Blogger in Draft: Template Designer

Blogger in Draft is a space where you can try out the new features of blogger before they are added to Blogger. It's a space where blogger can test and trial features with audience feedback and to work out any bugs there might be.

One feature that has been quite lacking in Blogger is the template section. Whenever you create a new blog the first thing a lot of people ask is "can I change this background thing!" So off you go to btemplate etc and find new templates.

But Blogger in Draft has just released a new blogger template designer, where you have the ability to easily design your own blogger template to the specifications that you want. It's quite simple to use and the navigation is really clear and easy to follow.


You have the ability to change nearly all of the bits and pieces in your template right through to text colour and background images. I like the ability to choose how many columns and gadget bars you want - often you find a great template but it's not got the gadget space you need or it's got too many! One thing I couldn't find was where I could change my post text colour... will have to keep tinkering.

My favourite thing about the template designer though is the ability to change the width of the post boxes and the gadbet bar. You can slide along and choose whether you want a wider or narrower box to post all your work into.


It's also good to see a variety of background images that are available for people to use. Blogger in Draft says that there are 15 new templates as part of this - which there are. But also remember that there are 4 actual templates and then a few versions of each one that make up the 15 new templates. It would also be really nice to see a more photography based template available as part of this. As a keen photographer there is a lack of fantastic photography based templates available freely - if this was a part of the template designer I would be a very happy blogger!

So, head to Blogger in Draft and have a go yourself - I just used one of my trial blogs that I try stuff out on, to have a go and play around. See for yourself what you think and let me know.

Apimac Timer & Class Rotations

Apimac is a tool that I came across last year and used a lot in my classroom for various reasons. My favourite was using it as part of class rotations, which I will explain more further on.

Apimac is a timer with many different functions - my favourite being it's ability to use songs from your iTunes to notify the end of your timer. Along with being a timer it is a stopwatch and alarm clock. For a free download it packs some pretty strong punches. When the timer sounds Apimac will open your iTunes, play sounds, speak a message or sound out the time among a few of it's timer features. It's also available in a PRO version for a $45 - the PRO offers many more functions such as launching applications, sending emails, full screen mode and more at the end of your time.

In the classroom I am finding more and more uses for Apimac. To develop independence skills in the students as part of rotations I use Apimac to indicate when they need to swap to the next task by using the iTunes function rather than me stopping the class to move them along.

For example in Reading at the start of the reading session I let the students know how long the session will be, what song will play (this generally lasts 1 week) and what the expectations are for when the music is played at both times (middle of the reading session and again at the end). The students are told that when the music starts they have 3 minutes to finish off what they are doing and get themselves settled into their next task on the board. At the end of the session, the music indicates cleaning up and setting themselves up ready for the next subject on the board.

The students then go on to their tasks. Apimac runs on my laptop that is connected to a set of speakers. At the end of the set time Apimac plays the chosen iTunes song which is always roughly 3 minutes long. In this time I can continue teaching groups that I am working with, monitor and mark student work etc while the students organise themselves. The students learn to monitor their needs without having me remind them of what they should be doing.












In my year 4 class we have just begun using this as part of our rotations (last year I used this with Year 5 students) and already the students say that they prefer having the music break in rotations over me stopping them. It allows them to make decisions for themselves and the music adds a rather happy vibe to the classroom. Students also prefer having some time to finish off what they are doing, rather than being told to pack up things straight away. To be honest, who really enjoys stopping something straight away, when told to, when they are enjoying it!!

Flame

This is someone's experiment who got it completely right! Peter Blaskovic has created Flame as part of his 'I Am An Artist' project.

If you are anything like me and love creating photographs from moving lights and anything that shines - you will love this site.

Basically you can play around and create your own artwork using 'lights.' You have the control to choose and change colours, opacity, size and more to create your desired artwork. Without anymore explaining, the best thing you can do it to head over to the Flame site and have a play!

Delicious in the Class

One of the ways that I organise computer time for students is by utilising the website Delicious. It's a simple concept - take the idea of bookmarks that you keep on your desktop and broaden it out so that your bookmarks are available anywhere you have internet access. Your bookmarks are accessible via a url - like this -> http://delicious.com/hey.milly.

I've been using delicious as a way of organising my own links and sharing links through conferences for a few years. Last year I started using this in the class also and the kids quickly got a hang of it. This year with my Year 4 class I am also using the same idea - they have also quickly figured out how to access and use their delicious page.

The first thing I do is set up a class delicious account e.g. http://delicious.com/twelve2010 that the students access to get their bookmarks. I start with one curriculum area and teach the basics of how to access it and find the links you want.

The great thing about Delicious is that when you add a link into your account you can tag the link with a keyword. For example if I took the link Questionaut I could tag it as several different areas like thinking, problem solving, maths and more depending on where you wanted to keep it.

As you create your own tags this allows you to easily tag links for specific groups, curriculum areas or teaching points that you are working on with the students.

When students come to work on the computer - their taskboard will pinpoint the tag that they will look for when they get to Delicious e.g. Addition This also gives the students some ownership in choosing tasks that they feel confident with and need to work on. There are also a range of websites that the students can use to develop that teaching point or need.

Currently I am the only one adding links to the delicious, but would like to move forward to the kids finding great sites and being able to share them or add them to the class Delicious page.