide password when used to set up all teacher accounts within a school is one of the advantages of classblogmeister. If a school wide password is used in the setting up process, student blogs can then be transferred from class to class as students progress throughout the school. Students blogs can be orphaned by the departing class and adopted into the new.
Article posted July 29, 2010 at 01:24 AM GMT0 •
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Do you have a school council?
We have a group of very keen 9 year olds (nearly 10 :-) who have formed a school council at Lynmore School In Rotorua, New Zealand.
This is part of an oral language extension and leadership development programme.
These children would love to share what they are doing and interact with others with a similar interest. They are fast becoming avid bloggers with a growing interest in social issues and environmental matters.
Is there a group keen to contact them, possibly set up a skype session, share learning and school council matters etc?
Do you know of any collaborative projects available for them to become involved in?
Article posted July 26, 2010 at 10:50 PM GMT0 •
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In my role I am often caught in the debate as teachers consider web 2 tools and the various ways to use them. Unfortunately the same questions and debate are never applied to books - those paper tools which students are expected without question to write in, which have no real audience other than themselves, no opportunity for feedback other than from their teacher and which get popped into dark cubbyholes at the end of a session to be left alone with no interactivity.
Consider blogging. Teachers (some!) are questioning ways to keep this engaging and purposeful for students leanring. Yippppeeee! We need to be doing this however perhaps not in terms of whether to blog or not but whether to book or not.
I invite comment. In what ways can a teacher create enthusiasm and interest in an educational setting using blogging?
What articles, posts, and prompts would students be interested in responding to?
What are some expansion and/or enrichment activities that could be posted?
Article posted July 26, 2010 at 10:50 PM GMT0 •
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Article posted July 21, 2010 at 03:12 AM GMT0 •
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This is a fun way to display photos. Photofunia allows you to select an effect from a gallery then upload your own photo. It is fun to see your photo is reimaged. ""'
I can send out a how to sheet if anyone wants one.
Article posted July 21, 2010 at 03:12 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted March 12, 2010 at 01:58 AM GMT0 •
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Today I am at Lake Rotoma School. We are beginning the classblogmeister journey, one that will be exciting as the whole school takes this tool on board. Our focus is improving literacy standards for our students. This is one way we hope to facilitate this action. Having our children write for a world wide audience will, we expect, make a positive difference. Children will be writing for an authentic audience.
Article posted March 12, 2010 at 01:58 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 800
Article posted February 1, 2010 at 10:13 AM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 636
I have been using a free web-based video application for the last couple of weeks with amazing results. The application records your screen and voice as you go through the motions and makes a video of your actions very very quickly and simply. You just need to click a couple of buttons. How hard is that!
The videos are active for 7 days only. You are provided with a URL which you can then email off to the people who need help. They can then watch the video and take any necessary steps by following your instruction.
Here is a youtube video with more explanation
Have a go. I am sure you will be impressed. Oh, you will need to attach a mic if you don't have a built in one for your computer.
Article posted February 1, 2010 at 10:13 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted December 13, 2009 at 11:14 PM GMT0 •
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As we move from the class of 2009 into our class of 2010, many of us will experience the release of one group of students and the arrival of a room full of new students. Some of these students may have had experience using their own individual blogs, set up using classblogmeister within your school. Many will be wanting to continue and build on this experience.
Individual student blogs set up under classblogmeister have the potential to follow students as they move from one class to another throughout their time within one school. In order for this to happen, current class teachers need to release the student's blog. This porcess is known also as "orphaning" their students from the current class to allow the new class teacher to "adopt" each students' blogs so that they then belong to the current class for their following year.
Another point to note regards the ownership of the blogs themselves. For those of you who are moving into a new school environment, your previous classblog will remain the property of the school in which they were created. So too do any photos, video, documents, presentations or other materials stored within an online environment etc.
This last point is worthy of noting when you set up any accounts initially. Passwords for any school related or student related materials will at some time need to be handed over to the school as you leave. For some who began this journey early this may compromise the security of further personal access particularly if you have used the same generic password for a multitude of access points, both school related and personal sites.
To avoid compromising your own security it may be well worth considering a change of password. In the case of classblogmeister, this can still be done by altering the password section in the Control Panel. After making the change, you'll need to click on "Submit Description". Clicking this will lock the alteration into place. You will then need to pass on this altered password to the Principal or network administrator within your school.
Please Note the Following:
A. To Orphan your students:
Class Panel
Click on current class i.e. 2009
Class Roster
Each child will have an edit button - Click on edit
Under 'Class' use down arrow to select Orphaned
Click on Make Change
B. To Have Your Students Adopted into a new class
Class Panel
Click on Current class i.e. 2010.
View Orphans
Select new teacher from list (assuming that the new teacher already has a classblog set up).
If this is not the case yet, the process will need to be completed when done.
Click on Submit Changes
Article posted December 13, 2009 at 11:14 PM GMT0 •
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Article posted October 11, 2009 at 09:55 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 278
Sharing your classblog url can be a tiresome task. It is sooo long that anyone can easily forget it.
Tiny Url allows you to shorten this to a address you will remember. (see the earlier article I posted in April)
Bit.ly is another easy to use site that does this too.
Article posted October 11, 2009 at 09:55 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 278
Article posted October 11, 2009 at 09:18 PM GMT0 •
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I am enjoying the interaction with Tim Comfort's class in Canada and was delighted to receive another invitation, this time from Brent's classmate Jervin. Unfortunately though when the comment was published, there were no clickable links and I wasn't able to directly access the blog source for Mr Comfort, Jervin or Brent.
Want to know what I am talking about and how to do it? Here goes...
Before you go into comment on a blog article, open your own blog and before you log in, copy the web address of your page. (To do this, I highlight the web address at the top of the internet web page and then use Ctrl + C) Then when leaving a comment it is always a good idea to paste your URL into the box provided under your name and email addy area wher eit says to enter the URl of your blog. i.e. just above the comment area. If you do this your name will then become a hyperlink and people can click on this hyperlink to directly access your own site.
Of course comments still need to be apporved in the usual way before they appear but doing this will make it much easier for people to visit you and return your call.
Fortunately I had Tim's blog in my related links which has allowed me to return the call easily too and I am off to do that right now. You'll hear from me soon Jervin.
Article posted October 11, 2009 at 09:18 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 310
Brent invited me to visit his classblog. Brent wrote that when they go to the lab Mr Comfort brings up my blog. Well, how cool is that and what a compelling invitation. How could I not investigate Brent's blog further!
It seems that Brent is just on the beginning of his blogging journey although I should have asked him if he has blogged at school before. I may be completely mistaken and Brent may be a seasoned veteran! (I need to make a note to myself not to assume things so readily!)
Anyway, I began to consider what I might write in reply to Brent's kind invitation. I asked Brent what ideas he may have about using his blog? The introduction at the top of the page mentioned that the class is a group of "Young adults, interested in inquiry, critical thinking, collaborative learning and creative communication"
I love using blogs and think it is a great way to record and share our learning and so I began to ponder... and came up with a suggestion that perhaps others may be interested in...
I wondered how many bloggers from different countries Brent could get to comment on his blog. I also wondered how this could lead to a rich and relelvant learning experience?
If you as a student go to -
http://classblogmeister.com you'll see a link to "List classes by School Level" Choosing a level similar to you allows you to browse through the blogs available and select one to visit from a new area each week. I now wonder if a similar age is necessary... Why impose that limit?
Now the research part. In their own classblog page, students could feature an article a week on something that is happening in that country or area. They'd need to find out about that first. Then when they find out something of interest, they might like to post up a question for their blog visitors from that particular area to answer.
Contacting other bloggers from that area by visiting their blogs allows us to leave an invitation as a comment on their page along with our own blog URLs. Just as Brent did to me, this encourages people to visit our own blog pages and encourages them to answer our questions.
Worthwhile? I wonder how many would become involved, share information and understandings. I wonder if there would be lots of replies. Would we find out interesting information?
Rich, real & relevant learning? I wonder....
Article posted October 6, 2009 at 01:00 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted September 18, 2009 at 03:30 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted September 18, 2009 at 03:30 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted August 20, 2009 at 12:30 AM GMT0 •
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I am trying out a new web photo album to use for our class blog pictures: PIcasa. Not sure which size to select, this is my experiment. This is medium 400px. Will it be too big, too small or just right?
About the image -
"Give One Get One" has been a great icebreaker for use when people do not know each other very well. Participants are asked to collect signatures of people they did not know prior to the get-together, who can also provide answers to specific questions. Often these questiosn can be related to the meeting's focus, however it is always good to add some fun ones too. e.g. Find someone who --- loves broccoli ---can tell a godd joke (proof needed) etc
Article posted August 20, 2009 at 12:30 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted April 18, 2009 at 12:14 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 372
Having difficulty remembering or sharing that long classblog address?
Visit TinyURL - It's free!
You'll be able to shorten that long URL to one you will easily remember
Example:
Go from classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=76585
to tinyurl.com/lwatchorn
Go to tinyurl.com
Paste in your classblog address
Type in a Custom Alias - It will need to be unique though. (Others may have already taken Room3)
Click "Make tiny URL" button and voila!!
Article posted April 18, 2009 at 12:14 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 372
Article posted February 4, 2009 at 07:36 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 367
Thank you Mark for the invitation to blend in at the Nga Tii Roa cluster’s TO day. (Yeah I can hear the "Lorraine - blend???" comments. :-) I have long wanted to participate in one of Gail Loane’s workshops, ever since the 1990s when I heard Julie share her student’s writing following such a course. Today I found out why.
It is interesting to reflect on the successful strategies promoted to support authorship. I can see why I felt such a buzz. It links so much to what I believe, to what I do in my work.
21st C Learning – Rich, Real, Relevant
"We can’t give children rich lives, but we can give them
the lens to appreciate the richness that is already there.
~ Lucy Caulkins
Value the real, getting kids to see what is there, learning to look closely, to describe, share, to write what they see, feel and do and not what they think their teachers want them to write. To empower students. Their writings, their views, their reflection of their lives, are valuable.
“If nothing happens for the writer, nothing happens for the reader"
~ Gail Loane
e.g. Do sentence starters help make things happen for the writer? What do these contrived starters say about our beliefs as teachers? Is it perhaps that we believe students have little or nothing to write about unless we prompt them with a narrow sentence starter? If we start the story, who owns it? We saw examples of thin narrative. We want to engage in rich experiences, rich writing, rich authorship, rich narrative.
How many of us will begin our school year asking students to engage in a recount? How could this be made so much more interesting?
Gail shared with us a poem by J.K. Baxter which began: “The town was usual enough: it had….” It was here we began. Rather than the usual recount we looked at what response this poem engendered for us. Did it trigger a memory, a visualisation? Any unfamiliar words? Emotional engagement? How were the words broken up? What effect did this have? Why did Baxter do it this way? What are the clues that tell us this was a small town… or being hot…
Gail continued "What if we replaced the word, “town”?" By deconstructing Baxter’s poem we unpack the keys to this successful piece of writing. Once done it allows us to make our own reconstruction…
Inspired by James Kay Baxter’s poem & Gail Loane’s passionate facilitation –
The ditch was usual enough; it had
A dip, sheltering trees, the soft earth, pine needles
Covering the hollow at the end of our
Street. Seldom visited. My sisters, neighbours and I
Dug down, hidden from adult
Eyes with matches and stolen cigarettes
Dad’s pipe, sucked sharply, breathing
Life into the curl of charred tobacco
Scorched resin, soft earth, our secret place
A Sunday Afternoon.
~ Lorraine Watchorn
Just bought the book "Love That Dog" by Sharon Creech from Fishpond. Love It!!! It tells the story of a Jack who doesn't care too much for poetry, his teacher, Jacks learning reflections and his dog.
Article posted February 4, 2009 at 07:36 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 367
Article posted December 15, 2008 at 09:23 AM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 390
Using the “whole school code” when initially setting up a class blog allows the transfer of blogs from class to class when needed.
The process involves the previous teacher orphaning the student’s blog from their class blog. When done, the new classblog organiser can adopt the student’s orphaned blog.
To Orphan Your Students:
o Class Panel
o Your Class Name
o Class Roster
o Next to each child click “Edit”
o Alongside “Class:” click the down arrow
o Select –Orphan- from the drop down list
o Click “Make Change”
To Adopt a Student blog once they have been orphaned:
o Class Panel
o Your Class Name
o View Orphans
o A list of students from your school should appear
o Beside each student, select the teacher they now have.
o Submit Change
o Note: If the student has left, you have the option to delete the blog
o Go To Edit to ensure the student is no longer registered as orphaned and is in fact aligned to correct classblog.
o You can also edit further the student’s details if required
o Click Make Change.
Problem Solving:
If students do not appear on your class list, it maybe because they have not been assigned a class and are officially still registered as an orphan.
You can check this by going to:
o Class Panel
o Your Class Name
o Class Roster
o Next to each child click “Edit”
o Alongside “Class:” click the down arrow
o Select the appropriate class from the drop down list
o Click “Make Change”
Article posted December 15, 2008 at 09:23 AM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 390
Article posted December 4, 2008 at 02:30 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 336
Up until now I have had little luck in getting the podcast tools to work i.e. the one below the article box. Because of this I have resorted to posting hyperlinks to each podcast within an article. This worked well but I was frustrated by the inoperability of a tool that appeared so blatantly right in my face everytime I opened an article. So, dog mindedly determined I began my problem solving search!!
A special thank you to Simon for his generous offers and optimistic approach that it could be done! With his optimistic support my perseverance never waivered! Some time spent investigating has finally paid off. I managed to get the Podcast URL working. Yipeeeee! I can now click both links and hear just the podcast I wanted as opposed to a hyperlink web address and sometimes a whole list of all my podcasts appearing.
Want to know how to do it?
Article posted December 4, 2008 at 02:30 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 336
Article posted November 17, 2008 at 09:02 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 365
We are exploring options for stdts to develop e-portfolos using Web 2.0 tools. There are many great things about classblogmeister we like. However one difficulty is in tagging articles or even better, linking further pages off a student page. This can be done from the front "class" page but not so from the students page. Tagging is one possibility so I am checking it out here. Let's see what happens.
I would be interested in seeing how others are using classblogmeister in the e-portfolio area.
- is an online game developed by New Horizon Interactive. Using cartoon penguins as avatars, players waddle around, chat, play minigames and participate in other activities with one another in a snow-covered virtual world. The game is designed for children between the ages of 6 and 14 years old. Kids can go in and chat with others. This is an early introduction to virtual worlds and a safe option. a major focus of the developers has been on child safety,[5] with a number of features introduced to the game to facilitate this — including offering a "Safe Chat" mode, whereby users select their comments from a menu; filtering that prevents swearing and the revelation of personal information;[5] and moderators (along with veteran players) who police the game.[6] Nevertheless, the game has its critics, some of whom have claimed that it teaches consumerism[7] and that it can encourage cheating.[8]
Article posted October 7, 2008 at 02:54 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted August 25, 2008 at 02:41 AM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 834
Jan and I are having lots of fun exploring Bookr. See what we made..... You will need to drag the pages from their corners to turn them, just as you would using your fingers in a normanl book.
Article posted August 25, 2008 at 02:41 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted June 22, 2008 at 09:51 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 456
This site allows you to embed books into your blog or wiki. You can search by title, author, illustrator or genre. A growing range of books available. CLick on the eyes to enlarge the image. Double click the image to visit lookybook.
Article posted June 22, 2008 at 09:51 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 456
Article posted June 6, 2008 at 05:24 AM GMT0 •
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For some time now I have been with teachers who have experienced one or two problems when setting up their bogs. Not bad considering how many are doing it - but I have just experienced an ah hah moment!
If you are unable to see Global Settings, or Add Students etc when in the Class Panel - Try adding a class first. Once you have one there, named, click on the said name and watch what happens.
You guessed it the options miraculously appear.
Article posted June 6, 2008 at 05:24 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted June 4, 2008 at 10:32 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 438
This is a long awaited feature which will certainly add interest to reading. Colour alone makes a difference for me. It may take a wee while to tame the line spacings etc. and as with any new tool, we need to experiment a bit first. At least we no longer need to read manuals and let's face it, why should anyone these days? Who has the time....
The surprise scripting elements which appear at times are interesting too. I have simply deleted them. I wonder what others are doing?
Article posted June 4, 2008 at 10:32 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 438
Article posted June 4, 2008 at 10:14 PM GMT0 •
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If you wanted to suggest to a student things that needed to be changed before their article could be published, you would
Go to theclass panel
Select theclass
Select class roster
Select thestudent
Select the student's article.
To theright of the article window, there is another window. You can make comments/suggestions there and then click on "Submit Blog" but not"Publish.
It will then appear to the student in the student article area. The student will see your suggestions BELOW the article, in italicsandred.
Wow! This is written using the new Graphical "What You See Is What You Get" Interface. How cool is that!!
Thanks heaps David. A very nice addition.
Tip: Have the children tend to the content first and then glam it up. Just like when word processing, so many spend ages playing with the bells and whistles, the real work gets left as a later priority!
Article posted June 4, 2008 at 10:14 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 372
Article posted March 30, 2008 at 10:46 PM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 734
There is just so much out there and so many wonderful people willing to share.
Thank you to Jocelyn in the South Island for alerting me to AuthorStream. Click here to open Authorstream in a new window A tool very similar to SlideShare, it allows you to upload and embed powerpoint presentations.
Allanah also pointed me to the following video which presents a comparison.
SlideShare and authorSTREAM - two presentation sharing services.
Each service has its own unique way of handling presentations.
This presentation helps you decide what works best for you
Article posted March 30, 2008 at 10:46 PM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 734
Article posted March 29, 2008 at 07:33 PM GMT0 •
comment (7) • Reads 367
THE DANGER OF EMBEDDED LINKS :-(
This is a very timely posting particularly in light of the last topic. Has anyone else come across any problems or potential dangers in uploading slideshows using slideshare and the like?
We have just discovered the dangers in doing this. Uploading a presentation to slideshare of a junior class maths activity that the class was so proud of seemed great. We copied and pasted the link from slideshare into our class blog. Looked pretty good we thought. It wasn't until another teacher viewed it sometime later that we realised our folly. At the end of the slideshow, the slideshare web site links your presentation to others that are similar - and that is where the problem occurs. We didn't expect there to be any inappropriate maths links - in fact we didn't even think about it - but there definitely are. Phew! We are so glad we found this before any of the children.
Has anyone had a similar experience? Perhaps we could share here some of the dangers involved in what we are doing and the sites we are linking into our class blog? This has come as an awful shock - to think we could have exposed our 5 year olds to such material.
I would be interested in hearing from more experienced users and others who share a similar concern.
I have contacted Slideshare and explained my concern. Hopefully they can resolve the issue and we can continue confidently again. Until then however I can no longer recommend this site.
Please add you comments to discuss this further...
Keep Safe,
Lorraine
Article posted March 29, 2008 at 07:33 PM GMT0 •
comment (7) • Reads 367
Article posted March 27, 2008 at 06:55 PM GMT0 •
comment (4) • Reads 345
How are you helping your students become responsible cybercitizens? What rules has your class developed -
- For their blogging activities?
- To keep themselves safe as cybercitizens?
Article posted March 26, 2008 at 09:40 PM GMT0 •
comment (3) • Reads 376
Lynda has asked a good question, one that others will probably want to find out about too.
"Is there a way to have the chn’s names listed without having to click on Room 4 first?"
Try This:
- Enter the "CLASS Panel"
- If you have more than one class, click to highlight the class you want to expand
- Click on Global Settings
- Tick in box beside "Automatically Expand Student Lists"
- Save
Article posted March 25, 2008 at 09:53 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 329
The red dots are disappearing....
The dots on our cluster maps are archived after a year. This is to prevent the map displaying as one huge red blob over time (yeah right 8-}
The maps are archived. You can still go in and view them. It is good to refresh these. You can then see if your blog is still catering for the audience you intend.
Article posted March 25, 2008 at 09:53 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 329
Article posted March 13, 2008 at 05:10 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 303
SLIDE.COM
To view the slide show, which may take a wee while to come in, click on the cross in the right corner below.
BLABBERIZE
Below is a link that is a bit of fun. Blabbers can be incorporated into wiki and blogs with a useful purpose. Unfortunately there is one word that I don't particular want to encourage with primary aged students, in the last part of the wizard. While it would prevent me using this as a student creating tool, I do think it has some merit as a teacher's tool.
What do you think?
I would be interested in your feedback.
Article posted March 13, 2008 at 05:10 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 303
Article posted March 13, 2008 at 04:37 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 344
How do the student articles appear on their page? Hopefully the following will clarify the process:
THE STUDENT:
1. Children log in to their page
2. Select Article from the Edit Panel
3. Write Article and Include Title
4. When ready, tick in the Request Publishing Box and Click Save
THE ARTICLE:
5. The article will now join the list awaiting teacher approval
THE TEACHER:
6. When ready, the teacher logs in to the class page
7. The teacher selects New Approval Tool from their editing panel
8. Click radio button beside Blog Entries
9. Articles submitted for approval will appear under each child's name.
10. Open the awaiting article.
11. If happy with it, click Submit Article.
And Voila! The article will appear in the student page when it is refreshed.
While in the New Approval Tool, check for comments too by clicking that radio button and checking below.
How''s that?
Article posted March 13, 2008 at 04:37 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 344
Article posted March 11, 2008 at 02:51 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 326
I have been working at Rotokawa for the last two days and have enjoyed seeing people's enthusiasm and skill as we venture into new territory and support one another in our learning journeys. Everyone has so much to offer.
Today has been a blast! Jamal, Tiria, Carol and Nicky have joined the blogosphere. Great to have you on board 8-)
If anyone knows of a class blogging in Te Reo, please let us know. We'd love to connect up.
Ka kite ano
Article posted March 11, 2008 at 02:51 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 326
- Strip your Powerpoint of unnecessary items. These slow your up/download times.
- Open slideshare.net
- Log In if already a member OR Sign Up if new.
- Click Upload - Single Upload - Browse to select file and complete details.
- Go To My SlideSpace and click on File you want to include in your blog.
- Find the
“Embed in your blog” label and copy contents.
- Log In to your classblog. Edit panel - Articles.
- Paste the html from the "Embed in your blog" panel into your article.
NOTE: We need to strip the last slide of the show as it displays in your blog article. At the moment it will link to other slide shows. Rarely but it can happen, these slide shows may not be the ones you want your students to see. Thanks to this tip from SlideShare:
Don't forget to Logout of Slideshare.
If you want to create a slide show on the web you may like to check out - bubbleshare or slide.com
Article posted March 9, 2008 at 08:14 AM GMT0 •
comment (3) • Reads 375
1. Upload Your Photo.
2. Move the slider and see what your face would look like if it was symmetrical.
3. LOL - and don't forget to right click and save, that is if you really want to.
Weird...
Before & After - Hmmm, which is the real one?
Article posted March 8, 2008 at 12:01 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 510
Article posted March 2, 2008 at 12:25 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 305
Whoohoo! I didn't know it could be done. Thank goodness for a rainy Sunday afternoon. Thanks to Gail (Korea) and Adrian Bruce (Australia) for unwittingly leading me into this. I am delighted to know that we have a colour option in classblogmeister.
Off for that walk now....
Article posted March 2, 2008 at 12:25 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 305
Article posted February 28, 2008 at 11:34 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 298
Yvonne was asking if an approved comment can be edited e.g. if you realise after the approval that there in an error in the content.
The answer is Yes 8-)
1. Log in
2. In the Edit Bar, click "Articles"
3. In the list that appears below the blank "Article" box, locate the "Article Title" that the comment is associated with and click to Open it.
4. Now below the opened "Article" Box you will see a reference to the comments assocated with that article.
5. Against the comment, you have a choice to click
- Show
- Edit
- Delete
5. Select Edit, Make Your Changes and then Submit
Let's know if this is useful.
Article posted February 28, 2008 at 11:34 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 298
Article posted February 28, 2008 at 09:59 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 263
Once you have an Article posted on your blog, others will be able to go in and comment.
To Post:
1. Log In
2. From the Edit Bar (on your blog) select "Article"
3. In the new window that opens, enter a Title in the Title Box (I use capitals for all my Titles)
4. Type yor posting in the Article Box
5. Click to tick the Publish box (below) the Article box
6. Click Save
7. Go back to your class blog page and "Refresh" and voila!
Note: The Blog Text Size with the three As affects all the text in your blog, not just that in the article.
Article posted February 28, 2008 at 09:59 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 263
Article posted February 27, 2008 at 09:11 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 298
The easiest way for your students to get into their own page (as far as I can tell) is for them to log on to main classblogmeister.com page.
In the top box under "To Edit your Blog, Type...' (on right hand side) they can enter their first name. In the box underneath that they enter their password. Clicking once on the Enter button should take them directly to their own page.
From there, they can access the class page by clicking on the teacher's name which they will see written in the band across the top. (You'll see a hand as you put your mouse over the teacher name).
Article posted February 27, 2008 at 09:11 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 298
Article posted February 27, 2008 at 12:16 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 278
Well, now what do you think? Will blogs be useful for you?
If you want to find out more, let's know. I'd love to help. We can use this blog to post up any instructions etc so that anyone can access these as and when needed.
How did you find this session? Too fast, too messy or just right? What do you still want to find out about?
How are you going to use your blog initially?
Wouldn't it be great to have your students post up your class blogging rules as their first initial posting? I wonder what these would be?
Drop in a comment below. I would love to hear from you...
Don't forget to check out the cluster wiki too at "Click this link "
Best wishes
Lorraine
Article posted February 27, 2008 at 12:16 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 278
Article posted February 24, 2008 at 09:45 AM GMT0 •
comment (3) • Reads 300
If you wanted to have two teachers share a blog class, you could have them share an account and add both email addresses, separated by a comma, in the email section under control panel. Both emails will get notifications about posts.
Article posted February 24, 2008 at 09:45 AM GMT0 •
comment (3) • Reads 300
Article posted February 12, 2008 at 01:47 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 302
To view the slide show, which may take a wee while to come in, click on the cross in the right corner below.
It is time to farewell Le Bron and how we will miss him in our class. He has been a gorgeous, very cuddly, very enjoyable friend for all of us over the last 3 months. We have had a lot of fun together. While we say good-bye to our handsome raccoon we are delighted to welcome back Haututu and to read all about his wonderful trip to Euclid, Ohio. He has had a ball and made a lot of friends. We loved watching the DVD of "Favourite Places" from Dona's Students and we now know that there are so many similarities between our two towns. Even some of our plants are the same.
Thanks to Dona and our friends in Euclid. This has been a fun exchange and we have learned a lot about each other - and ourselves.
Ka kite ano...
Article posted February 12, 2008 at 01:47 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 302
Article posted February 8, 2008 at 01:26 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 325
I have begun a new adventure and will be travelling in a new waka for the next three years.
RELLCO is the Rotorua East Lakes Learning Community and is made up of 4 Rotorua Primary Schools: Lynmore, Owhata, Rotokawa and Lake Rotoma.
We have a new logo so I will replacing the NTR one. Nga Tii Roa are still an important part of what I do and love, and it has been great to travel alongside such an amazing group of people.
I know we will continue to do so.
Article posted February 8, 2008 at 01:26 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 325
Article posted January 24, 2008 at 08:10 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 349
Check out the new website statistics counter on the right hand side.
Isn't it fun! It comes from Bravenet and is free.
While the clustr map is great, this extra widget allows us to see more about our visitors, when they visit etc. You can get one yourself from (http://pub19.bravenet.com/counter)
Article posted January 24, 2008 at 08:10 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 349
Article posted January 24, 2008 at 06:33 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 352
I share here some online tools I discovered when I spent a bit of time looking around. The Library Thing is an interesting diversion, a free library cataloguing system.
Publish Your Own Books:
** Lulu (http://www.lulu.com)
Publish, Sell, Connect. This site allows you to create your own publications. Publish a hardcover book, complete with dust jacket, a paper back, cook book, photo album, training manual. Sell your books world wide or to a select few. Your choice. You set your own price, they print and ship each item as it's ordered, and you collect 80% of the creator revenue on every sale.
Decision Making / Polls & Voting:
** Zoho Polls (polls.zoho.com)
Want to decide on something? Use Zoho Polls to narrow down your choices and get opinion from others. Its 100% free.
Making Posters & Documents:
** Rastebator "Click this link "
This free online tool can create huge (up to 10m wide) custom posters out of any uploaded image. Once poster is created it’ll provide you with several A4 sized PDF docs, which can be printed out and assembled into a giant poster.
** Motivator (bighugelabs.com/flickr/motivator.php)
Create your own customized motivational posters.
** LetterPop (letterpop.com/how_it_works.php)
Check out the”How To” video
** Zoho Writer (writer.zoho.com)
Create a free account for yourself and explore. Create a document or two and delve into Zoho’s features. Check out how easy it is at: <http://writer.zoho.com/public/jeanmh16/zoho-benefits>>
** Google Docs (documents.google.com)
Import your existing documents, spreadsheets and presentations, or create new ones
On-Line Spreadsheets
** Zoho Sheets (writer.zoho.com)
Create spreadsheets online, share and collaborate.
Article posted January 24, 2008 at 06:26 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 330
1) Have students access your class blog page
2) Find their name listed under your class folder which should appear on the right hand side of the screen.
3) They need to log in.
4) Once they are logged in, they click on Articles.
5) They can then write their article and click the box beside Request Publishing and then on Save.
Article posted January 24, 2008 at 06:26 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 330
Article posted January 24, 2008 at 06:24 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 341
To add students you need to:
1) Log in under your name.
2) On the edit screen choose class panel.
3) Once there choose class roster.
4) Then you can add the name of your students and give the them a password.
Article posted January 24, 2008 at 06:24 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 341
Article posted January 21, 2008 at 10:55 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 378
This is a two stage process and relies on the school or teacher using the one password to set up each classroom blog.
Using this "school-wide" password at the intial stages of entry into blogmeister allows for the interactivity between classblogs to occur. Later on we all go in and personalise our own password to access our own pages. It is the original school password that is given out at the very start that is useful here.
STAGE 1:
The original class teacher will need to make her students "-Orphans-"
To Do This:
1. Log In - Click "Class Panel" in the Edit Option bar
2. Under Classes click the folder that students are transferring from
3. Go down and click on "Class Roster" to see list of students.
4. Click "Edit" button beside each student
5. In the Edit window that appears, go down to "Class:" and select -Orphaned- from drop down list
6. Click "Make Change"
STAGE 2:
Once the Students have been made into Orphans you can go in and transfer them to the new class blog. This second class blog will need to have already been created using the same "ORIGINAL" school password that others in the school have used to originally set up their blog.
1. Log In - Click "Class Panel" in the Edit Option bar if you haven;t already.
2. Go down and Click "View Orphans". A list of your orphans will appear.
3. Under "Change Teacher" select the new classroom teacher from the list that appears. Submit Changes.
Article posted January 21, 2008 at 10:55 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 378
Article posted November 19, 2007 at 11:20 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 237
Wondering where all the previous articles have gone? Scroll down to the bottom and click on View "all" Entries. They should then pop up for your perusal ;->...
Article posted November 19, 2007 at 10:28 PM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 279
To add a clock to your site, you can visit the website for clocklink.com
- Choose your clock face, check the time zone and select the size you would like.
- Copy the tag for the clock which appears in the box underneath it.
- Go back to your classblogmeister page - Control Panel. In the "About You" box, go to the end of your text, press enter to leave a line and then paste your tag.
- Click Submit.
When you refresh your classblog page the clock face should appear in the RHS panel.
Article posted November 19, 2007 at 10:28 PM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 279
Article posted November 19, 2007 at 09:33 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 327
Adding a map to show where your world wide audience originates from is fairly straight forward. You will need to join the clustr map site and be able to access your email to locate the password the site sends you.
1. Go to the cluster map site by typing in http:// and then clustrmaps.com/getone.php
2. Sign up for your own free account
3. Follow Instructions
4. Copy the html they tell you to put on your site.
5. In your Blogmeister site go to the Control Panel and paste the html into the "About You" window
Enjoy!
Article posted November 19, 2007 at 09:33 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 327
Note: Teacher Tube would be the better option for school based movies. You need to join these communities before you can upload
Once uploaded and located, checkout the Embed box beside your uploaded video on the video site (i.e. teacher Tube or YouTube). Highlight the content in the embedded data box and Ctrl+C to copy the contents.
Go back to your article's posting box in classblogmeister and paste where you want the video to appear.
Save and Publish. Superb!
Article posted November 13, 2007 at 09:58 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 293
Article posted November 13, 2007 at 08:44 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 281
If you want more control over the image in your article you can use the following procedure to paste in the image:
Begin your article (if you can go to one you have already started.)
Move the cursor to the beginning of the article and type sharp bracket i.e < and right next to it type img src= then paste the URL in next to the equals sign. Finish it off with another sharp bracket and a space.
img src = Image Source the address of the image you are embedding from picoodle etc.
To see if it has worked you will need to refresh your class blog page.
You can add further instructions:
e.g. You can add the following to this line too. Try any of these:
width="250"
border="4"
align="left"
Article posted November 13, 2007 at 08:44 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 281
Article posted November 13, 2007 at 08:40 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 303
Leaving a couple of spare lines (by pressing Enter) at the end of your article makes it easier on the eye creating a space between your article and the comment line.
Article posted November 13, 2007 at 08:32 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 477
To have more control over the placement of photos in your classblogmeister articles:
Adding an image at the start of the article allows the text to wrap around it.
At the beginning of your article, type all the following inside sharp brackets: img src="image_url" width="pixels" align="direction"
(Sharp brackets are these ones < >)
Replace img_url with the image URL you copied and pasted in the same way as you did before e.g. the one from picoodle
Replace pixels with the pictures pixels approx 250 pixels per inch. Yep, keep the inverted commas. This allows you to adjust the size. Increase the number and you increase the size of the image.
Replace direction with either left or right depending in which side you want the image to appear.
Article posted November 13, 2007 at 08:32 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 477
Article posted October 10, 2007 at 01:25 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 363
Hi - Back from holiday, Back from Ulearn, Back from a cluster teacher only day with Tony Ryan last Saturday and on to the next thing ---
I have a presentation to do which focuses on the impact of blogging on home school relationships. I would love to include a range of responses from other teachers, students, parents who use classroom blogs. I know there is a wealth of experiences out there and such a wonderful generosity in sharing and it would be superb to have your thoughts.
Something to comment on? How about...
... What tangible differences has classroom blogging made to the interconnectivity between the home, community and - students - teacher
... What feedback have you/the the school received from your parent community on this involvement?
... What are some of the issues to consider?
--- Any other relevant comments would also be appreciated.
You will get full credit for your comments and if you would like to have participants check out your blog during the session, please send me the addy.
Thank you,
Lorraine
Article posted October 10, 2007 at 01:25 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 363
Article posted October 10, 2007 at 01:23 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 326
Classroom blogs are revolutionising the way teachers (and schools) communicate with parents, their community, how parents can interact with their childrens' class activities, aloowing more people to be involved in their student's learning and discussion.
Room 10 at Pongakawa School recently posted some work on their blog that they were doing using Tony Ryan's thinkers keys. You can imagine their delight when Tony popped into their blog and added a comment.
Parents of students at Te Ranga are regularly visiting the junior class blog even though they are away overseas to keep up with their child's exciting learning developments.
Students themselves who are absent for a variety of reasons (overseas, holiday, illness) are still checking in to see what they are missing and to comment on what is currently being learnt.
Often this type of sharing does not occur until the end of term report, parent interviews or the next visit tot he school. Classroom blogs now allow this interaction to occur. Parents and students alike are able to read, feed in comments, stimulate discussion, and keep up with the play.
And the children's community is growing. No longer ar ethey confined to their immediate geographical location. The new neighbourhood i.e. the student's learning community is global. Blogs facilitate this development. Interaction is able to occur between classes and individuals, community groups and experts.
Is there any research out there in this area into the impact of blogs into the school community partnership? Perhaps it would be a worthwhile area for someone interested in an E-fellowship...
Aha you might say - this means that perhaps a negative factor exists as well. And ther emay well be. I'd love to hear of these. From my own experience, that's why I really like classblogmeister (yep I'll say it again and again Thank you for introducing me to it, Tom and Jody). Classblogmeister allows the teacher to filter all comments.
If you have had any specific feedback or concerns about class blogs and their impact on School home partnerships, I would love to hear them.
These are just some of the wonderful blogs I have come across:
Article posted July 31, 2007 at 03:45 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 288
We just had an awful fright. Janet's great class blog site seemed to have disappeared. All we could see was the colour page banner at the top of the page and one picture. No text, no articles, no links, no photos - zilch!
This occurred when viewing the site using IE 7. Yet - going to View - Source the content all appeared to be there. Strange! And further to the strangeness - those of us who had Firefox could see it beautifully. Hmm, a real puzzle.
The remedy - "Be wary about entering html into the "Your Blog Title" box within the Control Panel".
Janet had made up a great glitter banner for the class name. Entering this into the panel as the blog title prevented all other content from loading. Scary and not a nice feeling to go through alone!
Removing this entry, has resolved the problem and we can now all benefit by taking a look at this very attractive junior class site:
Article posted July 24, 2007 at 03:31 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 326
Janet just asked why commenters to her students' blogs need a password before they are able to submit a comment for approval. If this is happening to you, try the following suggestions:
1. If you log in and go to Class Panel.
Click on your class name in the left hand panel
Is there an entry in Classroom Password?
If so, delete this
Click Submit
2. If this hasn't cleared the problem -
In Class Panel, click on your class again
Click on "Publish Security" under "Class Menu"
Which radio button is activated?
Click on the top one i.e. "All student blogs available to the public after approved by the teacher."
Click Submit
3. If this hasn't cleared the problem -
Class Panel - Class Name
Under Class Menu click on Comments Security and check your options.
I chose the top one. However if the first two suggestions do not work it may pay to try changing this to the last one.
Article posted July 24, 2007 at 03:31 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 326
Article posted May 28, 2007 at 10:53 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 297
Just as reading "books" helps us to write and admiring art helps us to discern it, nothing helps a blogger better than reading other peoples' blogs. This is a good reading activity for your students.
Check out other blogs from classes of a similar age group as your students. You can access Jody's, Tom's and Rachel's from the Related Links to the top left of this article, as well as those within our cluster. Similar links can be added to your own class blog.
Once your students are familiar with posting comments they can add their own to the blogs they peruse....
Article posted May 28, 2007 at 10:53 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 297
Article posted May 28, 2007 at 10:11 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 287
Friday morning: Whole group shared writing via the data projector or IWB, directly into the class blog. "Our Week"
When finished students then work in pairs to comment on the article. Rule: Nothing is to be added to the comment box until both agree, encourage talk first)
Individual Activity: Students then go into their own indivudal blogs accessed from the class blog's student list and write on a given topic e.g. My greatest learning this week....
This process could be adpated to focus on Poetry, Inquiry, values, HoM, Book Reviews etc.
Would it work for you? What other ideas could?
Article posted May 28, 2007 at 10:11 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 287
Article posted May 28, 2007 at 10:09 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 288
How do busy classroom teachers get time to facilitate a class blog?
Our cluster is marvellling at the relevance and diversity of blogging for learning but not many have really begun this in ernest in their classrooms.
How do you manage it? What did you have to do to get started?
What are the barriers?
I suspect most will say "Time" yet if this is a rich, real and relevant tool to motivate, engage and learn with, why hasn't it been given the time it deserves?
I would love to find out and perhaps help to get our class blogs off the ground and into the hands of our learners.
Article posted May 28, 2007 at 10:09 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 288
Article posted May 25, 2007 at 04:48 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 299
I have just added quote of the day which should change daily. You can see it under the cluster map. I got the html from the link available from the Brainy Quote site
To add it on to your page I used the Control Panel adding the html after the About Me blurb.
To make a space between the blurb about me, my cluster map and the Quote of the Day I typed the following at the end of each section:
A sharp bracket (one of these <) then br then a closing sharp bracket i.e. one of these > and no spaces. I can't type it into this article exactly as it looks cause guess what? When I type it, the computer translates it into a line space and the typing doesn't show. Clever llittle machines aren't they.
Article posted May 25, 2007 at 04:48 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 299
Article posted April 2, 2007 at 11:21 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 268
The last image I posted would not allow the text to wrap around it as the image in the RAECO article does. To solve this problem you can use the following:
1. At the beginning of your article, type all the following inside sharp brackets: img src="image_url" width="pixels" align="direction"
2. Replace img_url with the image URL copied and pasted in the same way as you did below
3. Replace pixels with the pictures pixels approx 250 pixels per inch. Yep, keep the inverted commas.
4. Replace direction with either left or right depending in which side you want the image to appear.
Article posted April 2, 2007 at 11:21 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 268
Article posted April 2, 2007 at 10:46 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 259
I have just joined Image Shack. You can too if you go to http://imageshack.us. It is here that you can upload images from your computer.
I noticed an option to paste the picture straight into a blog but it didn't work with blogmeister. To save time experimenting try the following -
Once you have uploaded an Image to Image Shack, right click the image in Image Shack, go down to Properties, locate and highlight the image URL and copy it.
Begin your article (ir you can go to one you have already started.) Move the cursor to the beginning of the article and type sharp bracket i.e < and right next to it type img src= then paste the URL in next to the equals sign. Finish it off with another sharp bracket and a space. I am assuming img src stands for Image Source.
To see if it has worked you will need to refresh your class blog page.
Article posted April 2, 2007 at 10:46 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 259
Article posted March 22, 2007 at 12:44 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 260
I never realised how much fun a RAECO workshop could be 8->. Robin is delighting us with his humour and his skills in covering library books. Twelve from our cluster, including 1 honorary member for the day (Jane from Aquinas), are captivated with what is being shared. Having enjoyed a similar course some years ago, I am relishing the chance to catch up with some other tasks on my laptop, all the while keeping on ear open to catch up with any changes. Thank you Robin. This is a proving to be yet another delightful learning experience which will benefit our school communities.
Article posted March 22, 2007 at 12:44 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 260
Article posted March 19, 2007 at 11:58 AM GMT0 •
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Wow I have just uploaded the image of the Nga Tii Roa and me!
These images have to be compressed to less than 65kb (I think). I used MS Picture Manager to do this. Once saved I went into my classblogmeister page, then to Control Panel and way down at the bottom there is an option to upload the images.
1. Class Image will appear in upper LHC of the blog pages of all your students, and all your articles
2. Personal Image will appear in upper right corner of all your blog pages but not your students
Article posted March 19, 2007 at 11:58 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted March 19, 2007 at 11:49 AM GMT0 •
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It is always interesting to have people view your blog and it is great when they add a comment. Some however just quietly visit. It is also interesting to note where the viewers come from and a cluster map can do just that.
Have you thought about adding one to your blog?
Visit the Clustr Map web site. No, it isn't a spelling mistake, clustr is right.Check out:
- Get your own free account.
- Follow Instructions
- Copy the html they tell you to put on your site
- On Blogmeister, go to control panel and paste the html into the “About You” Window
Article posted March 19, 2007 at 11:49 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted March 8, 2007 at 09:59 AM GMT0 •
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Hmm been reflecting on our vision for learning. Check it out at the top of this blog. The Web 2.0 tools fit so well into this. Have you heard th ebuzz about Web 3.0. I wonder how 3.0 is different from 2.0? Oh I hope I never die - There is still so much to learn!
Article posted March 8, 2007 at 09:59 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted February 20, 2007 at 11:30 PM GMT0 •
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To add links i.e. to other classes, use the add links on RHS
Article posted February 20, 2007 at 11:30 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 220
Article posted February 20, 2007 at 11:06 PM GMT0 •
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Am at the second break out session on Classblogmeister. What a great site. Kids would love it. So useful for internet based projects, feedback, connectivity, making links, ownership of learning, responsibility et al.
Article posted February 20, 2007 at 11:06 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 275
About the Blogger An experienced e-learning facilitator, I am eager for teachers to actively engage the power of the web to pursuit the love of active learning. This blog is my practice tool which comes in so handy when working with both students and teachers.
Adding an image at the start of the article allows the text to wrap around it. 
The last image I posted would not allow the text to wrap around it as the image in the RAECO article does. To solve this problem you can use the following: