Wixie makes it easy to deliver instruction both in class and remotely. This process is rapidly evolving as many districts and school work tirelessly to provide instructional materials and assessments without knowing where students will be learning.

By taking advantage of the site and district folders within Wixie, central office, curriculum personnel, and school leaders can quickly share customized templates with all Wixie-using teachers and students.

When students and teachers log in to Wixie, their home page shows a folder with the user’s school name and district in the list on the left. Users can open these folders to browse, assign, and open customized Wixie templates created and shared by educators at their site.

Creating custom templates

To create a Wixie template from a blank page, use the New button. You can also browse the Curriculum and Templates libraries to customize files that already exist in Wixie.

What you add and create will depend on the type of activity or template you are designing. For example, you can design:

• a basic page structure for a reflective journal.
• a drag and drop check for understanding.
• a graphic organizer or thinking routine.
• a project starter, such as backgrounds for a narrative writing project.

Keep things simple with a few images and empty boxes ready for student text. Add additional pages for each separate idea or student task. If you add objects, go to the Edit menu and choose Properties so that you can choose to lock, clone, and protect the objects.

Many of the activities may be very useful to assign to all of your students as a pre-assessment for formative purposes. But, with so many unique learners in your class, you may want to consider creating multiple versions to better differentiate instruction for the unique learners in your classroom.

Editing your template information so it can be found and used

If you are going to share your file, you need to add information so that it can be easily found and used.

When you are done creating the content, go to the File menu and choose Project Information. At the dialog enter the grade level, or levels, for the template, as well as keywords that will help teachers find it in a search.

Share finished activities and templates

When you are finished creating the template and adding pertinent project details, it is time to share it with other teachers at your site and district.

Use the Home button in the upper left corner to return to your Wixie home page.

You will see your template (or templates) in your My Projects list. Select the more (three dots) button to the right or below the project you want to share and choose Move to.

When the move dialog opens, you will see your My Projects folder.

Use the left-facing arrow to move up a level, so you can also see your school and district folders.

Now, use the right-facing arrows next to these folders to choose the place you want to store the file. The folders you see within the school and district folders will depend on the structure designed by your Wixie administrator.

• If you are a teacher using Wixie, you can copy your projects to the school folder and share with other educators at your site.
• If your Wixie role has been set to publisher by your Wixie administrator, you may also be able to copy your curriculum to the district folder.

Once you have selected a location, the Move button will change to Copy Here. Select the Copy Here button to make a copy into your school or district shared directories.

Now other teachers and students can browse these folders to open your template or use the Search field at the top to find it!

Developing to meet your goals

Teachers can simply open the Wixie templates you have created for formative assessment purposes, to support thinking, and to guide project work. Even if you want students to use Wixie to demonstrate their learning on a blank page through a combination of text, images, original artwork, and voice narration, you can still provide instructions on the panel of a blank page teachers can assign and then easily manage. 

If you are creating open-ended or blank-screen projects, go to the File menu and choose Project Information to type a description teachers can see as they browse your site or district folders.