CCS Tech Workshop - Tuesday, 8/11/15

As Dr. Carpenter specified, teachers in Grades 2-8 will be communicating with students and parents through class blogs. She therefore asked me to help teachers in those grades who are new to blogging to learn the basics of this highly useful communication system. She also asked me to acquaint all teachers with the basics of two other very useful online tools, Google Drive and Dropbox.

In today's workshop teachers of students in Grades 2-8 will therefore focus on Items 1, 2, & 3 below, while 3K-Grade 1 will focus on Items 2 & 3. At Dr. Carpenter's suggestion, I am also making available near the end of the post a collection of Creative Online Tools you might find useful in your instructional activities.

Please don't hesitate to ask questions at any point. We should have plenty of time to help you learn to use these valuable online resources.

1. Blogger

To learn how to blog, we will use the post of a previous workshop I did at CCS. Click here to go to the post. I will walk you through it. An experienced blogger will also assist you.

2. Google Drive

Google Drive is an extremely useful tool, both for personal use and in teaching and learning. It allows you and your students to create, collaborate on, and share a variety of documents, including text, presentation, spreadsheet, and drawing documents. Click here to go to Google Drive. If you are already logged in to Google, you should be taken straight to Google Drive. If you are not logged in, you will be asked to do so.

I will now walk you through some of the basics in using Google Drive.

If after going through the basics you need to review and/or learn even more, click here for an excellent video on using Google Drive. You can also find helpful information at the Google Drive Help site.

Hey, just for grins, here's that video, in case you want to get right to it.



3. Dropbox

Dropbox is a useful site at which you can store files and then access them from any computer. You can also share the files with others whom you specify. Again, I will walk you through the basics, while also providing this video in case you need to review some of the basics. To begin, click here to go to the Dropbox website.

And here's the Dropbox video.



Bonus: As some of you have more experience with some or all of these online tools, I was asked to share a clickable list of Creative Online Tools I have been compiling the last several years. Please look it over and try out some of the links that might be useful.

Thank you for participating in today's workshop. I hope you will be able to make effective use of these various online resources. Please don't hesitate to write or ask me or any other of our colleagues for assistance in the days and weeks ahead.

Blogging Workshop - Wednesday, 8/13/14

Welcome to today's blogging workshop for CCS teachers of Grades 4, 5, & 7. Today we will try to accomplish two main goals:

•  #1 - Set up a blog for you here at Blogger (if you don't already have one) and learn some basic procedures for blogging 
•  #2 - Set up three blogs, one each for 4th, 5th, and 7th Grades - These are the blogs we will share here at CCS during the 2014-2015 school year.

You can begin by clicking here to go to a blog post set up for a workshop held here at CCS back in 2010. Follow the instructions there for Goal #1 above.

Once everyone has a blog set up, we will work on Goal #2 together.

Please don't hesitate to ask for help at any time.

Blogging Workshop: The Basics

Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging! Our main goal today is to help you set up a web log (blog) and learn how it can be used to communicate with your students and their parents. Time permitting, we will also explore other ways you can use blogs for both professional and personal fulfillment. We have plenty of time to cover the basics, so please don't hesitate to ask for assistance at any point during the session.

Please write down the URL for this blog for future reference. http://letusblogtex.blogspot.com. Store the address in a safe place (e.g., your wallet or purse). That way you can return to this blog when you need to review any of the steps. As noted below, you will also be able to use Blogger Help for further assistance. You can also Bookmark this blogpost by pressing Ctrl-D and adding it to your favorites. That stores it only on this computer, though. If you want to get to your bookmarks from any computer, sign up for a free social bookmarking service such as Diigo.

1. Setting Up a Gmail Account (if you don't already have one)
2. Right click here. Click "Open in New Window." Drag your windows side-by-side so you can see these instructions while following the steps at Google.
3. Click on "Create an account."
4. Follow the steps and set up a Gmail account.

5. Creating Your Blog
6. Right click here. Click "Open in New Window."
7. Click on "CREATE A BLOG."
8-14. Follow the step-by-step instructions Blogger gives you.
9. When asked for your email address, enter your Gmail address.
10. Use your Gmail password as your Blogger password.
11. Choose any name you like for your blog. Follow the rest of the steps.
12. Choose a Starter Template. This can be changed later.
13. You will be told that "Your blog has been created!"
14. Click on "START BLOGGING." You will be taken to the Post Editing Box.

15. Writing Your First Post
16. Click on "New Post." This will take you to a Post Editing Box. Write a post Title and then down in the Text Box write anything you like by way of introduction. "Welcome," "Hello, world." "Goodbye, cruel world," etc.
17. Click "PUBLISH."
18. Click "View Blog." Voila! Behold your first post!

19. Editing Your First Post
20. Now let's edit that first post. Click the diagonal orange pencil icon at the end of your first post. This will take you back to the Post Editing Box.
21. Change your wording slightly and then click "PREVIEW" to see how it looks. (I could have told you this for Step #17 above but wanted to keep it simple.) If you like how it looks, go back to the Post Editing Box and click "UPDATE." Click "View Blog" and see if you like the change(s) you made.
22. Click the orange pencil icon again and return to the Post Editing Box.
23. Select a word by double-clicking it. Look up at the Tools Bar (Font--TT--B--I, etc.). Click on "B" to make your selected word bold face. Click on "I" to make it Italic. Click the A for the Text Colors Menu to change the color of the word. Click PUBLISH POST-->View Blog and check your changes. (In the summer of 2010, Blogger started using a newer Tool Bar, so yours might look somewhat different.)

24. Linking - This is magic, man/mama, and one of the most useful aspects of blogging! It allows you to send your visitors all over the World Wide Web to information, pictures, and others sites you want them to see. So here we go. Remember, we're just practicing here. You can go back later and make your links more specifically  useful to your purposes.
25. Go to the Post Editing Box. Select any word(s) by double-clicking it. Look at the Tools Bar and click the Link icon (icon looks like a chain link). A Hyperlink dialog box will appear. Type in the following: http://texids.blogspot.com/ (or any other URL you might want to link to). Click OK to close the dialog box. Click "PUBLISH POST"-->View Blog. Click on the linked word and go to my Texids blog.

26. Adding Pictures - There are a couple of ways of doing this.
26. Go to the Post Editing Box. Look up at the Tool Bar. Click on the Insert Image icon. (Looks like a photo of mountains w/ blue sky.)
27. Method 1: Click Choose File-->My Pictures (or folder in your computer where the picture you want is located)--Double click the picture you want-->OK. The picture should now appear in your Post Editing Box.-->PUBLISH POST-->View Blog.
28. Method 2: In the latest version of Blogger, you can simply copy and paste a picture from the web right into your post. Find a picture online, right click-->Copy Image-->Paste pic into the Post Editing Box.-->PUBLISH POST-->View Blog.

29. Adding a New Post
30. Click "New Post" in the Post Editing Box or at the upper right-hand corner of your blog. "Create Post" will also add a new post.

31. Viewing and Working with Your List of Posts
32. Click "Edit Posts" in the Post Editing Box or in your Dashboard. The Dashboard is what you will usually see when you log in to your blog. You can also see the Dashboard link in the upper right-hand corner of the Text Editing Box. On the Edit Posts page, you will see a list of all your posts in reverse chronological order (from most recent to earliest). As you notice, you can work with them in various ways.

33. Adding Gadgets
34. Either at the top of this Post Editing Box or at the top of your blog (if you're signed in), click "Design."
35. In the column on the right-hand side, click "Add a Gadget."
36. Scroll down and click on "Link List." or click the + sign.
37. Find Title. Type "Useful Links." (Omit quotation marks and period.)
38. Find "New Site URL." Type the link to Christ Church School: http://www.christchurchschooltemple.com/
39. Find "New Site Name." Type "Christ Church School Homepage." (Omit quotation marks and period.)
40. Click "ADD LINK."
41. Click "Save."
42. Click "View Blog."
43. Test the link to see if it works.
44. By the way, you can quickly Copy a URL by hovering over and right-clicking a link-->Copy Shortcut (in Internet Explorer; in Firefox click Copy Link Location). You can then Paste the URL wherever you want it to go. This can save you a lot of time and make sure you get the URL absolutely correct. If you mistype a URL by even one letter, period, number, etc., the link won't work.
45. As you notice when you click "Add Gadget," there are lots and lots of gadgets you can add to your blog. Try out the ones that look interesting to you. Use Blogger Help for additional tips on what they do. (See below.) I found it useful to create a practice blog on which I could try out new things such as gadgets, embeds, etc. See next steps.

46. Creating More Blogs

47. Blogger lets you have more than one blog. Here's how you create more blogs.
48. In your Dashboard, click "New Blog." Follow the steps indicated. Voila! A beautiful newborn
baby blog!
49. As noted above, I like to create an extra blog to practice new techniques I come across.

50. Using Blogger Help
51. Click "Help" in the upper right-hand corner of your Dashboard or Text Editing Box for Blogger Help. Blogger does an excellent job of answering just about any question you might have about using the service.

52. Signing Out and Signing Back In (just to make sure you have the hang of it)
53. Click "Sign out."
54. Then sign back in by typing blogger.com in the address bar, signing in with your Gmail username and password, and getting to your Dashboard.
55. Sign out.

56. Embedding a YouTube Video
57. At the site of the YouTube video you want to use, click Share and Embed.
58. Copy the Embed code of the video. (It should be highlighted in blue once you click "Embed.")
59. In the Post Editing Box of the post you are working on, click HTML.
60. Paste the Embed code in the place where you want it to go.
61. Click Compose. The video should show up as embedded in the post.
62. Publish or continue working on the post until it is completed.


Thank you very much for participating in the Blogging Workshop. We sincerely appreciate your effort and cooperation and hope you will find blogging to be a pleasant and rewarding experience. I strongly encourage you to visit the blogs under "Useful Links" on the upper right-hand side of this page. You will get lots of ideas on how to use your blog(s). It's also rewarding to simply hang out at your own Dashboard, clicking various things, playing around with your blog (especially your practice blog), thereby learning new techniques.

Blogging Workshop - Christ Church School, Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging! Our main goal today is to help you set up a web log (blog) and learn how it can be used to communicate with your students and their parents. Time permitting, we will also explore other ways you can use blogs for both professional and personal fulfillment. We have plenty of time to cover the basics, so please don't hesitate to ask for assistance at any point during the session.

Please write down the URL for this blog for future reference. http://letusblogtex.blogspot.com Store the address in your wallet or purse. That way you can return to this blog when you need to review any of the steps.


1. Setting Up a Gmail Account (if you don't already have one)
2. Right click here. Click "Open in New Window." Drag your windows side-by-side so you can see these instructions while following the steps at Google.
3. Click on "Create an account."
4. Follow the steps and set up a Gmail account.

5. Creating Your Blog - Please note: For today's workshop, a blog has already been created for you. We are leaving these steps here, though, in case you want to set up a personal blog for yourself at some later time. You may now proceed down to Step 15.
6. Right click here . Click "Open in New Window."
7. Click on "CREATE A BLOG."
8-14. Follow the step-by-step instructions Blogger gives you.
9. When asked for your email address, enter your Gmail address.
10. Use your Gmail password as your Blogger password.
11. Choose any name you like for your blog. Follow the rest of the steps.
12. Choose a Starter Template. This can be changed later.
13. You will be told that "Your blog has been created!"
14. Click on "START BLOGGING." You will be taken to the Post Editing Box.

15. Writing Your First Post16. Click on "New Post." This will take you to a Post Editing Box. Write a post Title and then down in the Text Box write anything you like by way of introduction. "Welcome," "Hello, world." "Goodbye, cruel world," etc.
17. Click "PUBLISH POST."
18. Click "View Blog." Voila! Behold your first post!

19. Editing Your First Post
20. Now let's edit that first post. Click the diagonal orange pencil icon at the end of your first post. This will take you back to the Post Editing Box.
21. Change your wording slightly and then click "PUBLISH POST." Click "View Blog" and see if you like the change(s) you made.
22. Click the orange pencil icon again and return to the Post Editing Box.
23. Select a word by double-clicking it. Look up at the Tools Bar (Font--TT--b--i, etc.). Click on "b" to make your selected word bold face. Click on "i" to make it Italic. Click the A for the Text Colors Menu to change the color of the word. Click PUBLISH POST-->View Blog and check your changes.

24. Linking - This is magic, folks, and one of the most useful aspects of blogging! It allows you to send your visitors all over the World Wide Web to information, pictures, and others sites. So here we go. Remember, we're just practicing here. You can go back later and make this more personally useful.
25. Go to the Post Editing Box. Select any word by double-clicking it. Look at the Tools Bar and click the Link icon (icon looks like a chain link). A Hyperlink dialog box will appear. Type in the following: http://texids.blogspot.com/. Click OK to close the dialog box. Click "PUBLISH POST"-->View Blog. Click on the linked word and go to my Texids blog.

26. Adding Pictures - There are a couple of ways of doing this.
26. Go to the Post Editing Box. Look up at the Tool Bar. Click on the Insert Image icon. (Looks like a photo of mountains w/ blue sky.)
27. Method 1: Click Choose File-->My Pictures (or folder in your computer where the picture you want is located)--Double click the picture you want-->OK. The picture should now appear in your Post Editing Box.-->PUBLISH POST-->View Blog.
28. Method 2: In the latest version of Blogger, you can simply copy and paste a picture from the web right into your post. Find a picture online, right click--Copy Image-->Paste pic into the Post Editing Box.-->PUBLISH POST-->View Blog.

27. Adding Gadgets - For the time being you will not be able to do this with your CCS blog. We will therefore omit Steps 27-38 today. If you want to set up a personal blog, though, you can follow these steps later.
28. Either at the top of this Post Editing Box or at the top of your blog (if you're signed in), click "Design."
29. Click "Add a Gadget."
30. Scroll down and click on "Link List." or click the + sign.
31. Find Title. Type "Useful Links." (Omit quotation marks and period.)
32. Find "New Site URL." Type the link to Christ Church School: http://www.christchurchschooltemple.com/
33. Find "New Site Name." Type "Christ Church School Homepage." (Omit quotation marks and period.)
34. Click "ADD LINK."
35. Click "Save."
36. Click "View Blog."
37. Test the link to see if it works.
38. By the way, you can quickly Copy a URL by hovering over and right-clicking a link-->Copy Shortcut. You can then Paste the URL wherever you want it to go. This can save you a lot of time and make sure you get the URL absolutely correctly. If you mistype a URL by even one letter, period, number, etc., the link won't work.

39. Adding a New Post
40. Click "New Post" in the Post Editing Box or at the upper right-hand corner of your blog. "Create Post" will also add a new post.

41. Viewing and Working with Your List of Posts
42. Click "Edit Posts" in the Post Editing Box or in your Dashboard. The Dashboard is what you will usually see when you log in to your blog. You can also see the Dashboard link in the upper right-hand corner of the Text Editing Box.

43. Using Blogger Help
44. Click "Help" in the upper right-hand corner of your Text Editing Box for Blogger help. Blogger does an excellent job of answering just about any question you might have about using the service.

45. Rewriting Your Original Post
46. Rewrite your original post as a welcome to your class and class blog here at Christ Church School. Write some words of welcome and give a preview of some of the subject material and learning activities your students will be doing this year. Point out that parents and students will be able to visit your blog and read weekly reviews of what you all are studying and doing in class.
47. Include a picture and a link (for example, to the Christ Church School website. Mrs. Alwine will read and approve your post before you leave.
48. Delete any other posts you might have written. This way, your blog will be ready for viewing by anyone visiting it.

48. Signing Out and Signing Back In (just to make sure you have the hang of it)
49. Click "Sign out."
50. Then sign back in by typing blogger.com in the address bar, signing in with your Gmail username and password, and getting to your Dashboard.
51. Sign out.

Thank you very much for participating in the Blogging Workshop. We sincerely appreciate your effort and cooperation and hope you will find blogging to be a pleasant and rewarding experience. I strongly encourage you to visit the blogs under "Useful Links" on the upper right-hand side of this page. You will get lots of ideas on how to use your blog(s). It's also rewarding to simply hang out at your own Dashboard, clicking various things, playing around with your blog (and especially your practice blog), and thereby learning new techniques.