On Wednesday, December 16, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairman Jon Leibowitz and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Julius Genachowski will visit Jefferson Elementary School in Washington, D.C., to introduce Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online. The booklet is a guide for parents as they teach and help children navigate the Internet. The free Net Cetera guidebook addresses several topics, including safe use of social networking Web sites, cyber bullying, and the importance of protecting computers from viruses and other malicious software. It is available at www.OnGuardOnline.gov, the federal government’s online safety website. OnGuardOnline.gov is a partnership of more than a dozen federal agencies and the technology industry.

• You should have your own photos to use. If you don’t, you must use photos from the field trips that are in the Student Common.

• If you need to scan your photos, there are directions at http://www.rtsd26.org/trails/computers/lessons/scanning.htm.

• The collage document should be size 8 X 10 inches with a resolution of 300 just like the sample we did.

Some things to remember:

1. Do color corrections and enhancements to each photo first. Then flatten the image and drag it onto the collage.
2. One (or two) photos should be the main focus and be larger than the rest.
3. When resizing a photo, hold the shift key so it doesn’t get distorted.
4. Apply a layer mask to each photo layer in the collage by clicking the Styles and Effects palette and choosing Effects–>Layer Mask.
5. Paint with a black soft brush to hide and blend areas of the photo.
6. Paint with a white brush to restore areas of the photo.
7. Add a short title and give it a layer effect like a drop shadow or emboss.
8. Add your name in a small size at the bottom.

7th Grade Assignment for Thursday
Today you are going to be researching the exact date you were born. What was happening in the world that day? What music did your parents listen to? What was popular on television? Who was the President? How much did it cost to buy gas? a house? a car? What was playing at the movies? Who were the sports heros? Are there any famous people born on your birthday?

You will be using custom colored bullets in a Word document. The following video will show you how.
 

The next video will explain the directions and how to to use the research links.

Specific directions and research links can be found at http://www.rtsd26.org/trails/computers/lessons/birthday.htm.

Video 1 – http://animoto.com/play/Ybu7CuDOJf9cr0ArN44k1w

Video 2 – http://animoto.com/play/Imm9mFw10HrMrYI3Oy03hQ

As our first introduction to Photoshop Elements in 4th Quarter, the 8th grade students took digital pictures and learned how to apply adjustment layers and filters. We duplicated the photo 4 times and created an Andy Warhol effect poster. View the video link for samples.

Today I’m in a half day workshop on Google Docs. Here’s a great video that explains Google Docs. Think of how Google Docs could be useful for you. Any ideas?

Today I started the day with a keynote speaker for an hour in a very large auditorium.

Today I took a class called Scrapbooking in the Classroom using Photoshop Elements. I learned some new techniques and got tons of resources and links to online tutorials. The 3 guys that taught the class teach at a middle school in Barrington. I’d like to visit their school some time and see their classes.

I think that we’ll use templates like the one in the layout above for our March desktops.

What themes or designs did you use for your custom checkers today?

Today we’ll be creating an interactive TicTacToe game. You’ll be learning skills and techniques that you can expand upon tomorrow to create another interactive game on a larger scale. If we don’t finish in one class period or if you were absent, directions can be found here.

If you have time at the end of class, leave me a comment letting me know how much you accomplished today. Use your first name and last initial only. Were the directions easy to follow? Was anyone especially helpful to you today? I’ll see you Monday!