Today we were surprised by getting an extra class. Originally you 8th Graders were scheduled to be taking the Mock Italian Exams. So, today we will be using as an extra work day for you to take advantage of before your website is due the next time we have class after Ski Week. 

Your website will be due BEFORE CLASS Friday March 9th.  On March 9th we will spend the class looking at and examining your websites as a class. 

Make sure you are working on and completing ALL 6 PAGES that are due!!  Re-read the post below to make sure you are creating the correct pages and all the internal links needed for your site.

Remember, if you have any questions, you can come in during break time or lunch and consult with me. 

I am not here today, but rest assured, you should have plenty of work to keep you busy. Today you will be working on your websites. You need to create a total of 6 pages in total so far. 4 of these pages will be about the technology person whose name you drew randomly.

Your website should consist of the following pages.

Your Top 3 pages should be named just as they are shown above. Your 3 pages under IT should be named just as they are shown; Background, Importance and Timeline. You should NOT be able to navigate to Background, Importance or Timeline from your Home or About Me pages. You should only be able to navigate to them via your IT page.  You should be able to navigate to your IT, Background, Importance and Timeline pages from any of these 4 pages.

Guidelines for your Pages:

Home: Should be a "landing page". This is a page that welcomes a web visitor to your site. 

About Me: Should be about you. You can write up about 5-6 sentences and include pictures of either yourself or things you are interested in. 

IT: Should be Titled: Firstname Lastname Project (insert your subjects name here) Remember, the TITLE is different then the page NAME. The page TITLE only appears at the top of the page and is not in the address or URL of the page.  A perfect example of this is www.brentzeise.net.  The NAME is brentzeise.net, but the TITLE is "Welcome to Mr. Z's Tech Corner." You should include a large, high quality picture of your subject. You should include TEXT LINKS to the Background, Importance and Timeline pages. 

Background Page: This should include early pictures (if available) and the story of your subject BEFORE he started to make it big on the World Wide Web/Internet/Computer Industry. For some subjects that might be very young. 

Importance: This page is a continuation of the Background Page. Here you tell their story from the point when they started in the computer/www/internet. 

Timeline: Here you should create a literal timeline of that persons life. Major accomplishments, should be noted.

*All 4 pages above should link to each other. IT - Background - Importance - Timeline* 

To see a couple of examples of what the 9th Graders did earlier this year:

http://chayoungb.weebly.com/ernst-julius-roumlhm.html
http://micol97.weebly.com/speer.html


The Look of your pages:
The rules that we went over regarding Presentations for the most part apply here. Don't worry about the length of writing part. It's ok to write a lot on your webpage. You should remember things like:

• Sharp Clear Pictures
  
• Nice contrasting colors to enhance readability
  
• Don't make your Font too small
  
• Pleasant Balanced Layout
  
• Not too many sounds, noises etc. You'll notice that Cha Young has an audio file playing when you go to her site about Rohm. Music is ok, as long as it is not overwhelming, and it is appropriate to your subject. 
  

That should be enough for you now. I expect all of you to be working on your websites. I will be checking on the weekend to see if progress has been made and that you were not just wasting time in class!

Welcome to 2nd Semester 8th Grade. We are starting to learn about websites and learning how to create our own.
We will be using Weebly.com to create our sites, using the private student website feature that Weebly teachers can initiate for their classes.

To review where we are so far:
By Friday, January 27th, 2012 you should have these initial basic steps done for your website.

• Choose a Theme
• Change your Banner Image
• Create an "About Me" Page with a few pictures and a brief biography of yourself (about 5 sentences/1paragraph)

Today we are not going to get much of a chance to have class. Because of the rehearsal schedule for the Christmas Pageant, the 8th Grade will have to go to the auditorium to rehearse during our class time.

No School Today. Have Fun and see you next week.

Today we are finishing up our Desktop Publishing Project. You have today's class to finalize your work, ask Mr. Z if it all looks ok and turn it in, by email.  In addition, I will be asking all of you to turn in your Story Presentations that we watched earlier.

Today we are working hard on our Desktop Publishing Productions. Your first item is due today, either the Brochure or your choice of flyer, invitation or program. You should send it to me via email. Remember to fill in your subject line correctly.08 - Lastname, Firstname, - Brochure for example.