The LLD Project Blog

After making sure that the Class Feeds widget was still working (and no longer showing a link to jokes that I felt may be in bad taste), I rearranged and reformatted sidebar elements. I extended the Blogroll with fresh Pageflakes for ‘09-10, and a cross-link to The WinK Ning. I also expanded the listings to give you an idea where the links might take you.

I hope those changes makes navigation through this blog, and to related sites, easy for you. If so, you might want to make similar revisions in your own blog sidebars (Dashboard: Appearance: Widgets). If you have any questions about how add categories, links, and the like to your blog layouts, please ask in class.

[118 words]

The feed widget in the sidebar works again! Please see: English VII-VIII & LLD Project Wikis and Blog. I replaced feeds in it from the two wikis with an aggregate of those two wiki feeds plus the feed from this blog. Clicking on the green button below will show a page with all the feed details.

xFruits aggregate feed

If you’d like to see what’s new on the public sites for English VII-VII whenever you open your own blog, you can add a widget just like the one on this blog to your sidebar:

1. Click on “Get this widget!” (here or below the widget).
2. Then, at the SpringWidgets site, click on the “Click Here to Get The Code” button.
3. In the “Share this Widget” menu of options, select HTML, and copy the code.
4. Open your blog dashboard (Site Admin): Appearance – Widgets.
5. Add a new Text widget to your sidebar.
6. Paste the HTML code into the new widget; make sure to put it in the text field, not the title field.
7. The text widget title is optional, but you must save changes to the widget before you close it.

[194 words]

73 Ways to Become a Better Writer | Copyblogger (Mary Jaksch, 2009.07.27)

Thanks to Claudia Ceraso for social bookmarking this blog post. It’s replete with dozens of tips to improve our writing. Number 30 is one of my favorites.

Posted with Press This

[39 words]

Thank you for your participation in selection of blogs for best titles, layouts, sidebars, posts, and pages. The pie chart for overall best shows a near tie between BLUE FITTER… (5) and the lodger is a bat (6). The spreadsheet below shows which blogs you and your classmates picked in each category (Data).

[53 words]

Ever wonder whether people from around the world are visiting your blog? ClustrMaps can help you find out.

The thumbnail map in this post replicates a widget that I’ve just added to a sidebar, where it will remind me I’m writing for an audience. Getting one for your own blog is quite straight-forward. First you create a map; then you create a widget for it:

• Create a Map

1. Open your blog in a separate tab or window.
2. Click on the image above (Visitor locations); it links to the ClustrMaps site.
3. In the header, above the big map on that site, find “Create yours: ….”
4. Copy your blog URL and paste it into the space for “your site.”
5. Copy and paste (or carefully type) your gmail address into the space for that.
6. Click on the button labeled “Make my map;” you’ll go a ClustrMaps – Admin page with the recommended code for your widget.
7. Check your gmail for a message with a link and temporary password.
8. Follow the link in the message back to the ClustrMaps – Admin page.
9. Change your password to one you will remember; you’ll need both your exact blog URL and the temporary password to do so.
10. Record your new password for ClustrMaps and other details on your Usernames and Passwords worksheet.

• Create a Widget (for Edublogs)

1. Open your blog dashboard.
2. Open the widget manager (Design: Widgets).
3. Add a Text widget to the sidebar (of your choice, if two).
4. Click the Edit link on the new widget thumbnail; a text input box will open.
5. Type in a heading (optional).
6. Copy the recommended code from the ClustrMaps – Admin page for your blog (Create a Map, step 6, above).
7. Paste the code for your map into the main part of the text input box (Create a Widget, step 4, above).
8. Click on the Change button on the text input box to save the code and close the box.
9. Click on the Save Changes button to add the new widget to your blog display.
10. Display your blog (Visit Site) and admire your map!

[372 words]

Gmail signatures are a good way to convey information automatically with every message, for example your full name, student number, interest group(s), and blog URL.

This quick post is to let you know that I’ve combined the Gmail Signature assignment scheduled for later in the semester, with the Gmail assignment from earlier.

[90 words]

Some of you have reported trouble remembering usernames and passwords for sites that we’ll use frequently for English VII-VIII, §c. So I have prepared a worksheet that you can use to keep track of yours. If you decide to use this worksheet for usernames and passwords, please keep your copy of it in a safe place.

Usernames and Passwords by Paul Beaufait is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

[82 words]

There is yet another language learning link listed in the sidebar. This time it’s for listening, intermediate to advanced:

• Listen to English – learn English…

For a brief review of that website, please see this post:

• “Listen to English – learn English: the podcast website …” (Writing Studio Blog, 2009.05.12).

[46 words]

The language learning links in the sidebar include a new listing, one of Nik’s Daily English Activities: Improve Your Pronunciation (2008.02.29). Check it out!

[24 words]

This post represents suggestions for improving presentations made … last month by the listening, reading, and speaking focus groups. The list below springs from … pairs of suggestions to each group, made on the spot, combined with others that spring to mind as I consolidate the list.

These suggestions are now in rough chronological order.

0. First and foremost, prepare well in advance, especially when group cooperation is necessary.

Prep. & rehearsal

1. Keep the points that you list on each slide short and large.
2. Complete and assemble all of your slides.
3. Make sure nothing important is missing.
4. Create a back-up file (or two).
5. Rehearse your slide show completely, including slide displays, timing, transitions, and explanations.
6. Time your presentation, non-stop, from beginning to end, so you know you can complete it in the time allowed.
7. Rehearse more, to enhance or shorten your delivery as necessary.

Delivery (general)

1. Don’t read or recite from scripts or slides;
2. Explain points in sentences, speaking to your audience, rather than simply reciting topic headings.
3. If you cannot explain entirely from memory, use only brief notes;
4. Explain only the most important points, including important details not shown on slides.
5. If the audience has questions, answer them as time allows – either during delivery (if leisurely) or after finishing (if pressed for time).

Delivery (specific)

1. Explain which news articles or other resources you chose to read or use, and why you chose them.
2. Explain problems and solutions together (month by month), as you encountered and solved them.
3. Explain each product that you’ve listed, and what it shows that you’ve accomplished.

Post-delivery

1. Revise as necessary: Add missing or new info. to your presentation file, as list items or sub-headings.
2. Add links to actual products or resources, wherever possible.
3. Create additional slides, if necessary, to keep the displays large and clear (uncluttered).
4. Add notes to your slides, as reminders of keys points or questions from your delivery.
5. Make your revised presentation available online, for example, embedded in a blog post.

If you do all that, I’m sure you’ll make better presentations in the future, whether in English or in your native tongues!

[373 words]