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.

According to Wikipedia, a splash page is "an image that appears while a game or program is loading. The term may also be used to describe an introduction page on a website." In other words, it is a visual that will pop up temporarily until whatever it is that you are waiting on has completed loading or it is the first thing that appears when you navigate to a website. They are used to enhance the overall appearance of your site. In order to create a splash page you must mess with the codes.  Provided below is an example:

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 this teacher is absolutely correct. Although we learn new things and acquire knowledge throughout our academic career, that is not its main purpose. He is saying that schools main purpose is to prepare young people for the obstacles, hardships, and adversity that they will undoubtedly face in their lives. The teacher is begging his students (and all students) not to give up and not to quit; otherwise we are missing the point of education and will not be fully prepared to take on the real adult world and be successful.

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 have completed 6 pages, so I am a little behind. I should cut back on the quantity on content per page. I will have to work diligently to finish on time. I don't think I will be able to finish tomorrow at the end of the hour. A block day would be helpful to finish the website.

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!

I celebrated St. Patrick's Day by going to the Brookside and Downtown parades. Then on the 18th, I had the privilege of sharing my birthday with Abby. We went to Houston's, Cupcake A La Mode, and Coldstone Creamery on the Plaza for lunch. Then we had Chinese for dinner and bundt cake for dessert. Then the next morning we flew out of KCI headed to San Diego to see my grandparents. They are renting a place about one hour north of San Diego in a little town called Carlsbad. Their place in right on the beach. In California I walked on the beach, made sandcastles, played frisbee, went to the farmer's market, and celebrated my grandmother's birthday. I also read three books. I went to SeaWorld and saw the Dolphin, Shamu, and Sea Otter shows. Additionally, I visited some colleges in California. I got home this morning at two and am currently very tired.

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 like the layout of this project because it gives a student the opportunity to be creative, a skill that students rarely get to practice in their core classes. I have benefited from my brainstorming sheet because it has provided me with a basic guideline for my website. I found it to be more helpful than annoying because without it I would have not thought of all my pages or have been so organized

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 caught up. I have already brainstorming packet, established a folder in Dreamweaver, wire framed the site using tables, and created a header in Photoshop. I have not yet completed my footer; in order to get caught up I will have to work efficiently today. Time helps me stay caught up in class. I like having small checkpoints so I can monitor my progress and ensure that I am staying on task.

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

The idea that is going to make my product website different is that I am planning to use a fun color scheme with lots of pictures that will make to website easy to navigate. These pictures will include pictures of stuffed animals (bears, dogs, cats, bunnies) and of clothing that they can wear

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 have decided to sell Build-a-Bears on my product website. I have chosen to sell build-a-bears because I love build-a-bears and the joy they can bring to people. I personally have a Build-a-bear; his name is Buddy, and he is currently wearing his "Love is the stuff in side" T-shirt with his heart boxers.

Wednesday, February 26

What are three things you learned about color theory and web design  yesterday? Go in to detail.

Three things that I learned about color theory and web design yesterday were the different color schemes, color blindness, and the importance of color harmony. Obviously, I knew about the primary and secondary colors and about complementary colors, but I was not aware of all the other types of scheme, such as, monochromatic and analogous. I has never before considered the world through the eyes of someone who was colorblind, so learning about it was a real interesting experience for me. Finally, color harmony fascinated be, just how the colors are perceived when put with another and how the human brain responds.

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.

Color scheme has a significant effect on a website. Color has the ability to convey and provoke emotion in a viewer. Color schemes that complement each other can really improve the quality of a website. While colors schemes that do not complement each other can hurt the quality of a website. If the color scheme doesn't align with the content of the website this could cause confusion for the viewer. For example, if the BVHS football website was silver and forest green instead of black and gold.

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.

I learned that saving files as the the correct type of file is crucial. In my travel website I would save my Photoshop images as PNG files. Then, I could use these PNG files to create a website in Dreamweaver. I do not know of many any other types of files nor what they could potentially do. I think PDF is a file type; however, I am not aware of its specific function, all of know is that teachers post worksheets to their websites that are PDFs.

Types of Files:
 PNG, PDF, DOCX, .PPT, 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?

I really enjoyed making the Travel Site. I had never really made or seen a website like that were no clicking is required. Well, I learned quite a bit; I had never used Photoshop, so that whole process was new. I had also never saved documents as PNG files. My favorite part was at the end when I got to put everything together in Dreamweaver to make a final product. This knowledge of how I built this site will help improve creativity and organization.

Tuesday, February 18

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

Photoshop can be a very valuable tool in web design. Web Designer can use Photoshop to create and alter images and photos. For example on the travel site, we used Photoshop to make the title of our website. A web designer should have Photoshop in his or her arsenal in order to create a good website.

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 do not know much about Photoshop. I think it is a program used to edit photos, such as color effects and cropping. I might have used it in my eighth grade computer class at Blue Valley Middle School, but that was a long time ago. I am definitely not an expert; in fact, I am a newbie. Hopefully when we start using it I will recognize some things.

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.

A user might function and interact with my website by exploring the pages that I have created using DreamWeaver. An important feature are the links as they help a user navigate within the website. There is nothing more frustrating than a broken or non functioning link. Another important feature is that all of the pages have a similar format so the user does not confused

Monday, February 3

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

I did not go to Sweetheart. Instead, I spent my Saturday night with my family. We ate Mexican food, played Wii party, and watched Melissa McCarthy on Saturday Night Live. As for the rest of the weekend, on Saturday morning I went to a spin class at 68's Inside Sports. Then, I went to the dentist, no cavities! I went to church on Sunday morning. Then, watched the Super Bowl at my Aunt and Uncle's house.

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 colorful, fun, and organized. The four main content pages are labeled family, friends, activities, and favorites. I chose these topics because I believe these topics will do an adequate job of describing me. I still do not have a big plan for what is going to make my site stand out, but I am working on it.

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.

HTML code is different from anything than I have ever worked with. It is similar to learning a foreign language; therefore, it takes practice to really get the hang of it. The coding activity really wasn't that exciting and required extreme attention to detail, but I did learn a lot from it. I learned different vocabulary for HTML and got exposed to the fundamental aspects of the code.

Monday, January 21

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

Friday: After getting out at noon, I decided to take a nap. Then I went to my dads house to spend the weekend with him. Later that night I watched "Fun with Dick and Jane" with Abby.
Saturday: I slept in until noon. I played an indoor soccer game in Lenexa at 3:30. My sisters and I went over to our cousins house and sorted through family photos. I had Minsky's pizza (Canadian bacon and pineapple) for dinner. Then, I played another indoor soccer game in Blue Springs at 11:00.
Sunday: I went to church with family and had lunch at Panera. Next, my family and I went to Leawood Park and played tennis. For the rest of the day, I watched football.
Monday: I played yet another indoor soccer game at 10:00 in Blue Springs. I spent the rest of the day doing 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 agree with this statement. People should be aware that once they post an image online it is there forever. They should also know that what they post can be used by anybody; therefore, when someone posts an image they should consider the consequences if it were to be seen by someone like an employer or your parents.

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.

 Yes, I know about plagiarism. Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. Plagiarism on the internet is very easy to do; all you have to do is copy and paste. Advances have led to websites that can detect plagiarism, such as turnitin.com. For my AP United States History Class and my AP English class students have to turn in papers to turnitin.com to ensure that there is no plagiarism. Web design affects the plagiarism because people can take information from websites and try to pass that information as their own.

Friday, January 10

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

I do not know much about web design. It is a good thing that I am in this class! I just learned a little bit about HTML codes; well all I did was delete it. In middle school I took a computer class where I created a website; however, I do not remember anything about it. I might have used a program before, but without my knowledge of doing so.