netTrekker Blog

Organization is Key

My Portfolio provides a place to collect links from netTrekker d.i., links from your other subscriptions and sources. You may add templates, a timeline, famous person search criteria with results, and images.

However, once you put everything together in one folder, you get a mess. And right now, my folder is a big mess!

Think of your file cabinet. More than likely everything is in a folder and organized, not just thrown together. That’s our next step, to create folders for organization.

First, open the folder you want to organize. On the left hand side there is a button that says “NEW FOLDER”. Click on that and you can create a new folder. You will have an opportunity to name the folder and give it a description as well. I created several folders for this project, including Famous Scientists, Images, and then two Website folders, one for Science Fair Project Ideas and one for the Scientific Method.

The next step is to move the items from the main folder to their respective sub-folder. On the left side of the websites are check boxes. Check off the ones need to moved to a specific folder, then click on move (right hand corner). When you click on move, your entire portfolio will open with the structure viewable. I selected scientific method websites to be moved into the

“Websites: Scientific Method” folder. I didn’t see the folder at first, but next to the Science Fair folder there is a plus sign. By clicking on the plus sign, I can expand the Science Fair Folder to see the sub-folders. I then click on Websites: Scientific Method and then move.

By doing this, you can easily organize a project with all your resources right there at your fingertips. Some quick tips:

• Folders will line up alphabetically and they will also line up numerically.
• If you need to order your materials, consider numbering the folders
• This process can also be used in the school or district sharing area.

Hop to it! If we don’t organize now, we’ll be a mess later! (Take it from someone who knows!)

Tags: Folder, My Portfolio, Project Based Learning, Save Search

Linking outside of netTrekker d.i.

Did you get your folder started? I hope so, because today we’re going to look at how to add websites not found in netTrekker d.i.

netTrekker d.i.has over 300,000 digital resources that are relevant and aligned to your state standards, but there are bound to be websites not in netTrekker d.i. that you would like to add to your Portfolio. You may wish to add the link to an online quiz, your personal website, an online document or a link to another subscription provided to your students. Any of these links may be easily added to your netTrekker d.i. portfolio.

First, click on My Portfolio and open up the folder you want to add the link to. You will see several buttons running across the top of that folder, including a button that says “ADD WEBSITE”. Click on that button and a new window will pop up. This is where you will add the URL (I recommend copying and pasting the URL so there’s no mistake), the Name of the website you are adding and then a description of the website.

Please note that Read Aloud, Dictionary and Readability will not work with links originating outside of netTrekker d.i.

Some of the items that I like to add to folders include Quizzes from Quia, a book list from Scholastic’s Book Wizard, a link to my blog or wiki, or BrainPop videos. What websites will you be adding to your portfolio?

On a side note, if you have a great link that should be added to netTrekker d.i.’s database, you can send it to us via the CONTACT US TOOL. The CONTACT US TOOL is located on the right hand side in the yellow MY TOOLS box.

Tags: blog, My Portfolio, netTrekker d.i., quiz, Save Search, video, website, wiki