Want to communicate with parents of an entire class?

Ever wish you could talk to all the parents in a class at the same time, perhaps to announce a change in policy, or to let them know about something that happened in class?

Edline gives you that ability. When you’re in the home page for a class, look on the lower left part of your screen and click on “Send email.” Then click on “select all” and down at the bottom “send email.” You’ll get to choose if you want this to go to just parents, just students, or both. Then you’ll have the opportunity to write your email. The editor is plain vanilla – no bold, italics, or bullet points – but you can get a message sent. A copy of your email will be sent to your email address as well, so you have a record of it.

A few caveats:

• · Be sure to remember to include a subject line.
• · Be sure to include a signature (unlike in a normal email program, one won’t be added automatically.)
• · If you copy and paste from Word, formatting disappears – including spacing between paragraphs – so be sure to check through the email to make sure you like the spacing before you send it.

You could also use this feature this to communicate with individual parents, simply by selecting just their names when you first start this process.

Edline, Internet tools | Comment (0)

Sharing files between school and home

Sharing files between school and home

                Do you ever start working on a test, or a new unit plan, at school, and then want to continue using it at home?  Or vice versa.

                Some of us email documents – or spreadsheets, or PowerPoint presentations –  back and forth (as attachments).  But there is another way using Edline.  This might be handy if you are having trouble with your email account.

                After you’ve logged into Edline, look for My File Locker, in the top left corner of the screen.

                When you click on “My File Locker,” you’ll get to the usual Edline screen where you can “Add a document,” just like you do for many other Edline functions.  Click on Add, then give the document a title.  Scroll down to “Import an existing file” and click on Browse.  Find the file on your computer and click on “Import.,” You’ll see the file name showing (so if you picked the wrong one, you can delete and start over).  If this is the right file, click  on “Save and return.” 

                You’ll see that the file (as the document name you used, not the file name) is displayed. 

                Later, when you’re at the other computer you want to work on, you can go to “My File Locker” and click on the document to work on it.

                One of the tiresome features of Edline is that it doesn’t like Office 2007 documents/spreadsheets/PowerPoints.  This is true here, too.  When you try to open the file, if it’s in the Office 2007 format, you’ll get an error message (even though both computers have Office 2007 on them).  But all is not lost; simply save the document and then open it, which will work just fine.  Or you can just save all your documents/spreadsheets, etc. as “Word 1997-2003 document,” which you have to do if you plan to post it on Edline, anyway. 

                This is also a handy way for students to transfer files without having to go into their personal email accounts, where they then have to read and forward the 42 joke chain-letters they’ve just received…  

How to add internet activities to Edline

• 1. Decide on activities which you want students to do and write them up in Word. (You can use Excel, also.) (See “Using the Internet to Teach” for ideas. Copies are available at http://www.teacherweb.com/CT/stbernardschool/mrslo/photo6.stm )
• 2. Include internet addresses in your document. The best way to be sure you get the address right is to highlight the URL (the address shown at the top of the page when you are in the Internet), and copy it (CTRL + C, which means hold down the CTRL key while you press the C key). Then paste it into your document (one way is to click where you want the material added, then press CTRL + P ).

•3.       Save your document as a Word 97 to 2003 document.  If you forgot, just go back and do a  

Save As and be sure to select Word 97 to 2003 document (an option given either immediately or as part of the Save dialog    - if there click on the “Save as type” line at the bottom, and choose” Word 97-2003 document.”  

Remember that Edline doesn’t know how to handle Word 2007 documents yet.  Hint: When I know that I am going to upload a document, I save it to my desktop so that I don’t have to navigate down through folders to find it.

My apologies to Rich for invading his turf. 

• 4. Log into your Edline account, select the class you want to use, click on Assignments (or on Edit next to Contents if you haven’t added an Assignment yet). Click on “Add” to add a new Assignment.
• 5. Under Document Title type in what you want to call the assignment.
• 6. Under Add Content, click on “Import an existing file.” You will be given the choice to Import Existing File. Click on Browse to find your Word document, created earlier. Be sure to click on the one with the correct format – it has a .DOC extension, not a .DOCX extension at the end of the name. Click on Import.
• 7. Under Multiple Postings, add other classes you may want to have this same assignment.
• 8. Click on Save and Return. That’s it.

Basics of Creating a PowerPoint Presentation

Your personal cheat-sheet

• 1. Decide what you’re trying to communicate. Hint: What overheads would you use? Or if you wished you could use 35 mm slides, what would your presentation look like?
• 2. At minimum, you’ll need a title, an introduction of what you’ll cover, content, and a conclusion/wrap-up. You might want to consider, do I want to close with a question for students to consider?
• 3. When you open PowerPoint, you will be at a new, blank presentation. The first page is automatically a title page. Create a working title; you can always change it later. Click in the spaces provided to enter text.
• 4. Add a new slide; click on “New Slide” on the Home tab. . It will default to a standard slide format as shown below. You can add a title to the slide, and can add text in bullet point form. You can also add pictures (see below for more on that).

Think about what text you want to include.  You can modify your format by clicking on Layout on the home tab.   There are many layouts and if you don’t like one, you can change to another easily.

• 5. Think about what you want your overall presentation to look like. Click on the Design tab, and explore the basic “themes.” Play around until you find one you like. You can always change it later, and can even delete the background for individual slides if you decide you want to.
• 6. What else would you like to add? Pictures? You can cut and paste from other applications. You can also insert quite a number of different media. Click on the appropriate medium shown below and you will be prompted to enter the location for that particular item.
• 7. Bells and whistles you may want to consider include transitions from slide to slide, sounds, and “animation.”

Transitions from slide to slide are on the Animations tab.  You can control speed and associated sounds of transitions here.  Click on the arrow in the lower right-hand corner for many more transition options.
Custom animation, also on the Animations tab, provides many, many effects. Click first on the item you want to “animate,” then on “Custom Animation” on the Animations tab.  When you click on Add Effect, you’ll have many options to choose from.

• 8. Now, test your presentation. The SlideShow tab is where you can most easily control your show. You have many options here. To see the entire show, click on “from beginning.”

Consider:   how will you present your show?  Consider alternatives.  You could link your computer to your TV using a special cable (ask Anthony how to get one).  You could use a projector tied to your computer (sign out from the library).  In a pinch, you can have students crowd around your monitor.
Also, how will you make the presentation available to students who are absent?  Possibilities include Handouts (Print and identify handouts. You can use Preview to see if you’re getting what you want.  Click on “Properties” in the Print dialog (partly shown at left) so that you can select “print color as black and white” for slides that are easier to read.
You can also modify what’s on handouts within the View tab (click on Handout master).
Post to Edline.  Edline can’t accommodate the huge files of PowerPoint, but you can Publish to a Word document (Microsoft Office button, top left-hand corner) and post the Word document to Edline, just as you’d post an assignment sheet.  Note that these files are still large, due to the graphic material included, and will take awhile to load up to Edline, and also for users to download from Edline.