Thursday, October 29, 2009

29 October 2009


Realizing that, eventually, I would want my site to have some sort of graphic, I designed a nice banner that I could put at the top of my site. I knew the basics of photoshop- and the tools I used were not that complex. I simply used a large paintbrush with faded edged to make the entire graphic have a color effect with a bit of gradient. I then used the text tool, found two nice fonts, and used those to finish the top.
The entire thing took about ten minutes, and as a result, I have produced this:
I chose the color scheme I did simply because it is the same as our school colors. If I need to change it later, I can. Photoshop is nice in that it allows you to edit layers.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

27 October 2009

Today I edited the information I scanned in for Meet 2 yesterday. I rewrote parts of it in a word document, so that everything was easily readable, and made sure the pictures were cropped according to my liking.

Monday, October 26, 2009

26 October 2009

Today, I published my practice iWeb to the schools server, so that it could be viewed at any place on campus.
After looking at the program again today, I have decided to use Dreamweaver for my project. iWeb is too restricted for what I want to do, and would, I think, end up being more of a hindrance than Dreamweaver. In addition, my home computer is a PC, meaning I could not work on my website while at home. Although I do not have the dreamweaver software at this moment, I could theoretically download a trial version, so that I could develop the site while not at school.

On the note of research, I have scanned in the old tests from Meet 4, and plan on writing guides for those within the next two weeks. I also was able to scan the guides I had done for the previous Meets, from Meet 2.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

24 October 2009

Today, I finished scanning tests for Meet 2, Event 3 and 4

I have officially finished researching for Meet 2.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

22 October 2009

We talked about the "software and harware" portion of Criterion I today in class. Our teacher told us how to find the information on the Macs.
For the hardware information, he said to click on the apple icon, and look at “About this Mac.”

For the software information, we were told to follow this path:
applications folder-> go to chosen ap-> right click-> get info

22 October 2009

Today in class, we began working on Dreamweaver, another web design program. Unlike iWeb, there are no pre-made templates. It is more like Microsoft Word in the respect that one can add text, images, and tables in wherever one pleases, and move these elements around for the desired effect.
We began with a basic introduction into the the various menus and icons. Shown below is a screen shot of the program.

The stage is where the visual, of what the website will look like, is displayed. On the menu, one can choose from options like "add table" and "insert hyperlink." And, once can use the properties box to edit how specific elements look. For example, one can change the color or size of the font, or the size of an image. During this introductory lesson, we used the properties box the most extensively. Here is a close-up.We also worked on page properties. If one wanted to change the background color, or edit other features which would apply to the whole page, one could use this tool. With page properties, one can edit things which determine the appearance of the entire page. Here is the window, shown below:
We also discusses some minor formatting things. In Dreamweaver, when one presses enter, the curser moves down two spaces. To prevent this, one can "shift-enter."
In addition, there is an option to edit the site with the GUI mode (what all the screenshots have depicted), or in a code mode, or using a screen which is split between the two modes.

Reminding all of us students that Dreamweaver was a difficult program, our teacher reccomended using a free template from www.dreamtemplate.com , so that we wouldn't have to spend so much time on design.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

21 October 2009

Today I added some finishing touches to my test website, making sure to get rid of all of the iWeb preset text on the video pages, and replace the placeholder photos with pictures of my own, albeit somewhat unrelated ones. I also cleaned up the video pages, making sure the same video wasn't simply posted under different pages.
After my site was ready for publishing, I continued to write up the guides for the remainder of meet two. I have only about a topic and a half left. I have to finish the work I started for the trigonometry packet, and write up a guide for equations. To keep track of what I have completed and what I still have to do, I made up a quick table using microsoft excel 2007. The events I have finished are marked with an X.

Monday, October 19, 2009

19 October 2009

In class today, we mainly collected screen shots to use in logbooks, and discussed more about our projects. On Macs, the keyboard shortcut to copy a certain selection of the screen is Ctrl-Shift-Command-4
It was decided in class today that a good way of doing the logbook would be to put it in blog form; as a result, I have made up the entires I had previously done on paper on this site. While it did take a while to retype, this, i think, is a good IT solution. It is very easy to add screenshots, and is easier to read than my messy handwriting. In addition, I like being able to edit past entries if I forgot something.

Friday, October 16, 2009

16 October 2009

Today, we worked on adding videos to iWeb using iMovie. It does seem unlikely that I will use videos within my website; however, even if I do not implement this technology, it is still good to know.
When working with iMovie, I created clips which would go onto the "blog," "podcast," and"movie" sections of our site. Here is a screenshot of the iMovie window. On the bottom of the screen is the timeline; this is where clips can be dragged to in order to add them to the Movie that is created. Recorded clips which are not yet added to the movie are stored on the top right. And, the large black section is where one views recorded clips.
And, displayed below, is what the clips look like when put into iWeb:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

15 October 2009



I added important touches to my test website, including replacing all of the placeholder photos and text with things of my own. I, for example, edited my welcome page and about page, shown above.
As you can see, the tools for navigating through my site while editing can be seen on the left of the page. There, I have icons designating the separate pages, and allowing me navigation. Below the title ("Rachel's World"), one can see how navigation would work when within the site. By clicking on the text at the top of the page, it is possible for site visitors to go from one place to another.

Monday, October 12, 2009

12 October 2009


We continued iWeb today. We worked on creating an albums page, using both iWeb and iPhoto.
The basic process was that we would first import our pictures into iPhoto, choosing the "Import to Library..." option from the file menu, (shown right) and selecting the photos we want imported from our files. We would then create a new album, and add categorize the appropriate photos under that album.

Then, in iWeb, it would be rather simple. Because the two programs are part of the same software package, the are compatible with each other. Once one creates a new page in iWeb, choosing the "Album" template. Then, as the albums created in iPhoto are displayed on the sidebar, one can just drag and drop the album to the place designated for that area. Voila- the albums page is done, and the photos can be accessed simply by clicking on the album they are filed under.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

11 October 2009

I finished photocopying the Meet 3 tests, and worked on compiling information for Meet 2.
I have, written out on white paper, quick guides to three of the events: Ratios and Proportions, Absolute Values, and Solving Trigonometry Equations. I continued to use the pre-calculus book, as well as notes from last year I have on the first two topics.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

10 October 2009

I continued to work on my research for the project today. Unfortunately, I am a little bit behind. This project is supposed to be completed by the end of this month. At this moment, I am almost done with my work for Meet 1, and halfway done with the research for Meet 2. As there are a total of seven meets, I really need to get working.
I have decided that it would probably be easier to draw out problems, figures, and some formulas on computer paper, then scan them into my computer and add text. It takes a very long time to type out formulas, I I think it would be more efficient if I was to simply scan in something I had already worked on.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

7 October 2009

We had another lesson on the Macs today. This time, we discusses iWeb, and our teacher explained that we would be making a practice web site so that we would be able to discover how the program worked. We learned the basic format of iWeb.

Basically, there are pre-formed templates one can chose from. These pages have already been decorated, and different types of pages can be chosen depending on what type of website one wants to make. As shown on the right, on can pick the template for an albums page or a welcome page, depending on what is needed. Once these pages are formed, it is possible to drag and drop pictures into spaces pre-made exactly for that purpose. In addition, one can fill in text where the iWeb template text once was.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

6 October 2009

Today, I met with one of the Math team Coaches, Mrs. Kanja, so that I could get packets of practice tests. I got all of the packets from Meet 3, which I made photocopies of, as well as a book containing information on logic and geometry notation. The book I used was by Miriam Gabin, published by Math Study Series in 1989, in the series of "Topics in Secondary Mathematics." The title is "Logic- Study and Reference Guide." I scanned a few pages of this book. I don't know if I will be able to put the images of the book on my site. I don't want to violate copyright law; however, the book is out of print.

Monday, October 5, 2009

5 October 2009

Today we had our first lesson intoducing to the Mac laptops we would be using for the remainder of our project. The teacher, Mr. Tokuda, explained some basic shortcuts, and told us the type of programs we would be working with.

Shown on this picture of the dock, we will start out using iMovie (far left), iPhoto (third from the left), and iWeb (far right).

Friday, October 2, 2009

2 October 2009

Today, I turned in my Criterion I, as shown below. It will no doubt change, as new problems and scheduling occurs, but it will help provide me with a basic time line.



(click on the picture to enlarge)