This week I experimented with
creating a classroom newsletter in Microsoft Publisher, creating QR codes,
using Sign-Up Genius, and using Dropbox.
It was a lot of little applications that went into one big production,
so let me explain.
I began in Microsoft
Publisher. This is a program that I have
never used before and I was excited to learn how it could be useful in the
classroom. Unfortunately, it did not come
with the Microsoft Suite that I purchased recently, so I signed up online for a
subscription in which this program was included for $9.99/month. Not a bad price to try it out (I already used
up my 1 month free trial in January), considering buying the program alone is
$109.99. I began by choosing a
template. I searched “newsletter” and a
couple came up. I liked the option of
starting with a template because I was able to just fill in the boxes and
didn’t need to worry about formatting. I
changed the colors around to customize it a bit too. I created a fake school name, mascot, and 5th
grade class to serve as the basis of my newsletter, “Eagle Eye News.” One of the stories in my newsletter was to
inform families of the upcoming graduation ceremony and celebration. Like any school does, I asked for volunteers
to sign up online.
This brings me to the next
application I tried out: Sign-Up
Genius. I had to create an account and
then click on the tab to “build a sign-up” where I was then prompted to choose
a theme for my page. The themes are
whimsical and fun. This is the one I
chose:
I was prompted to fill in a title, description, dates & times, customize the sign-up slots, and then enter the email addresses of all those I want to invite to sign up. Once the invites are sent out, the guests are sent a link to click on that leads right to my page. I opted to receive notifications every time one of my invitees responds. But wait, there’s more!
To make my
sign-up even more convenient and accessible I decided to create a QR code to
add to my newsletter. If you are
unfamiliar with QR codes, I have a feeling that once you see one you will know
what I’m talking about. Here’s an
example:
Ahhhhhh! Yes! THAT’S what those things are! QR codes are simply coded boxes that, when
scanned by a special QR scanner (download the app on your smartphone!), will
take you to a website. I visited http://www.qrstuff.com/ to create mine. It was free (I didn’t even need to create an
account!) and all I did was copy and paste my url for my sign-up sheet and
clicked “download” and it popped up in a document for me to cut and paste right
into my newsletter. The advantage to
using one of these is that it makes it easy to find a site from a
smartphone. No typing needed! It’s all about making information accessible.
Below, you will find my completed mock newsletter below so you can check it out. Let me know what you think! What would you change?
