Staff Directory & Online Classroom: A Picture Book

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Schools Holly Approved 2007 HRF Publications All current Picture Books

1 Staff Directory & Online Classroom: A Picture Book eleventh in a series By Dennis Sulfsted Technology Coordinator Reading Community City Schools Holly Approved 2007 HRF Publications All current Picture Books are available at

At the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year, Reading Schools outsourced the administration of its official website to a company named SchoolPointe. Staff members no longer have html-based web pages.

and photos in Online Classroom. As with any change, there are plusses and minuses with this new system. A definite plus is that you can now change your website at any time, even from home.

2 At the beginning of the school year, Reading Schools outsourced the administration of its official website to a company named SchoolPointe. Staff members no longer have html-based web pages. Instead, they use a Content Management System (CMS) to insert information like their credentials in the Staff Directory, and information about what s going on in their classrooms, links, downloads, and photos in Online Classroom. As with any change, there are plusses and minuses with this new system. A definite plus is that you can now change your website at any time, even from home. Furthermore, after you save your changes, your changes are instantaneously live to the world. On the down side, you will discover you have lost some control over the design of your website compared to previous years. The system still provides everything teachers usually want to do with a website: provide information, offer links and pdf downloads, and present photos. However, we all have to work within the framework of the system. Want to move your links to the right instead of the left? Well, you just can t do that. That s just the way it is. On the other hand, the CMS is a breeze to use, much more easy than using an html editor. As a final note, you don t have to use all the aspects of the Content Management System. Just use the items you see as valuable for enhancing and promoting the mission of your classroom to educate Reading kids. So. Ready to create your new web pages? Let s get started! First of all, you need to use Firefox, a different web browser in order to interact with the Content Manager. You should find this application in your Applications folder. When you first start Firefox, it will ask if you want to make Firefox your default browser. I recommend you say no, keeping Safari as your primary web browser. The next thing I recommend is to make the Reading Schools login page the Firefox homepage. To do that, go to the Firefox menu and select Preferences Under the Main tab, in the Startup section, make sure it says Show my home page in the When Firefox starts: textbox. Below that in the Home Page: textbox, type Close the Preferences Window and save if it asks you. Now, whenever you open Firefox, you will begin at the login page for your staff directory and online classroom. Page 2 of 21

Click the House to the left of the url bar in Firefox, and you ll go to the Reading Schools web content manager login page. Your user login name is your readingschools email address.

For security reasons, you should answer, Never for this site. If you get a Security Warning, just click continue.

3 Click the House to the left of the url bar in Firefox, and you ll go to the Reading Schools web content manager login page. Your user login name is your readingschools address. Your password should be the same password you use to log into the Reading Schools Computer Network. You will be asked if you want Firefox to remember your information. For security reasons, you should answer, Never for this site. If you get a Security Warning, just click continue. Before we get started, here s something really important to note: The Content Management System does not always respond very well to simply pressing the Return Key when completing a field or form. You should get used to using the mouse to click buttons like Login and Save. If you ever press Return, and you suddenly return to this login screen, that s what happened to you. Once you log into the CMS, you are presented with your privileges and options. What do you say? Let s start with updating your Staff Profile. Click on the Update Staff Profile link located towards the right-hand corner. Page 3 of 21

The first thing you ll notice is that a lot of contact information has already been entered for you. Under Basic Information, you can add a photograph of yourself, and you can add a biography.

4 The first thing you ll notice is that a lot of contact information has already been entered for you. Under Basic Information, you can add a photograph of yourself, and you can add a biography. By the way, before we get too deeply into this, another important thing you should know is if things don t seem to be working properly, particularly after you save, refresh the browser page. To place a photo of yourself, you have to click the Browse button which will present you with a File Upload window. Navigate through the folder structure to the photo you want to use, select it, and click Open. Page 4 of 21

The text in the Browse field should be similar to what is shown here. Next, type your bio information in the text field. Be sure to note you can format your text with bold, italics, and underline.

5 The text in the Browse field should be similar to what is shown here. Next, type your bio information in the text field. Be sure to note you can format your text with bold, italics, and underline. You should also note that you can align your text and you can bullet your text. Spell checking is available. And finally, if you highlight a piece of text, like a url address, you can make the highlighted text into a link by pressing the link button, the globe with a chain link on it. When you re finished writing and formatting your biography, be sure to click the Save button. Page 5 of 21

You will then be notified that your changes have been saved, and your photo will

college or university name in the Institution field.

6 You will then be notified that your changes have been saved, and your photo will appear. But wait! We re not finished! Click on the qualifications tab. Here, you can enter your credentials. For each degree you have, type the kind of degree in the Degree field and type the college or university name in the Institution field. The ordering number is the position in which that particular degree will be listed. 0 is the degree that will be listed at the top, 1 will be below that, and so on. Page 6 of 21

When you re finished, your basic information should look something like this.

7 You ll note I added my license/certificate information. You may consider doing that also. When you re finished, be sure to click on the Save button. When you re finished, your basic information should look something like this. As soon as you press Save, the information is live on the internet. Now, how do people access all this information about you? On the Reading Schools website, a person just has to click on the Staff Directory button Page 7 of 21

Here, every employee with the first name, Dennis, is presented.

8 where a search page will be presented. Type in a partial first name or last name or even a staff member s title, like superintendent and the staff search results are presented. Here, every employee with the first name, Dennis, is presented. The user can click the [ ] link to open an addressed window in their client. If the user clicks the View link, the user will be presented with the biographical information you just entered. Here, you may notice some additional links under the heading, Teacher Pages. These kinds of pages are called Content Pages. Let s see how to create these. Page 8 of 21

9 Back at your CMS Home, click on the Staff Content link located near the right-hand corner. You will then be presented with your Staff Content Pages. To create a Content Page, click on the Add A New Content Page link. The Manage Staff Content Page opens. Here, you can add just about any kind of professional content you want to. Give the Content a Title and a Subtitle, if you want. Enter your content in the text box below and note how you can format the text. Notice you can again include a photo. And finally note you can add Secondary Content. Secondary Content can include more text, downloads such as pdf files, or a Photo Gallery. Page 9 of 21

Please note that if you create a Content Page, but do not place any content on the page, the page will not show up on the

10 Keep adding Staff Content Pages to your delight. Note that the arrow keys can allow you to push a content page up or down in importance. Please note that if you create a Content Page, but do not place any content on the page, the page will not show up on the live website. Your Content Page Manager will look something like this. Here s an example of Secondary Content comprised of pdf downloads. Note you can have different categories of secondary content. Be sure to save your pages. Page 10 of 21

Note that under Quick Links links are provided for all the Content Pages you created.

11 Here s a live example of a Content Page on our website. The Main Content is in the center of the webpage. The Secondary Content is located on the right-hand side of the webpage. Note that under Quick Links links are provided for all the Content Pages you created. Now that we ve got our Staff Directory Content pretty squared away, let s go the Online Classroom. Back at your CMS Home, you access the Online Classroom content by clicking on the Online Classroom Management button. The first thing you have to do is create a New Online Classroom Section by clicking on that link. Page 11 of 21

When you select Add a New Online Classroom Section, you are presented with the editing window to the left. Type the name of your course in the OLC Name/Title: field.

12 When you select Add a New Online Classroom Section, you are presented with the editing window to the left. Type the name of your course in the OLC Name/Title: field. Type a description of your course in the Description field. Note the CMS standard editing tools available for your description. In addition, you can select the font, size, and color of the text. If you teach in more than one building, select from the drop down box the school this course applies to. Create a start date and an end date for the course. You must perform this step; you can t skip it. Click Save when you re finished. After you click Save, the CMS will notify you that your online classroom has been added to the website. When you re finished creating online classrooms, click on Online Classroom Home to see a list of your Online Classrooms. This is the place where you can edit, select, or delete your Online Classrooms. Click Select to add content to your Online Classroom. Page 12 of 21

13 When you select one of your Online Classrooms, you are presented with this page. Notice you have four categories in which to add content: Projects & Assignments, Links & Downloads, News & Announcements, and the Class Image Gallery. So let s add an assignment. Before we can add an assignment, we must first create Assignment Groups. Click on Manage Assignment Groups. The CMS takes you to the Assignment Group List. Here, you create your group. Perhaps it s the name of the lesson or unit, or maybe it s a category like homework or quizzes. You can rank your assignment groups. Remember 0 is the topmost, or highest, group. Click Save. Page 13 of 21

After you save the Assignment Group, you can add a description of that group. Note all the editing tools. The Assignment Date is the day you assigned the project. The Due Date is obvious.

Be sure to click Save. You can return to managing your online classroom by clicking the link above. Here, you will see the new Assignment Group you just created.

14 After you save the Assignment Group, you can add a description of that group. Note all the editing tools. The Assignment Date is the day you assigned the project. The Due Date is obvious. The Activate Date is the date you first want students to be able to see the assignment on the website. The Expiration Date is the date when the webpage will no longer be available on the web. Be sure to click Save. You can return to managing your online classroom by clicking the link above. Here, you will see the new Assignment Group you just created. You can also add a class link to your Online Classroom by simply clicking the Add Link link under the Class Links & Downloads category. That link will take you to the Assignment Links Management page. The first thing you will have to do is Add a Link Category by clicking the link. Link Categories simply organize your links. They can be named after lessons or units, or they can be subject headings. If you only intend to have one grouping of links, you can even create a generic category named All Links or Class Links. Page 14 of 21

15 On the District Links Management page, type your category name and click Save. The CMS informs you that your Link Category has been saved. To return to your Links Categories, click on Manage (Your Course Title) above in the navigation menu. When you return to the Assignment Links Management page, you ll note the addition of your new Link Category. Here, you can continue to add Link Categories, or you can add a new link to existing categories by clicking on Add New Link under the category name. Let s add our first link! Page 15 of 21

16 After clicking on Add New Link, you will arrive at the District Links Management page. Carefully type the url of the link (though it s easier to copy and paste the url directly from the url bar in Safari). Give the link a Title. If you wish, provide a brief description of what we will find when we use this link. You can associate your link with a graphic. For example, you could go to the website you re linking to, copy a graphic which symbolizes the site by Control-Clicking on the website s graphic and copying the graphic to your Desktop. Then, use the Browse button here to navigate to that graphic. Now, the graphic will be on your website and represent the link you are creating. Select the Link Category under which you want to place this link. Click Save & Close. After saving, you should return to the Assignment Links Management page where you will see your new link added to the proper category. You can continue to add Link Categories, and you can continue to add Links to those Categories. Note that you can also Edit and Delete each Link and Category, something you may want to do when the unit or lesson is completed. Now that we know how to create Links, let s turn our attention to downloads. Use the navigation menu near the top of the page to move back to managing your course or class. Downloads can be used to distribute any pdf document you want students to have either at school, or at home. What can be a pdf document? Anything you can print! That s right! All your handouts, worksheets, and anything else you print on paper and give to students can be saved as pdf documents. Here s how you do it: open your document in the application you used to make it a Word document, for example. Use the Print command to print the document, but instead of printing it, click on the PDF pulldown tab at the bottom left of the Print Dialogue Box. Select Save As PDF, give it a name, click OK, and there you have it! Click on Add Download to distribute a pdf document to your class. Page 16 of 21

17 After you click on Add Download, you will arrive at the Online Class Forms Management page. The CMS refers to a pdf download as a form. We ll have to create a Form Category before we can add a pdf download link, so click on Add Form Category. You ll find yourself on the Online Classroom Forms Management page. Just like when we created links, when we create downloads, we must first create a Form Category. If you know you won t have many pdf documents for your students to download, you could just call this category Downloads. On the other hand, you might want to organize your download material by topic, lesson, or unit. Type a Category Name in the field and click the Save button. You ll arrive at the Online Class Forms Management page where you ll see your newly created Form Category, and you ll see you can now add a form. Click Add New Form. Page 17 of 21

After clicking Add New Form, you will manage your download by typing your Form Name (the name of your handout or worksheet, for example) and a Description for that pdf document.

18 After clicking Add New Form, you will manage your download by typing your Form Name (the name of your handout or worksheet, for example) and a Description for that pdf document. Click on the Browse button and navigate through your folder structure to find the pdf document you want students to be able to download from your Online Classroom. If you created more than one Forms Category, select the proper Category from the drop down box for where you want to place your download. Click Save & Close when you re finished. You should return to the Online Class Forms Management page for the class or course with which you re working where you will find our newly created pdf download listed. Now, you can continue to add Form Categories and add new Forms. Note you can also Edit and Delete Categories and Forms. When you re finished, use the navigation menu to click back to your class management. Another handy thing you can do with this system is make a general class announcement or report Class News. Examples may include Test next Wednesday, Project Due Friday, or PTO Meeting Tuesday 7 PM. Let s create a Class Announcement. Click Add New Announcement/Class News. Page 18 of 21

Most of this is self-explanatory. Type a Title for your announcement and type the actual announcement itself in the Body Text field.

The View Calendar item is a clickable way of adding dates. You can embed a picture or graphic with your announcement by Browsing your folder structure.

Perhaps the document could be the electronic version of the PTO meeting reminder that went home in the last packet.

19 Most of this is self-explanatory. Type a Title for your announcement and type the actual announcement itself in the Body Text field. Note your ability to format your Body Text, including creating url links. The Display Date (the date you first want people to see your announcement) and the Expiration Date are both required. The View Calendar item is a clickable way of adding dates. You can embed a picture or graphic with your announcement by Browsing your folder structure. You can also Browse for a downloadable pdf document to be associated with this announcement. You can title this document and provide a link if necessary. Perhaps the document could be the electronic version of the PTO meeting reminder that went home in the last packet. You can even add an entirely different second link by typing its url and providing link text. When you re finished, click Save and use the navigation menu to return to your class. When you re back at your class management page, you ll see your new announcement. The last thing you can do with your Online Classroom is to add photos to the Photo Gallery. Before we do that, we must first prepare our photos. Any photo we add to Photo Gallery must be an individual jpeg file. So if your photos are all located in iphoto, you will first have to export the photos you want to publish. Save them as jpeg files into a folder. After our photos are prepared, let s get started by clicking on Add Gallery Photo. On the Photo Gallery page, you can add a series of photos. Use the Browse button to locate your first photo by navigating through the folder structure. Give this particular Photo Gallery a titled name. In the Caption text field, write a caption for this photo. And finally, rank the photo as to which one should be seen first, second, and so on. 0 is the highest ranking, the photo your viewers will see first. Click Save and repeat for additional photos. You can change the position of the photos by changing the rank of each photo. So. Curious after all this hard work to see what your Online Classroom looks like? Page 19 of 21

Open Safari, and you will probably open to your building s home page. If you don t, go to www.readingschools.

To get to the current Online Classrooms, click on Online Classroom in the left column.

building. We hope to fill up this page in a day or two!

20 Open Safari, and you will probably open to your building s home page. If you don t, go to and click on your building s name in the left column. To get to the current Online Classrooms, click on Online Classroom in the left column. After clicking on Online Classroom, the viewer sees a list of all the available Online Classrooms for that school building. We hope to fill up this page in a day or two! To access an Online Classroom, simply find the teacher s name and click on the particular course you want to see. And here s your Online Classroom! Note your is available to users of this site. Here, I clicked on Links & Downloads. Here s what the user sees when Assignments is clicked. Page 20 of 21

an Online Classroom for each class you teach complete with Announcements, Assignments, Links and Downloads, and even a

21 And here s what the user sees when a title is clicked under News and Announcements. Well, that pretty much does it! If you really got into this, you ve completed your Staff Directory information, added a Content Page or two, and created an Online Classroom for each class you teach complete with Announcements, Assignments, Links and Downloads, and even a Photo Gallery. Whew! Last thing: Don t forget to Logout of the Content Management System by clicking on the Logout button. Page 21 of 21

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