Tuesday, April 29

What is a 'splash page'? Look it up. Explain what they are and how they are used. Find an example of a splash page in Google Images. Save the image to you computer and then upload it to your blog post. Hint - see below.
A splash page is an image that appears while a game or program is loading. It can also be defined as an introduction page on a website. When used as an introduction page, it can be used as an introduction to the the home page. Two main purposes of splash screens are for advertising and directing viewers to other pages in your website. When a splash screen appears on a viewer's screen, they have to acknowledge it otherwise they can't move on to other pages in the  website. A lot splash pages contain animation and sound to grab the viewer's attention. When a splash screen pops up, most require the viewer to click on something to get off the screen.

Friday, April 25

Read THIS blog post by a teacher. I mean actually read it. Take it in. Think about it. And then, write about it. What do you think about it? What is the teacher trying to say? In your own words explain what "the main event" is. Do you agree or disagree with the writer?
I think that it is fitting since we are getting to the end of the school year and it is hard to stay focused and motivated. It also paints the bigger picture of why school is important and the real reason for attending. It reminds students that teachers really do care about them and want to help them succeed. The teacher is trying to tell students that the purpose of school is to prepare students to face the real world and not quitting when times are rough. He also reminds students that the teachers are there to help and truly care about their students. The main event is the larger purpose or goal of an assignment or activity that we do in class. I agree with the writer's opinion and really enjoyed the reminder of what school is about. 

Monday, March 31

Status update! Tell me where you are at on your product website? Can you be finished by tomorrow at the end of the hour? Do you need more time? How much more time? Be honest and explain yourself.

I am still working on my project. I am a little behind and will probably not be finished by the end of the hour tomorrow. Right now, I am working on putting the products into the individual pages. I might be finished by the end of the hour on block day or early in the period on Friday.

Monday, March 24

Welcome back! How was your Spring Break? Tell me all about it. You've been out of school for 10 days so I know you will have plenty to share. Make it good!
My Spring Break was pretty good. The first half I mostly relaxed and stayed in town. While in town, we went to two different St. Patrick's Day Parades, and we went down to Power and Light during the Big 12 Tournament. The second half we went to Carlsbad, California, which was really nice. We got to visit our grandparents who we had seen in a couple months. Our cousins were also there for part of the time we were there, so it was being able to hang out with them. Most of the trip included us playing frisby, playing cards, relaxing on the beach, building sandcastles, reading books, and watching basketball.

Tuesday, March 11

Do you like the layout of this project? Have you benefited from your brainstorming sheet? Was it more helpful or annoying when starting to map out your website? Explain why.

I think that it is a good project. I am not very creative or anything like that so it is a little bit harder. The organizing and brainstorming sheet have helped me realize where I am going with all of this and is a nice reminder of what is going on. Overall I think it was more helpful than annoying because it helps you make sure that you have everything that you need.

Monday, March 10

After reading below to see where you should be on your product website - are you caught up? What helps you stay caught up in class? Do you like having small checkpoints? Are you behind? If so, what are you going to do to get caught up?

I am almost all the way caught up on everything. I need to finish up the footer. What helps me stay caught up is focusing on what I am doing and not getting to distracted. I am a little behind because it took me longer to set up my planning worksheet.

Wednesday, March 5

What idea do you have that is going to make you product website different, unique or unlike anyone else? If you're answer is you don't know - it's time to start THINKING. Explain your idea.

My idea and website is different than anyone else's because of the color scheme and fun topic. Also what I am selling is unique and can include a lot of different products for a large target audience. I think that the setup will be sort of fun and interesting as well. 

Tuesday, March 4

What product have you decided to feature/sell on your product website? Explain why you've chosen this product and remember, the sky is the limit on this project!

I think I have decided to create a website promoting a store that sells Disney Pixar clothes. I have chosen this because I really like those movies and think I can make 15 slides out of it. It is also kind of a fun topic that will be interesting to look up items and clothes to add to the website.

Wednesday, February 26

What are three things you learned about color theory and web design  yesterday? Go in to detail.
1. I learned that it is important to consider those who are color blind when coming up with your color scheme. Certain shades of reds and greens are especially hard to differentiate for people who are color blind.
2. I learned that there are different schemes you can use including monochromatic, complementary, and analogous. This can give your viewer a sense of the mood without reading any words on your website.
3. I also learned that certain schemes and colors are more appropriate in different situations than others. For example you don't want to have a boring maybe monochromatic scheme for a website that is targeted at younger kids because it won't excite them or keep their attention.

Tuesday, February 25

What effect can a color scheme have on a website? How can it make a website better? How can it make a website worse? Explain why color is important.

Right when someone goes to your website, the color can either make them want to stay and read more or it can have the opposite effect and make them navigate away from your website. It somewhat sets the attitude and tone of the subject you will be talking about. It can reveal something about your personality without using words. Also certain colors can make the text hard to read, depending on the color of your text, and this can turn viewers away if they don't have the patience to try to read it.

Monday, February 24

What did you learn about file types as you created and designed your travel website? What are some other kinds of file types you know of? What do these different files do? Explain.

When working on the travel website, we saved our photos as Photoshop files and PNG files. It was important that we knew what you were saving it as because the Photoshop file allowed you to go back and edit your photo while the PNG file didn't allow you to go back and edit. Other types of files that I know of include Word and PDFs. I use word for typing papers in school. Also teachers sometimes use PDFs when they post worksheets and assignments on their school center site.

List of files that I know of include the following:
ppt
docx
pdf
png
psd
html
jpeg

Friday, February 21

What was your takeaway from this Travel Site? What did you learn that you didn't know before? How will the knowledge of how we built this site help you improve your future websites?

Through the travel site, I got to learn about a few places that I would like to visit and some fun activities that I can do if I ever make it to those destinations. I also learned about Photoshop and the different properties and editing tools that it offers. I learned the difference between saving a file as a Photoshop document and a PNG file. Within Dreamweaver, I learned to insert a picture without using a table. In the future this will be helpful when adding pictures and making the website look more creative and personal.

Tuesday, February 18

How can Photoshop be a valuable tool in web design? Explain.

Photoshop can be a valuable tool in web design because it allows you to edit photos to put on your website. You are also able to create headers for the top of your website. It allows you to personalize your website through editing and changing images that you have found. It makes it seem more professional and gives off the impression that you know what you are doing.

Tuesday, February 11

What do you know about Photoshop? Have you used it before? What can it do? Are you an expert? A newbie? Tell me about your background and what you already know.

I really don't know much about Photoshop. I think we used it a little bit in middle school, but I don't remember how to use it. I know that it allows you to edit photos and possibly combine different elements of photos to create a new image. Considering the information that I remember, I would consider myself a newbie.

Friday, February 7

Think about how a user (me or anyone else using your site) might function and interact with your site. What are some important functional features to make your website easy to work with? How can you make it easier for the user and not frustrating? Explain why this is so important.

Your website should be easy to read and easily accessible. The internal and external links should work properly. A way to make it less frustrating for viewers is by making the pages have a similar format. This is important because if someone finds it hard to interact with your website then they will just move on to another site.

Monday, February 3

Tell me about your Sweetheart weekend. If you didn't go to Sweetheart, what did you do? I want details

I didn't go to Sweetheart, but I still had a pretty good weekend. I was with my dad and sisters. We mostly relaxed, did homework, and had soccer games. Also, we got to go to the dentists, and for the first time in a while I didn't have any cavities, which is good! After our dentist appointment, we went over to my aunt and uncle's house where we watched T.V. and ate spaghetti. On Sunday, we went to Church and filled out squares for the Super Bowl. For the Super Bowl, we went over to my cousins house and watched the game on the projector in their basement.

Tuesday, January 28

Tell me about your All About Me site. What are going to be your 4 main content pages? Why did you choose those topics? What big plans do you have for your site that is going to make it different and creative?

My All About Me site is coming along. It took me a while to decide on colors and other format stuff. I have decided that my four main content pages are my friends, family, favorites, and activities. I chose this topic because I thought that they would give people a good idea of who I am. I am not very creative, so I am still coming up with an idea that will make it different than the others.

Monday, January 27

What are your thoughts on HTML code? Did you enjoy the coding activity? Do you feel like you learned anything? Explain yourself.

I thought that HTML was confusing. It requires a lot of detail and attention because if you mess one thing up then you have messed up the code and you are not going to get the results that you want. The coding activity was something that I had never done, but it helped that the directions on the worksheet were clear. I think I learned a lot considering I knew nothing about coding before this class.

Tuesday, January 21

Tell me about your three day weekend. How was it? What did you do? Elaborate!

I really didn't do much during my three day weekend. My sisters and I had an indoor soccer tournament so a lot of our weekend revolved around that. Besides that I watched some TV and movies, including Fun with Dick and Jane. On Sunday it was beautiful outside, so my family and I went to the park and tried to play tennis (we are pretty awful); regardless, it was still fun and at least entertaining to watch. After that on Sunday we watched the two football games, which both ended up being pretty exciting. Then reality set in on Monday that I had school the next day so that is when I did most of my homework.

Wednesday, January 15

Tell me if you agree with this statement and then explain why or why not. "Images on the internet are 'free game' - if someone posted it, I should be able to use it.

I don't know if "images on the internet are 'free game.'" I would guess that there could be potential copy right or plagiarism issues going on. I know sometimes on Google there will be a logo or symbol in the middle of the picture unless you pay for it or have an account on a certain website that the image is found.

Monday, January 13

What do you know about plagiarism? What do you know about plagiarism on the internet? How do web design, the internet and plagiarism all effect each other? Explain.

 I think plagiarism is when someone copies the work of another without giving credit to that person. I know that are serious consequences if you plagiarize. It is easier to plagiarize in today's world with all of the resources we have readily available to us. The Internet and all of the different websites make it easier for us to plagiarize. With all of these resources, there are also programs and websites set up to catch if you are copying another person's work. For example, I have to submit my history homework to turnitin.com, which is a website where teachers can grade assignments and also check for plagiarism.

Friday, January 10

What do you already know about web design? How it works? Programs you can use? Tools that exist? Anything.

I really don't know much about web design at all. There are HTML codes involved that we can use to help us. There are also multiple browsers that we can use including Safari, Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome. Once in middle school we made a website; unfortunately, I don't remember how to do it or the program we used.