Great job bloggers! We have seen some amazing designs and themes emerging from all of you. Now, the last step in the Design
Phase is to create your reflection #2 blog post where you will evaluate
the different design mock-ups that you came up with. Step 1. Write your 4-5 paragraph reflection:
What theme has emerged from your designs? How does this theme relate to or represent you?
For each blog template mock-up:
explain the choices you made
compare how this design measures up to:
your design specifications (from your Reflection #1)
functional blog requirements (your sketch)
aesthetic design elements (color, photo, graphic design)
Select your final design and justify your choice by validating against your specifications and other design options.
Step 2. Add your screen capture images from your Picasa Web Album into the relevant paragraphs of your reflection.
Here's the fun part! How can we create aesthetically pleasing designs by incorporating a variety of design elements? We will focus on answering this question over the next few classes and in the end have a number of design mock-ups to select from. STEP 1. The Color Wheel
a.
Create Mock-up #1 applying elements of the color wheel discussed in
class (hue, shade, tint, color relationships: monochromatic, analogous,
complimentary, etc.) to your background.
c.
To edit background: Template --> Customize --> Background
(select a color theme) or Advanced (to customize each section of your
blog)
d. Take a screen capture of this design #1 and upload to your Picasa Web Album.
e. Add a caption with brief explanation of your color choice.
STEP 2. Photographs
a. Create Mock-up #2 applying a photograph to your background that uses rule of thirds.
b.
To edit background: Template --> Customize --> Background -->
Background Image (look through gallery of photograph categories OR take
and upload your own photo).
c. Take a screen capture of this design #2 and upload to your Picasa Web Album.
e. Add a caption with brief explanation of your photograph choice.
STEP 3. Graphic Design
a. Create Mock-up #3 applying graphic design elements discussed in class (color relationship, line, vector-shape,stroke-outline, patterns.
b.
To edit background: Template --> Customize --> Background -->
Background Image (look through gallery* with graphic designs or
create/upload your own.)
Well, here we go! We've spent time understanding what makes a good blog and have identified the criteria we'll use to measure its success. Now, we are ready to formulate our designs!
First step is to determine how your blogs will function. What will be the features on your blog and where will they go? As you answer these questions, think about a theme that may be emerging in your design.
STEP 1.Sketch out your FUNCTIONAL design layout incorporating the minimum elements we discussed in class: Minimum Functional Blog Requirements:
Appropriate Blog URL, Title and Description What is the best possible URL, title, description to best match your blog theme?
Navigation/Menu Bar Where will your menu be located on your page? What will be included in your menu? What order will you place each menu item?
Appropriate and Functional Gadgets/Widgets What
widgets will be included? Where will you place them and in what order?
Remember to ask yourself what purpose will the widget serve?
Author Bio Page How will you incorporate your bio/About Me information? Will you include as part of your menu? Design in a separate page?
Optional: Banner This is an optional element. If you include, sketch out an idea of the design.
STEP 2. Refer back to your Investigate Reflection
at the FIVE criteria you identified. Are there any other requirements
you identified here that you may need to include in your functional
layout?
• Example
(discussed in class): If one criteria you identified was the ability to
search your blog, this would be an additional requirement that you need
to include in your sketch.
According to Wikipedia, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities.
Avatars are fun to make and can provide us with an alternative for posting pictures or images of ourselves online
There
are lots of great avatar making websites out there. Some of them
require you to pay and create accounts. Some incorporate content I
don't necessarily fell is appropriate. So... we'll use the following
websites today to make ours:
Everyone ready to get started with their first blog post?!?!
This
is the final task of the investigation phase of this portion of the
project. On your blog, you'll be completing a reflection using the
three tasks you've participated in leading up to this.
In
your first blog post, you'll be typing out your reflection answers to
the following group of questions that will clue us in to what you have
learned so far during this project and how you intend to use your blog
to answer our unit question.
How
can we use our blogs to share our ideas online (in a responsible and
safe manner) in order to have a positive effect on our community and
ourselves?
How
will you use what you have learned to make an excellent blog that is
personalized to you and represents you and your learning at Le Jardin
Academy?
Which 5 of the class criteria are most important to you? Why?
How
do you plan on making sure that your blog meets these 5 criteria and
how do you plan on testing your blog to gauge your success?
Identify Criteria
Why is this criteria
important?
How will the criteria be
tested?
Example:
Relevant Content
-
content should be related to the overall purpose of the blog so readers can
relate to the topic and able to easily engage through comments/feedback.
-
review statistics on comparing number of hits vs. number of comments
-
create a survey that will be linked from blog OR add a "like"
function to the blog post
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
etc.
To earn a 5 – 6, make sure:
You have included a complex and detailed reflection.
You have included many excellent details and specifics relating to your project.
Remember:
Your reflection should include at least 4-5 paragraphs.
Your reflection should be published on your blog.
You reflection should include only answers, not the questions.
Each paragraph should be written so the reader can understand the question (without including the question).
You are writing for an audience that may not be in our class, make sure to describe things so that anyone could understand.
In
class we'll discuss some of the formatting choices you'll need to make
to complete this assignment including linking to the documents you've
been working on, correctly labeling the post and...
Congratulations of starting your brand new blog! In no time we'll be posting amazing content, sharing our ideas and connecting with others from around the globe. To get us started, we'll need some basic working knowledge of the Blogger platform. To help you along, we've created a set of Worksheets that should clue you into the features and options that Blogger has to offer. We've even created a set of video tutorials to better help you find the main areas of your blog that you can modify and customize to better reach your intended audience.
As you experiment with your blog, try changing some of the template and layout settings to see what effect it has on the look of your blog. Try adding in a few important links you think would be helpful and useful such as link back to this blog or to Managebac. See if you can make a simple "Welcome to My Blog" post with a label or two. If you find something neat, don't forget to share it with the rest of us!
Homework:
Your task is to finish the Intro to Blogger Worksheet Packet by filling in all the boxes with information about the highlighted features. Be sure to ask your self, "What is the function or purpose of this tool? and How will this tool help my readers have a better user experience?"
Don't forget to view the "Practice" band on the rubric for this assignment so you know what your goal is for this task.
Blogs allow us to share our ideas, perspectives and the things we love with the world! Each of us is unique and our blogs should reflect what makes us who we are. Chances are, there are others out there in the world who share your interests and would benefit from your knowledge and participation in the global conversation. Blogging helps us to grow by strengthening our collaboration and communication skills through the connections we make with others.
Your blog is an opportunity to share your take on the world, however, as we've learned in class there's certain information that's not appropriate to share online, especially in a space when anyone in the world can see it. When posting to our blog or giving feedback on someone's comments we should remember the messages we learned from the videos we discussed in class.
Your job is to determine what information is interesting and appropriate to share with your global audience. Before we begin blogging, we'll focus on following a set of blogging guidelines developed by our blogging partners at YIS in Yokohama, Japan. These guidelines will ensure that we don't end up like the students in the videos linked above.
To help us generate ideas for what topics we'll be posting on, we will be creating idea maps using Google Draw. These idea maps should be well organized and easy to understand as we'll be posting them to our blog in the near future!
To complete your brainstorm for homework:
Continue to finish the mind map we started in class to demonstrate you thoughts on what your blog will be about. You can include ideas on what your hobbies are, what sports and activities you participating in, what you like learning about and what you're experiencing in your classes. Be sure to make your idea map match the rubric by drawing out clear, well-organized and detailed idea branches. You should use a variety of formatting and grouping techniques to ensure that the map is easy to read and understand. The more detail you provide on your ideas, the better. Organizing your ideas in a theme related to your blogging ideas is a great idea too!
Due Dates:
7-Pink: Oct. 4th - N Day
7-Purple: Oct. 4th - N Day
7-Yellow: Oct. 5th - J Day
To earn a 5 – 6 on the rubric, make sure:
You have created a complex and detailed map.
Your map is exceptionally well organized.
Your map utilizes a variety of formatting tools to make it clear and easy to understand.
If you're looking for some inspiration, check out these amazing examples at work:
8th Grader Tiana (Here use of color and balance makes her information easy to read and understand.) 7th Grader Chris (Do you notice he's beginning to create a theme that matches his interests?) 7th Grader Claire (Her idea map is very balanced and makes a good use of color and organization.) 6th Grader Mahea (Her idea map is very complex and detailed! She has a technique with color too!)
