Post by Otaku on Apr 18, 2008 8:55:08 GMT 8
I'm currently creating a page to better help people make worksheets. I'm looking for suggestions on what else to put on the page. This is what I have so far:
1. Student's Name
Instead of merely writing "Name:" at the top of your worksheet, write "My name is ________." And, make sure the 'underline' is long enough for them to write their name in English. Making the line too short might result in them writing their names in kanji. For years I've merely been typing "Name:" and more than 70% of the time, students write their name in kanji. While this might seem pedantic, I encourage my students to ALWAYS write their names in English. I believe students learn English better by always keeping an English-orientated classroom. Writing their names in kanji, I believe, gears the students' minds back into 'Japanese-mode', which isn't a negative thing, but it has no place in the English classroom. This tip encourages your students to think in 'English-mode' and has resulted in a surprisingly increase of students writing their names in English.
2. No Katakana
I'm not going to delve into the methodologies of using katakana in the English classroom, but I do believe it makes the students lazy and hinders them from making that shift into 'English-mode'. I know sometimes you will want to use it, I've been guilty of this myself, but all katakana used as a superscript to English words on worksheets that are submitted to Englipedia will have the katakana removed and sometimes even asked to re-submit the worksheet. I'm not trying to be mean, I just believe students are smarter than using the katakana-crutch.
3. Worksheet File Sizes
There are some rare occassions but file size of a worksheet should generally be under 500kbs (1/2 a Mb). I, too, have been guilty of creating huge worksheets and never worried about the file size because I had a huge hard drive on my computer. However, Engipedia only has 500Mbs of storage space so I'm trying to make every megabyte count. Here's a great tip to drastically reduce the size of your worksheet.
Worksheet files are only huge because of two reasons: pictures and clipart. Before I started Englipedia, I too, used to find a picture I wanted to use and simply drag the picture into Microsoft Word and adjust it to the size I desired. BUT, while the picture might look resized, it still keeps its actual size in terms of file space. This is why a lot of your worksheets are probably 3-5Mbs big. Here's a great and simple solution to this problem. Simply visit THIS SITE. This site is extremely simple to use. You simply upload the picture you want to resize, manually click-n-drag the picture into your so-desired size, and download it back onto your computer.
Yeah, the 'click-n-drag' into Microsoft Word is much easier to make your worksheet, but you are no longer storing the worksheet on your computer, rather Englipedia. One of Englipedia's goal is to provide the fastest-surfing website for you and everybody else, so this additional resizing-step will benefit all of us in the future.
4. Worksheet Heading
Everybody likes to put a huge heading at the top of their worksheets, I know I do. However, this heading needs to match the name of the activity you submit to Englipedia. This aligns your submission with your worksheet, which makes it painless to go into my backup files and find a specific worksheet if something should every happen to the worksheet on the website.
5. Margins
You can make the margins on your worksheet any size you want. However, the left margin needs to be at least 15mm (.59in). This is so hole punches can be made without affecting and of the print on the worksheet.
Can you think of other things to improve the quality of worksheets?
1. Student's Name
Instead of merely writing "Name:" at the top of your worksheet, write "My name is ________." And, make sure the 'underline' is long enough for them to write their name in English. Making the line too short might result in them writing their names in kanji. For years I've merely been typing "Name:" and more than 70% of the time, students write their name in kanji. While this might seem pedantic, I encourage my students to ALWAYS write their names in English. I believe students learn English better by always keeping an English-orientated classroom. Writing their names in kanji, I believe, gears the students' minds back into 'Japanese-mode', which isn't a negative thing, but it has no place in the English classroom. This tip encourages your students to think in 'English-mode' and has resulted in a surprisingly increase of students writing their names in English.
2. No Katakana
I'm not going to delve into the methodologies of using katakana in the English classroom, but I do believe it makes the students lazy and hinders them from making that shift into 'English-mode'. I know sometimes you will want to use it, I've been guilty of this myself, but all katakana used as a superscript to English words on worksheets that are submitted to Englipedia will have the katakana removed and sometimes even asked to re-submit the worksheet. I'm not trying to be mean, I just believe students are smarter than using the katakana-crutch.
3. Worksheet File Sizes
There are some rare occassions but file size of a worksheet should generally be under 500kbs (1/2 a Mb). I, too, have been guilty of creating huge worksheets and never worried about the file size because I had a huge hard drive on my computer. However, Engipedia only has 500Mbs of storage space so I'm trying to make every megabyte count. Here's a great tip to drastically reduce the size of your worksheet.
Worksheet files are only huge because of two reasons: pictures and clipart. Before I started Englipedia, I too, used to find a picture I wanted to use and simply drag the picture into Microsoft Word and adjust it to the size I desired. BUT, while the picture might look resized, it still keeps its actual size in terms of file space. This is why a lot of your worksheets are probably 3-5Mbs big. Here's a great and simple solution to this problem. Simply visit THIS SITE. This site is extremely simple to use. You simply upload the picture you want to resize, manually click-n-drag the picture into your so-desired size, and download it back onto your computer.
Yeah, the 'click-n-drag' into Microsoft Word is much easier to make your worksheet, but you are no longer storing the worksheet on your computer, rather Englipedia. One of Englipedia's goal is to provide the fastest-surfing website for you and everybody else, so this additional resizing-step will benefit all of us in the future.
4. Worksheet Heading
Everybody likes to put a huge heading at the top of their worksheets, I know I do. However, this heading needs to match the name of the activity you submit to Englipedia. This aligns your submission with your worksheet, which makes it painless to go into my backup files and find a specific worksheet if something should every happen to the worksheet on the website.
5. Margins
You can make the margins on your worksheet any size you want. However, the left margin needs to be at least 15mm (.59in). This is so hole punches can be made without affecting and of the print on the worksheet.
Can you think of other things to improve the quality of worksheets?