Publishing a Google Drawing to your Blog

Publishing a Google Drawing to your blog

1. In your drawing, click File > Publish to the Web
2. Choose ‘Embed’, and then copy html text from the box  (your screen may not look like this but have the publish button bright blue. If this happens, just click on the blue publish button and then you will see this screen.)
3. Go to your blog and create a new post
4. Click the ‘HTML’ button and then paste the html coding text into the blog post
5. Click back on the ‘Compose’ button and WALAH!  there is your picture!

**If you need to change the size of your picture, click on it when you are in the editing blog post screen, and choose the size you want and the position on the screen.

Yes!

Google Translate & Your Blog

Did you know you can add a simple button to your blog that will make a world of difference to our international students and their parents?  Here's how.

Go to your blog settings by clicking on 'Design' at the top of your blog.

Click on 'Layout' on the left side column.

Click on 'Add a Gadget' in whichever area you wish your gadget to appear.

Scroll through the options until you find 'Translate'  (This is a good time to remind you to add 'Follow by Email' if you haven't yet, so that your parents can receive emails when you post on your blog - it's in the same list)

Choose 'Translate' and then decide which of the three options you want on your blog.  You can go back and change this later if you prefer a different look.  Then click 'Save'.

Click 'Save arrangement' on the top of the Layout screen.

This is what it will look like on your blog home page.

And this is what it will look like when you click on your chosen language.  It's magic!  

Turn your blog into a book

Here's one way of how to turn your blog into a book.

http://www.theedublogger.com/2015/06/01/turning-your-edublog-into-a-book/

Authentic Audience

Today our class blog received a comment from one of the children's grandparents in South Africa!  It is exciting to see family members around the world reading about and seeing pictures and videos of what we are doing in our classroom.  http://room3twentyfifteen.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/michelangelo-art.html 

A Year 3 class in our school has created a buddy blog with a class in Australia.  They have each posted their first posts.  It is very exciting to see how the teachers and children are able to use blogger to share learning outside of their own classroom walls.
http://ourfriendsacrosstheditch.blogspot.co.nz/

Finalist!!

I am excited to be a finalist in Interface Magazine's Best Class Blog category for my 2014 classroom blog, Mrs Nichol's Acorns.   I started this blog for the 2014 school year to share my Year One students' learning and the daily activities in our classroom. My personal inquiry this year was how to make the use of ICT purposeful in the classroom. I have used my classroom blog and this PD blog as part of my inquiry. It's been a great year of learning! 

Voting is open until 19 November, so please click on this link to go vote.  Thanks!

InstaweatherPro app

I am using the InstaweatherPro app in my Year One class with the iPad.  The children work in partners to independently post about the day's weather.  Together they take a photo outside (they must include the sky) using the iPad. They save the photo to the camera roll and then use the Blogger app to upload the photo into our class blog, add a title and labels.  It's been a great addition to our elearning in the classroom.  The children are learning how to take a good photograph and it also creates great conversation about the weather, forecasting, how it affects our planned activities, etc.  The children love it and can't wait for their turn to come up!

Blogging on whatever is handy

Children are so tech savvy theses days. They used my iPhone to take a photo and then write a blog together. I love it! (and you have to admit, it is pretty cute to see 6 year olds working away on an iphone)  Here is the blog post that they wrote together.

My favourite Thing is..... By Anna

 i Like to play with my friends. their

 names are Charlotte and London .On the silver monkey bars we can swing on them.They are very steady. They are also vey big. We can swing on them and do flips too.I am learning to go onto the top of the monkey bars. BY ANNA

(A blog post photographed and written independently by a Year One student using an iPad)

Soccer field

 I  like soccer because I'm good and  I got  into the rep team.  I got a coat to show that we're in the rep team too and we're going to have a tournament.  I am versing my friend Nathan and he is in Bucklands Beach rep team and i think that he will win and i think i will win too.  By Albie

(A blog post photographed and written independently by a Year One student)

Blogging with Year Four students

Working with Year Four students today teaching them how to blog on the iPads. 

Linking Student Blogs to Your Blog

If you wish to link your students' blogs to your classroom blog you can do so with one of the gadgets.  This gadget will put links to each of your student's blogs on the front page of your blog.  As your students write a post, it will feed a snapshot of it to your blog.  This is beneficial for people who read your blog to be able to view what your students are learning and sharing.

Go to the blogger dashboard.

Go to Layout.

Click on 'Add a Gadget'

Choose 'Blog List'

Title your Blog List.  Choose how you want the blogs sorted and what you want shown.  Add your students' blogs by clicking on 'Add a blog to your list' and then enter the URL for the blog. Continue until you've added all of your class blogs.  Save when done.  Your students' blogs should now be visible on your classroom blog page.

Blogging with Year 3 students

Today 3 children from each Year 3 class came to learn how to blog on their iPads. They will take their new knowledge back to their classrooms to teach others. 

Creating Another Blog

Now that you have one blog up and going, many people are interested and ready to start a second blog, whether it be for their own personal inquiry as a place to gather evidence and information, or if it is to be a blog for a club that you are leading.

Go to your google account and click on the square of 9 dots.  

Click on 'More' and go to 'Blogger'.  

Click on 'New Blog' 

 

Choose a name for your new blog and a web address. If this is to be your private Professional Development blog, you may even like to use your full name.  As it will only be viewable by the select people you choose, no one will be able to access it unless you give them permission.  After you have created your new blog with your new URL, it is time to change the settings.  

To change the privacy go to Blogger Dashboard > Settings > Basic > Permissions > Blog Readers - Edit

There are three options for who your blog readers can be.  Decide which setting you'd like.  For it to be completely private, except for those you invite, choose the bottom setting: 'Private - Only these readers'.  This is where you will add the email addresses of those you want to allow permission to view.  You may need to go back here at a later date to allow others access.

Don't forget to change your other settings:  time zone, sharing on google+.  Click on the phrase to link to a previous post for instructions.

Adding Pages to Your Blog

To add pages to your blog go to your dashboard and click on Pages in the left column.  Then click on 'New Page'.

Give your new page a title and 'Publish'.  Repeat this process until you have all the pages that you want.

Next go to Layout.  Choose 'Add Gadget' and then select 'Pages' 

Once you've added this gadget you can arrange and rearrange the order of your pages as you see fit.

You can also choose to have the list down the side of your blog or across the top to display as tabs by going back to layout and dragging the gadget up to a long horizontal 'add gadget' area or to a small, side 'add gadget' area.

These would be the basic steps that would be unique to setting up a second blog, a private blog, and adding pages.  The other parts of blogging would be the same - posting, photos, links, template.

Have fun!

Adding a YouTube movie to your blog

To insert a YouTube video to your blog:
Find the video you want to insert from YouTube.
Below the video you will see the option to 'Share'. Click on this option.  Choose 'Embed'.  Copy the code that appears in the box.

 

Go to the blog post you are writing.  Choose where in the post you want to insert the video.  Once you're in the right spot, click on the HTML button in the top right corner.

When you are in the HTML portion of your blog, you paste the code that you copied from the YouTube video.  Then click back on the Compose button.  Your movie should appear.  You can now finish your blog as per usual.

Disabling the Automatic sharing on Google+

When you set up your blog it is defaulted to automatically share your blog posts with your Google+ contacts via email notifications.  To disable this do the following:

Go to your blogger dashboard

On the left side of the dashboard click on the Google+ tab  

Choose which box you'd like to use.  You can click to disable the boxes by clicking on the ticked one.  If you want to automatically share all of your posts leave the top one ticked.  If you want to be asked before sharing, select the middle box.  Don't choose the last box.  :D

You don't need to 'save' anywhere on this screen.  What you choose will be saved for your blog.  Hope that helps.

Inserting a Picasa Web Slideshow into a blog post

Here are instructions on how to insert a Picasa Web album into a blog post.

Go to Picasa Web
Click on the 'My Photos' tab

Choose the desired album, making sure that permissions are public.
You can change this where it says 'edit'.

Next click on 'Link to this album'

Next click on 'Embed Slideshow'

A pop up window will open.  On this window you choose the size of slideshow you want.  'Large' is easier to see and fits nicely in most blog templates.  Once you've chosen your settings you click on the box with the code in it.  Copy this code.

Then go back to your blog post.  Click on the 'HTML' button.  This will take you into the coding section - don't fear, it's not that scary in there - :D
Simply paste the code that you just copied right in this section.  Make sure it's after whatever you may have been typing in your blog.  After you've pasted it, click back on the 'Compose' button.

Save / preview / publish your post and you should see your slideshow.

Good luck and have fun trying something new!

Here is my sample slideshow.

Blogging with Year Six Students

Getting the students ready for blogging while we are on our visit to Mitcham School in Melbourne.  

Blogging with Year Ones

Term One PD

In Term One 2014 the eLearning Team have provided numerous opportunities for PD for the staff.  On Teacher Only Day in January, we had a whole staff session providing differentiated PD for staff on Google Apps for Education.  Basic instruction in Google Docs and Gmail was available for those wanting to learn the basics.  A bit more advanced was available for those who were already familiar with the basics and were ready for more.  A session on how to set up a Google site and a blog was provided for teachers ready to explore using these tools for sharing their students' learning and classroom activities.

Throughout the term, extra PD has been provided on Friday mornings before school.  These sessions are run by the eLearning team each taking two weeks to share their knowledge on an area of eLearning.  Attendance at these PD sessions is voluntary and available to any staff who are interested. Also during the term there have been two after school sessions provided for teachers who would like to set up a google site and blog.

Notes and instructions for most of the sessions have been posted on this PD blog and can be found by searching the labels.

Creating Google Sites and Blogs with Cheryl

Teachers learnt how to set up their own google site with links to resources, websites, photo galleries and a class blog.  They have also learnt how to blog from their ipads, smart phones and computers.

Getting Googley with Ryan.  

Google basics and more.  Learning how to put our documents in folders, work within gmail, create google docs, presentations, draw and much more.

Going crazy with QR Codes with Sarah.  
Learning how to create QR codes and link them to websites such as Youtube movies, books, authors, theme etc.  The resources the teachers make are being collected on our Staff Disk to be shared with all of the staff.

Incredible iMovies with Rebekah
Teachers will learn how to use their iPads and the iMovie app to create exciting movies that document students' learning.  Once the teachers are familiar with how easy it is to make a movie, they will be able to share this with their students so that their students can produce their own movies to share their learning.  Movies can easily be uploaded to Youtube and shared with parents and the global community.  Linking our Youtube movies to a QR code will enable us to share our learning around the school.  We are excited about the potential available with this eLearning tool!

Going Green screen with Mellini
Our school has a green screen and video equipment that is currently used by the news team.  Any staff who are interested in trying it out with their students are welcome to attend this session to learn how to use the green screen for their own productions.