I was on my way to work today and came up with my theme.  Yes, it is almost Week 5.  But, I want to use the story to illustrate my three treats:  Gingerbread cookies, waffles, and cupcakes.  I would create a gingerbreadwoman character and have her become a cooking chef hero at the end (cape and all).  Okay, so who wants to bring my dream to life?  🙂

Your graphics should look like THIS KIND of quality!

Your index.html page is due on Friday!  You’ve got this!

During this week, we will be working on the graphics portion of our website.  Begin paying careful attention to the logos, banners, and navigation of your favorite websites.  How could you replicate it?  Remember, you want your website to stand out.  What could you do differently?  Continue to take those original pictures including a background.

Banner/Icon Letters as food. Tools as letters. Icon merging three page topics together.

OPTION 1: Original picture wrapped around content representing three pages.

OPTION 2: Quote for Main Picture Idea

I am so proud of your ideas, creativity, work ethic.  Keep thinking about how you could use your mindmap plan to create your website.

You will have a coding quiz this week.  Don’t forget to study!  Since this is our first assessment, you will want to perform well.  I believe in you.

An alumni asked me what my eight expectations are as a teacher.  Curious?  Here you go:

• Don’t look for textbook answers. Go above and beyond and outside the box to discover original ones.
• Be creative. If a person to the left or right of you (or across the room) has the same idea as you, it isn’t good enough.
• Fail often, but continue to try even more.
• Attendance and punctuality are important. I begin class right away and hate wasting learning time.
• Help others when you see that they need it. It is the right thing to do.
• Take good notes. You will use them repetitively.
• Ask questions. A lot of questions.  Exhaust the limit.  Get the most out of every lesson.
• Always overachieve. If a concept isn’t covered, try learning it on your own.  Then share with me how you did it.

Did you bring your notebook?  Writing utensil?  Stack of original pictures related to the theme?

We will have our first Photoshop and coding exercises this week!  Get hungry for learning as we dive into our curriculum.  🙂

CONTEST FEEDBACK

1. Remind the girls that the judges are NOT judging their food choices. There is no right/wrong food selection.
2. Mackenzie Johnson – her food choices are fine but she may be making too much work for herself with her “vs” idea AND she seems to be focusing on just two categories instead of three. Tell her KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweety)
3. Tell Shana to focus focus focus. Her restaurant idea is good, but make sure she doesn’t bounce around too much. Again, KISS.
4. I LOVE the “food fight” idea! (I am not a judge, tell her.) 
5. Heck, a girl could create a site about baby food or about foods that are blue. 
6. The homeless shelter idea is creative but, again, FOCUS. This is about food, not about people who work at a shelter. Focus on the food at a shelter. 
7. The learning-to-cook idea is fine, too. Focus, though. 
8. Let the girls know they don’t need long narratives. 
9. PLEASE don’t let anyone link to their personal Weebly sites. They may think they have no personal data on it, but they always do. They will lose 5 points if we find personal data. Last year, one of your girls had a Weebly link. Her home address was on one of the documents, with her phone number. 
10. Oh — tell Emily that she needs to proofread carefully, especially with  apostrophes and plurals or she’ll lose points for grammar/spelling. It’s not party’s and family’s, it’s parties and families. 
11. When I read “things to do with food without eating it” I thought, at first, that she was anorexic and was going to talk about how to push food around on your plate as you pretend to eat. Whew! Her idea is very nice. 

The first day of school is Tuesday, September 8 and it is a half day.

Turn in signed letter home by FRIDAY!

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Congratulations!  You’ve made it through the 2014-15 school year!  Enjoy your time off.  My plans are to spend quality time with the kids, relax, take a trip to a Microsoft conference in Philadelphia, and visit my brother in Seattle.  Of course, I will be completing some runs along the way.  Set more goals for yourself and chase after them.

Summer.  Break.  So exciting.  But not just yet!  We will be discussing your website presentations.  Don’t forget to bring your tangible item to class on Tuesday.  I am so excited to see your work shown off to the entire class.  It should be recognized by all.  Please refrain from being nervous.

During this week, we will discuss our final exam essay requirements.  You will need to complete this before final exam week so that we can use them as a script to present your websites in front of the class.  Don’t be super intimidated.  No one is too scary!

Page 5 is due on Wednesday!  That’s it.  *dances*   We will also be completing our final Photoshop lesson.  Everything is winding down.  Please put forth your best effort on these final weeks of school.  Summer is almost here.