Working+with+Blogger

You will be using the **blog** you created in Primary School to document your Secondary School experiences.

Your blog will act as your **Reflection Journal** and more.

You will need to ensure that you have filled in a Google Form with the details of your blog.You will be asked to sign in to your abc-net Google account to access it.

toc 6th grade please fill in this Google Form. 7th grade please fill in this Google Form, if you haven't already done so.

__It is important that you complete this step so that your teachers have a record of your blog and you have a backup of your information in case you forget it.__

=Creating a Blog= Please watch this short video on how to create a **blog**.

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=Lesson 1: Working with Posts and Pages= You will work mostly with pages on your blog. However, there may be times when you would like to collect ideas and examples of work together on a page. For example you will be creating a **My Learning** page this school year in which you will include examples of your work which you wish to share and comment on over the course of the school year.

Please watch the following videos to learn how to create **posts** and **pages**.
 * ==Posts== || ==Pages== ||
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Customising your Blog
You can customise your by selecting it from the dashboard.

Comments
First, click on settings and select Posts and Comments.

Next Click on Comment Moderation. Select one of the options from the Who can comment section. Remember that Anyone opens comments to the world, however you can still maintain control over any comments made. Select Always for comment moderation. If you would prefer your ICT teacher to moderate your comments, add their email address to the Comment Moderation field. Make sure you have ticked alway. This way you can receive comments on your blog and ensure that you retain control over them.

Templates
You May want to change the **default template** of your blog. Do so by clicking on Template. Try out a different templates until you have one you like. If you plan on placing content in the sidebar of your blog, you will need to ensure you choose a template with a sidebar.

Layout and Gadgets
Gadgets allow you to add content to different areas of you blog. When you click on **Layout** you will see the layout of your blog and the editable spaces. A search box can be a very useful gadget to add to your blog as it allows users to search the blog for labels that you have applied to your posts. There are plenty of **Gadgets** to choose from. Adding Gadgets is easy. For example, if I wanted to add a poll to my blog this is what I would do. Search for it in the Add Gadget menu. Select the Gadget. Click the Plus button to open up the menu. Add the question and answers, open and close dates and save it. You can reorganise the gadgets in the layout view by dragging them to a new position.

Lesson 2: Ad ditional Content
As mentioned earlier on, we will be using the blog for different activities including your **digital portfolio**.
 * You will need to create a page in your blog and entitle it **2013-14**.
 * You will then look over the work you have done this school year, so far and select pieces of work to add to this page.


 * __ First however, you will add your teacher as a member of your blog. __**

** Task 1 **
Next click on
 * 1) Go to settings in the sidebar.

and add your teacher.

Here are the teacher email addresses. Be careful to type the correctly. Once you begin typing they should appear for you automatically. If not type the email address out or copy and paste from this screen. jennifergarcia@abc-net.edu.sv rodrigoalfaro@abc-net.edu.sv



Click the invite authors button and you are done.

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Task 2
**You need to think carefully about what you want to add to your digital portfolio.** **The purpose of a portfolio is to share evidence of your learning by creating a collection of your work, over a period of time.**
 * You should reflect or comment on the work you place in your portfolio
 * Your portfolio should be carefully organised so that you can share your best work easily with others.
 * The work you share in your portfolio must be your own. You can include group work, but you must give credit to the other members of your group.
 * The work you include should be your best work, or a piece of work you would like to reflect on or critique.
 * You will probably edit your portfolio many times while you are in the Secondary school, by adding, deleting and reflecting on your work.
 * Remember that your blog is a public site, so you will want to avoid anything too personal, like photos of yourself, or any personal information that could link your online persona to your real self.

Adding Content Video Click on the Video Icon.


 * From your computer**




 * From YouTube**




 * Other Options**




 * Embedding Code**
 * Switch to HTML view.
 * Copy and paste the code into the text box.
 * Switch back to Compose view.



Uploading Images
Click the image icon.

Select your file.



=I Don't Know What to Add?= If you are not sure what to add to your blog. Think about a book you have read recently.
 * 1) Use a Google Advanced Search for content licensed for reuse and sharing, for an image of the book or the author.**Google Advanced  Search is one of the easiest ways to locate content that you can reuse and share or reuse and modify. **
 * 2) Be careful, sometimes content that appears in these searches is still copyrighted! Someone else may have grabbed it without permission from the original website and added it to their blog or site. You will need to add a hyperlink to the image you select that takes the reader back to the page the image comes from. Copy and Paste the URL to do this (command/c or flag/c) * the flag is the windows start key on the pc keyboards.

How to perform a Google Advanced Search
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Adding a Voki to your blog
You are to create a talking avatar to introduce your digital portfolio. If you are under 13 years old, you will not need a Voki account for this. Instead, go to the Voki site and click on create. Be aware that any unfinished work will not be saved. If you are 13 or older, you have the option of creating an account at Voki, which will allow you to save your unfinished work.

Next you will see a screen similar to the one below, with a default character in it. You can choose a different character and edit it by using the Customize Your Character button.

Once you have found the look for your Voki, click DONE. Notice that you can also use existing backgrounds as well as upload your own and choose player colours.




 * Next you will need to record, upload or type in the message you have prepared.**




 * There are different ways to do this, but for this activity we will type our messages in to the text box.** ** You can view your Voki by using the play button in the Voki player. **


 * Copy and paste this message and fill in the blanks please. **


 * 6th Grade Voki Lesson: **


 * Hello, welcome to my blog. **


 * I started this blog in Primary school and will continue throughout KS3. **


 * In my blog you will find examples of: **










 * I hope you _________ reading my blog and consider becoming a follower. I will update it every _______. So do check back. **


 * Once you are finished creating your Voki message, you will need to click on publish.**





(command c on a Mac and control c on a Windows machine)
 * Click on the code and copy it.**

Go to your blog Layout and add a Text Widget to the sidebar.

Paste the Voki code into this text box and save the arrangement.