June 1

Are Humans Following the Rules?

Plastic trash rides ocean currents to the Arctic

 Scientists track tiny pieces of trash at the top of the world
MAY 23, 2017 — 7:10 AM EST
ocean trash   This article is about how scientists were able to track plastic garbage and see how it followed the current all the way up to the top of the world–the Arctic. The researchers filled nets with water from the Arctic Ocean and found little bits of trash in it! The floating bits of plastic gets pushed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arctic Ocean and gets trapped there, because the ice and land keeps the current from pushing the trash any farther. Also, an oceanographer who wanted to see where plastic goes says that the amount of plastic in the Arctic will likely increase. Eventually, the Arctic may be filled with trash!
March 17

My Ancient Egyptian Website

HELP WANTED: JEWLER

This was the headline for my ancient Egyptian website that I coded in d.lab this trimester. This is the link that will take you to the website that I created!

http://web.editey.com/0B_V7ceaui2mTWG1mMUNWU0hRSHc/index.html

I really like how I described what are the perks and downsides to being a jeweler, but there was one thing that nagged at me. I wasn’t able to create solid paragraphs one the Learn More page–meaning that I wasn’t able to indent them. It may seem like a tiny imperfection, but the truth is, I can be kind of a perfectionist, and I would like to learn how to code indentions into my paragraphs.

I’m supposed to describe “One thing I learned,” but I really can’t do that, because there’s not one simple thing. But then again, if I made a list naming break tags, center tags, close tags, insert picture tags, and much more, it would take me all day. So I’ll simply say that I learned a LOT about coding! I learned about all types of different tags, how to insert images, and all about different sites that you can use for coding. Something that I struggled with was actually putting in an image. This is a specific problem with a certain tag, and although I had problems with other things, as well, I remember how I would forget to put in quotes around the HTML code or something simple like that.

I would love to do this again. I enjoyed everything about it, and even out of school, I would be happy if someone came up to me and said, “Will you code me a website,” randomly, or something similar. It was an amazing experience, and I think if I do it again, my next website will be a lot better, since this was my first time–I will have had more practice.

Overall, it was an incredible time, and I really loved coding my ancient Egyptian tomb website!

 

January 27

My Infographic Project

During the infographic project, I learned many interesting things. But one fact that really stood out to me was that there are 400,000 more women than men in New York City. I never knew that, and it was amazing to find out. When I read that fact, I was SUPER surprised!

Throughout the project, I learned a lot more technical skills. I learned how to use tech-y tools, such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Before the infographics project, I had no idea that Adobe Illustrator even existed! Another skill that I learned was how to work with frustrations. Computers are advanced, yes, but they are also tricky to use at times. They can be messed up easily, and if you don’t know how the tech works, you may fail with your project!

Outside of school, I will definitely use these skills again. Without a doubt, at some point in time, Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop will come in handy. I’m really excited to show someone about how it works. Clair taught us, and someday I can teach somebody else!

As for enjoying the project, I had a lot of fun messing around with Illustrator and Photoshop, finding photos to use, and researching facts. I LOVED learning about the new tools, too.

I would really, really, REALLY like using Photoshop and Illustrator again! They were super fun to experiment with. And I would love making another infographic. It would be cool to do one about the population of Tucson, Arizona and compare it with the one for New York City.

A lot of times the two programs that we used would get messed up and I’d have problems. But other than that, everything was particularly easy.

My all-time favorite part was when we found the pictures. A lot of times Eli and I would have trouble picking one, but eventually we decided on five.

The infographic project was really fun and very educational.

October 6

My Zoetrope

This is an image of my zoetrope. It is a sun rising, then setting. After that, the moon rises and it sets, as well. It works well as a zoetrope because directly after the moon sets the sun rises again! I like making zoetropes because I love discovering new ways of animation. Everyone thinks about videos and iMovies being all the rage right now, but remember, back then, zoetropes were what people had to use if they wanted to see animation. To me, having a sun rise, then set and doing the same thing with the moon is a simple thing to draw, so for this project it would definitely be my best work. But I could draw things with more detail. However, I think that this is my best work because I tried hard and took my time, yet completing the task at hand efficiently. In my next project, I think that I will do most things the same, using the same techniques and methods of efficiency. That is the zoetrope that I made. img_3773

July 1

Welcome to your digital portfolio!

Welcome to your brand new digital portfolio/blog at blogs.lrei.org!

Your portfolio can be used for many things through out your middle and high school years, including:

  • Documenting and reflecting on your learning, passions, and interests, both in and out of school
  • Curating and highlight work for your Family Conferences
  • In some instances, your teachers will ask you to submit, reflect and comment on work in this portfolio

It is our hope that you also seek to make this a personally relevant learning space in which you curate work that is important and meaningful to you. As you build this learning space, we also hope that you will use it as a way to connect with other learners in the LREI community and beyond.

Your LREI account (Mail, Docs/Drive) credentials will automatically get you into your blog. Here are a few things you’ll want to take a look at:

1. Change the name of your blog. To do this, go back to the Dashboard and click on the “Home” symbol, then on “MS Digital Portfolio Template” under “This Blog.”

Blog

In the field for “Site Title,” add a new title. You can use your first name if you want (e.g., “Mark’s Digital Portfolio”), but don’t use your first and last name. You can also create a title that doesn’t have your name in it. Be as creative as you want, but keep in mind that the title should relate to the purpose of the portfolio.

title

After you’ve added a new title, click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page.

 

2. Add a Post

For the most part, you’ll be adding items to your blog as posts. To add a new post, you can click on the +New button in the top bar of your blog, and then select “Post.”

Screen Shot 2014-09-04 at 8.45.30 AM

You’ll want to give each post a title, and assign it to a Category. These categories are broken down by class and grade (e.g., fifth grade, core, etc.). This will allow you to organize and sort information so that you can control the look and feel of your blog. If you take a look at the menu bar under the blog title, you see the different groups of categories (e.g., class, grade, teacher, etc.).

When you’re done with your post you can click “Publish” on the side to make the post appear on your blog

Screen Shot 2014-09-04 at 8.54.08 AM

For assistance, come see Clair in the Tech Lab, check out our comprehensive support site, or take a look at our Edublogs User Guide guide.

You can also subscribe to our brilliant free publication, The Edublogger, which is jammed with helpful tips, ideas and more.

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