Creating a Classroom Webpage

Creating a Classroom Webpage :

Introductory Course

Ready for Training

Using Teacher Pages

Launch Firefox. This is the recommended browser you should use.

Go to http://greenwichschools.org/admin Log in as directed. This will take you to the “Dashboard” page. Please click on the “Change Your Password” link at the top left under “My Account.” Change your password to your regular alphanumeric password you normally use.

Now click on the “Unpublished” tab at the top right. Welcome to your website!

HOME PAGE:

Your Pages:

Each site contains one home page, where you may place a picture, information about yourself, or an overview of class policies and procedures, and one or more subject pages (“classroom pages”).

Editing Your Home Page:

To edit the space on your Home page, click on the tiny orange “e” in the top right corner of the beige space (look under the down arrow next to “QUICKLINKS”). Type your information in the popup window and SAVE. If your changes don’t appear, click the refresh button at the top. Once you have saved the changes in the editing window, click “Save” at the top of your page to save the page.

Editing Your Classroom Page:

Click on your first subject page under “Home” in the left side navigation bar.

Each classroom page has four components: overview, bulletin board, calendar, and classroom resources

To use the overview:

·  Click the classroom overview and then click on pencil icon to open up the Final Site Quick Editor. Type in a brief overview of your class (2-3 sentences).

To use the bulletin board:

·  To use the bulletin board - Click “new post” - type in a message for the week or other special message.

o  The pencil icon edits a post.

o  The red x deletes the post.

o  Posts are dated and added to the top of your bulletin if you decide to keep several.

To use the calendar:

·  Use the calendar to post homework or events.

·  Click on “edit” to begin.

·  To add an event to an existing calendar – click on the link on top that says “ ADD NEW EVENT”

A new window will open for you to complete with your event OR homework. You’ll need to complete the Event Title, Date, Event Notes and Event Detail. ALWAYS scroll down and click on the red “Save Event” button at the bottom!

· 
Use the General Settings tab to create new calendar keys. Type the name of the event (i.e. text or exam) and then assign it a color.

·  Then when adding an event, you may color code it. Click on General Settings to add another category to your calendar, i.e., Field Trip. SAVE your settings.

Calendar Views & Tools:

From the classroom webpage, click on “view entire calendar”.

Calendar Views :

Your calendar can be displayed in a day, week, month or year view by clicking the appropriate links in the top left toolbar. You can also choose a grid view.

In addition, the month and year views can be displayed in either a list or grid format by clicking the appropriate icon.

Calendar Event Search

Search all calendar events that match one or more keywords.

Export to Excel or vCal

Export calendar events to MS Excel or vCal format for importing into other calendar applications.

Calendar Help This is the question mark icon.To Use Classroom Resources

Classroom resources can be used to attach files, images and include external links to resources. Follow the information for using the Quick Editor to insert hyperlinks, upload images and files.

If you are attaching files – you might want to first create a new folder with the “Unit” information.

Once you have a folder, click on it, and you can add a resource by clicking on the button “new resource”.

You will see the Resource Editor screen where you will fill in:

Resource Title

Notes

Check “archive” if you’d like for something to not be visible on the website but do not want to delete it from the website server.

Choose a tab – Link – File – Content as appropriate.

Choose LINK:

External web link = any address on the web outside of our own website.

Internal site page = link to any internal page within the website – great way to share resources.

Choose FILE:

Upload a document – worksheet, .pdf, etc. to the server. Click on browse and navigate to your desktop. Choose the file and upload.

Choose CONTENT:

To use HTML to post information. (Only for the “purist” among you).

Review your Page(s) and Tools

PUBLISHING YOUR PAGE(S)

To publish your page, make sure you have saved your changes in the appropriate window. Then click the orange “Save” button in the top left corner of your screen. Once that disappears, click the orange “P” to publish. Choose the page or pages in the pop-up box that you want to publish. Click on the red “Publish Selected” button at the bottom of the box, and Voila! You are officially in business.

Customize Your Calendar: Getting Homework Online

The calendar can be customized to display events tailored to the student’s classes and interests.

For example, students can choose their teacher’s calendars and create a customized homework calendar. Once this process is done once – a cookie is set to the machine and the settings will be remembered at any machine in the school. At home, the same process should be also followed once.

To access the customize option – users should start with their school homepage and click on “Academics” and then the “EMS Homework Calendar.”

Then find the CHECK MARK in the upper right-hand corner.

.

Click on “Classroom Calendars.”

Click on “find classroom calendars.”

BE SURE TO SAVE YOUR SETTINGS WHEN YOU ARE DONE.

Remember to bookmark your student’s teachers’ web pages, and check them regularly.

Using Images – Notes for the Advanced User

In order to add images to your website, you’ll need to prepare and save the image to your hard drive.

SPECIAL NOTE ON COPYRIGHT: Be sure to obtain permission to use images if they are copyrighted. Always cite and give credit to images if they are not copyright-free or original. Please visit the Digital Images and Copyright website at http://www.2learn.ca/copyright/images.html for specifics on obtaining permission.

Copyright-Free Images/Graphics on the Web

(Most images in these collections are public domain or free for educational purposes – however, be sure to check permissions to follow guidelines).

U.S. Government Graphics and Photos

http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml

Yotophoto
http://yotophoto.com

Find free photos – includes search for public domain or free usage photos and images. Most images require providing credit to photographer or illustrator.

Creative Commons Images

http://creativecommons.org

Flexible copyright licenses for creative works including audio, images, and video.

Educational Clip art

http://www.wisegorilla.com/clipart.html

Free clip art by subject-area.

Discovery School Clip Art

http://school.discovery.com/clipart/

FINAL NOTE: Original illustrations or photos are the most effective and provide interest to sites.

COPY AN IMAGE LOCATION FROM THE WEB:

Hold down on the image with your mouse and control key. You should see a drop-down menu that provides an option to the save the image.

Choose “COPY IMAGE LOCATION” option.

SAVE AN IMAGE FROM THE WEB:

Upon saving the image, be sure to change the name to something you recognize but keep the extension as part of the name (.jpg). Hence, for an image of a calculator - change the name to calculator.jpg. To keep your files organized, save the image into a folder called “Pictures”.

INSERT IMAGE INTO YOUR WEB PAGE:

From the Quick Editor, access the Insert Picture button.

Paste the IMAGE LOCATION into Image URL box.

Upload Saved Image

Navigate to your “pictures” file, select the picture and select the picture you’d like to insert.

Media Services Page 1 9/7/06