ONLINE LESSON PLAN DIRECTIONS

THINGS YOU WILL DO ONLY ONCE...

THINGS YOU WILL DO EACH WEEK...

Things you will do only once…

How to register:

  1. Go to www.edublogs.org.
  2. Click on “Sign-up here” (middle of the page).
  3. For your user name type WHS followed by your HISD user name (for example, WHSrcastro).
  4. Type in an email address (for example, rcastro@gmail.com). We recommend using a personal email account just in case HISD filters the activation email.
  5. Click the box to check “I agree”.
  6. Click “Give me a blog.”
  7. On the next page, leave the blog domain as it is.
  8.  Make your blog title your name (for example, Mr. Castro).
  9. Leave privacy as yes (that’s the default setting, so you don’t have to do anything).
  10. Select “teacher” as your blog type and leave your language as English.
  11. Click the large “Sign up” button.
  12. Once you have done this, an email will be sent to the email address you provided. Open the email and click on the given link to activate your account. You will be taken to a page with an auto-generated password. Write it down! You can change it later.
  13. Click on the link below the password that will allow you to login. Once you’ve done that you will be taken to a page called your “dashboard.”

*You can also get to your dashboard by following steps 1 and 2 below.

How to log-in and set up the blog:

  1. Go to www.edublogs.org.
  2. In the middle of the page you will see a spot to type your user name and password. Do so and then click LOG-IN. You are now back to your dashboard page.
  3. You will see a set of tabs towards the top of the page such as WRITE and MANAGE. I will refer to these as tabs. Each time you click on a tab you will see a list of options just under the tab names. I will refer to these as subtabs. Click on the DESIGN tab.
  4. Scroll through the templates and find one CONTEMPT. Click on it and your presentation will be changed.
  5. Click on the subtab named WIDGETS.
  6. Scroll down and find ARCHIVE. Click Select it and then click ADD. Do the same for LINKS.
  7. Click on save changes.
  8. Click on the tab MANAGE. Click on the subtab named LINKS.
  9. Click on the box before the examples to select them and then click delete.
  10. Click ADD NEW. Under NAME type Westside High School Website. In the address box type www.westsidewolves.org.
  11. Scroll down and select blogroll. Scroll back up and click SAVE (on right side of screen).
  12. On the top right of the screen click SETTINGS.
  13. Change your tagline to your department name (for example, Technology Department).
  14. Scroll down and find where it says timezone and change it to -5.Scroll down and click SAVE CHANGES.
  15. Click on the DISCUSSION subtab. Uncheck all check marks in the first section. This will turn comments off. Then, make sure all items have check marks in the last section. Click SAVE CHANGES.
  16. Click on the COMMENTS tab. Select the sample comments. Click DELETE.
  17. Click on the MANAGE tab. Click on the POSTS subtab. Select the sample posting and click DELETE.
  18. Click on the PAGES select the sample “About” page. Click DELETE.
  19. Click on the WRITE tab.
  20. Make sure the WRITE PAGE subtab is selected. If it isn’t, click on it.
  21. Title your page Contact Information. In the bigger box (called the Editor) type the following information about yourself. Notice the name is bolded. Also, in order for it to not skip a line each time, hold down shift while you hit enter at the end of the line:

Noelle Stockman
Room: East 125
Email: nstockma@houstonisd.org
Phone: 281.920.8000 ext. 6025

  1. Click PUBLISH on the right side. You are finished with this page!
  2. Click the WRITE tab and make sure the PAGE subtab is selected.
  3. Title your next page Schedule. This will include your class schedule and your tutorial schedule. Format it as you see below.

Class Schedule:
Period 1: BCIS (E125)
Period 2: BCIS (E125)
Period 3: Conference (E125)
Period 4: BCIS (E125)
Period 5: Westside Business Ownership (E125)
Period 6: BCIS (E125)
Period 7: BCIS (E125)


Tutorial Schedule:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 7:15-7:45am in E125
Tuesday, Thursday: 3:15-4:00pm in N225 with Ms. Smith

  1. Click PUBLISH. You are finished with this page!
  2. Click the WRITE tab and make sure the PAGE subtab is selected.
  3. Title your next page Syllabus. Click PUBLISH. We will finish this page later.

How to change your password:

  1. Click on where it says your user name on the top right corner of the screen. Scroll down and find NEW PASSWORD. Type in your new password and click update profile. Please write down and email yourself this password in case you forget it. We also recommend using a password that’s not private so that if you need help, you can give your password to Helen Pham or someone else that can help you.

How to post the syllabus:

  1. You must follow the directions below to save your files as pdf files before you complete this section!!!
  2. Click on the MANAGE tab. Then click on the subtab named PAGES. Find the page called Syllabus and click on it. Above the editor box, click on the last icon (when you put your mouse over it – it says ADD MEDIA). Click “Choose files to upload.” Browse to find the pdf version of your syllabus. Double click on it. You should see a spot for TITLE. Type in the name of your course here (for example, BCIS). Click INSERT TO POST. If you only have one prep you click publish.
  3. If you have more than one prep, click ADD MEDIA again. Browse for your next syllabus. Double click on the file name. Title your second syllabus the name of your course (for example, WESTSIDE BUSINESS OWNERSHIP). Click INSERT INTO POST. You will do this as many times as you need to have all posted. In the editor, put your curser between the course names and hit enter. Select both and then click the bullet icon. Click SAVE.

Things you will do each week…

How to save your files as pdf files:

  1. Open your lesson plan (or syllabus) in Word (or Excel). Click FILE, PRINT. Next to the printer’s name, click the drop down arrow and select the printer named PRIMOPDF (if you can’t find it, contact Helen Pham). Click OK.
  2. A box will pop-up. Click OK. This will NOT print your file. This will convert it to a pdf file. Now you should have it opened in Word and as a pdf file.
  3. Click FILE, SAVE A COPY (if a pop-up appears, check the box and click OK). Make sure you are saving it wherever you save your lesson plans. Name it what you want to name it and click SAVE.
  4. Although you want to keep a copy of it in Word (or Excel), you will also save all of your lesson plans (and syllabus) this way. Repeat this process with your syllabus.

How to post your lesson plans:

  1. Return to your blog website and click on WRITE. Make sure the subtab POSTS is selected.
  2. Title the post as Lesson Plans (8/25-8/29)
  3. Click ADD MEDIA. Find your lesson plan (for week 1) for your first prep. This should be the pdf version. Double click the file. Then title it the name of your subject (for example BCIS). Then click INSERT TO POST. Do this for as many preps as you have. Then in the editor, put your curser between the names of the courses and hit enter. Select the text and click on the bullets icon. Click PUBLISH.

** You will repeat this each week and change the title of the post to Lesson Plans (current week’s dates) and you will always title the file the same way (the subject’s name).

Quick reminders…

*When you add lesson plans it’s a post (and it’s on your main page)
*When you add a separate page (like Contact Information) it’s a page
*To add NEW posts you will always go to the WRITE tab. Then you will follow the directions under How to Post your Lesson Plans. Make sure you change the dates each week and make sure you are always selecting the pdf version of the files.
*To edit content on the Schedule or Contact Information page you will always go to the MANAGE tab.
*If you made a mistake in Word and need to change it, you will have to go to Word and make the change. Then, resave it as a pdf file. Then go to the MANAGE tab. Find the correct week to fix and click EDIT. Then go to the text box (the editor) and delete the one that needs to be changed. Then, repost the new one. (Click browse, find it, click it, click open, etc….)

If you need any help, please contact Noelle MacGregor (still Stockman for email), Lauren Smith, Susan Boone, Felipe Resendez or Helen Pham.