Friday, September 30

Vocab Quiz #3 - Windows

We will start the day with our 3rd Vocab Quiz - this week's list had to do with Windows.

After completing the vocab quiz you need to finish Formatting Activity 2.  The instructions for this activity can be found on yesterday's blog post.  Remember that this should be printed out and handed in - not emailed.  When you print you should have 2 pages.

If you complete the Formatting Activity I would like for you to begin doing some work in Logo.  We learned about the primitive FORWARD on Wednesday.  Here are other primitives that Logo understands:

RIGHT, LEFT, BACK

You can use these 4 primitives to move Logo (your turtle, but it actually looks like a triangle on your screen) by typing in FORWARD or BACK followed by a number that you want your turtle to move.  Actually, you can give Logo multiple commands.  RIGHT and LEFT tell Logo to turn; when you follow these commands with a number, the number you type in tells Logo what degrees to turn.  For example, if I type in "RIGHT 75" (don't use quotes!) Logo will turn 75 degrees to the right.  Get it??!!  Alright, now it's your turn.  See if you can create a square!

In addition to those 4 primitives that help to move your turtle, here are several others that will be useful to you while using Logo:

HIDETURTLE, SHOWTURTLE, PENUP, PENDOWN, HOME, CLEARSCREEN

After creating a design in Logo, you'll probably want to get rid of it on your screen so that you can move on and do what's next.  That's what the CLEARSCREEN command does - it clears the screen.  Typing in HOME moves your turtle back to the starting point and points it "up" on the screen.  HIDETURTLE - should be self explanatory, as should SHOWTURTLE.  The PENUP command allows you to move Logo on your screen without drawing any lines.  PENDOWN is used after you have used the PENUP command (PENDOWN is actually how Logo starts when you bring up the program).  You may want to try these commands to see how they work.

After creating a square, see if you can create other shapes - triangles, rectangles, circles, hexagon etc.

Thursday, September 29

Vocab words; Formatting Activity #2

The first thing that we are going to do today is watch a video I have created on the various items in Word.  These will all be on the vocab quiz tomorrow, so they will be important for you to remember when it comes time for the quiz.



After watching the video you will be working on Formatting Activity 2.  This should not take real long, but it is EXTREMELY important that you follow the directions.  If you do not follow the directions you are not going to do well on this assignment.  Also, this formatting activity needs to be printed out, and when you print it out you should have 2 pages.  The instructions tell you which page goes on top and which page goes on bottom.
Formatting Activity 2

If you get done before the hour is over, you may go to one of these websites and practice:
Barracuda
Foggies
Rain

Please make sure to keep your speedskin on your keyboard while you are keying.

Wednesday, September 28

Today is the last day of learning new letters (we still have many new keys to learn, so don't get too excited yet).  Therefore, after today your speedskin will need to be on your keyboard permanently.  There will never be a time when your speedskin should not be on your keyboard.

The new keys we will learn today are the Z (left little/4th finger) and the colon (left shift key + right little/4th finger).  The colon is on the same key as the semicolon, and looks similar.  A semicolon has a period over a comma while the colon is one period on top of another.  You should space once after a semicolon and twice after a colon.

We also are going to start talking about programming.  To do that we will be using Logo, a software program designed to help introduce the concepts needed to understand in order to be a computer programmer.  We will talk about

There are a couple of reminders:

  1. If you are on the list to define words for this week but have not yet defined your words you need to get that done ASAP.  It should have already been done, so you're getting it done late.  If it's not done tonight at home you'll be losing points.
  2. If you have missing assignments please try to get them done as soon as possible.  Before school, Homeroom, lunch recess, after school, or during REAL (if you have it) are times that you can use to complete missing work.  But...it's up to you!  "Take the bull by the horns" (be motivated) - be responsible for the work you need to make up.  I shouldn't have to constantly remind you (or come find you) when you have a missing assignment list in the room to check.

Tuesday, September 27

New Keys

First thing today will be our Blind assignment.  We will warm up and then complete this assignment.

After completing the Blind assignment we will be learning two new keys today - the Q (left little/4th finger) and the comma (right middle/2nd finger).




Monday, September 26

Monday, Sept. 26

I hope you enjoyed your weekend!  Hopefully you are fully rested - we have another busy week in class!

First, we need to finish Formatting Activity 1 in class today.  You will need to save it to your account, and then you will attach it to an email and send it to me through your gmail account.  I will have to show you in class how to attach a file to an email - it's pretty easy so it won't take long.  This is due at the end of the hour today!  


Once you have completed the formatting activity you need to practice and review for tomorrow's blind assignment.  As I have said before, this is one of the more difficult assignments for many students.  When you are practicing, use all of the correct fingers and try to avoid looking at your screen (you are certainly welcome to move your document off your screen [Apple+F3] while you practice).  Type every line on p. 14 once (in Microsoft Word) for practice.  If you get done with typing this page, you can go to the following website and practice on the lessons there:  Free typing games.  Make sure that you select lessons of letters and keys that we have already learned.

Normally I will not allow you to do this, but if you are missing an assignment (check the board on the west wall in the room) you should skip the practice and complete what you don't have done.

The vocab list for this week is all about Windows - if you are scheduled to post definitions then you should get yours posted by Wednesday of this week.  If you do not post your definitions as required you will not earn points (as labeled in Skyward as "Vocab definitions" (this is worth 10 points, so each time you fail to do your part you lose 3 points; if you fail to do all 3 weeks you'll lose all 10 points).  Below is the list of people who should be posting definitions this week:

3rd hour - Katherine B, Jacob G, Brooke L, Alexis P, Elizabeth P
4th hour - Savanna A, Benett E, Cayson F, Grace M, Kelsey O, Shelby W
6th hour - Dalton C, Lindy C, Mackenzie K, Katelyn M, Camarie M, Kimber M
7th hour - Christos A, Scott F, Elliott M, Cassandra T, Logan W
8th hour - Dylan D, Nikolas F, Jacob H, Davyen M, Paige S

Week of September 26

Here are the things we will be accomplishing this week:


  1. Finish Formatting Activity 1 - hand in via email (learn to attach a file to an email)
  2. Blind assignment for a grade
  3. Learn new keys (Q, Z, comma, colon)/review all keys learned
  4. Timed writings (speed checks)
  5. Vocab list #3 (Windows)
  6. Formatting Activity #2 
  7. Logo - a simple programming language
  8. Evaluation of websites (may or may not get to this with everything else we are doing)

Friday, September 23

Friday - finally!

It's been a busy week, and we have accomplished much!  Today we will start with taking our Vocab quiz over vocab list #2.

Once we have finished that we will be discussing and covering various formatting functions in Word.  Here's what we will cover today:  changing fonts, changing font sizes, changing the justification of information in Word, highlighting words in color, changing the font color, Bold, Italicize, Underline, bulleted lists, numbered lists, increase indent, decrease indent, undo, and redo.

In addition, since the first Formatting Activity (instructions are located below) will need to be emailed to my school email (dpardoe@dist228.org) from your Gmail account, you will also need to learn how to attach a document to your email.

I can't express enough how important it is for those people who are responsible for next week's vocab definitions to get with the other people in your group and figure out who is going to define what.  Everyone doing their small share makes the defining of words so much easier on everyone.

Also, if you have not posted your discussion to Edmodo, you will need to do that by midnight tonight.  If you need to refresh your memory on the discussion topic, you can go back to yesterday's post.


Formatting Activity 1

Thursday, September 22

Thursday, Sept. 22


  1. If you are supposed to define words for this week you MUST come in during lunch!!  Others are relying on you to help them, just as you did last week or will in the future.  This is a group effort, so you must pull your weight and help everyone!  Those who do not do their job will lose points (if you are scheduled for this week and you haven't done anything yet you've already lost some points).  
  2. If you haven't posted your response and 2 replies to Edmodo for this week's discussion, you need to do so by Friday, Sept. 23 at midnight.  Here is the discussion prompt again:
  3. What do you feel is the most important aspect of Internet safety? Why? Explain your answer in detail.
  4. Review all keys learned (practice! practice! practice!)
  5. Today we will do our first speed test.  This will not be for a grade, but will help you in determining where you are at, and probably more importantly where you should be.  These are not something to get stressed out about, but if you are not performing technique correctly then you can expect your times to be slower than those who do perform technique correctly.  Of course, that's not true for everyone - but for the overwhelming majority doing things correctly means that you will have better times over the long haul. 
  6. Create a folder in your account and label it Computer Applications.  This is part of what is called File Maintenance, which means to organize your files so that you can find your information.  Learning how to correctly save is also part of File Maintenance.
  7. We will start learning today how to format in Microsoft Word.  We will cover the following topics:  changing fonts, changing font sizes, changing the justification of information in Word, highlighting words in color, changing the font color, Bold, Italicize, Underline, bulleted lists, numbered lists, increase indent, decrease indent, undo, and redo.  The formatting activity is located at the bottom of this post.
  8. Don't forget - Vocab quiz tomorrow!!

Wednesday, September 21

Wednesday, Sept. 21

Today we will start off with taking the Correct Fingers Assignment #2.  In order to prepare for this we will do a short warmup where you can "review" which fingers are used on which keys.

In addition, we will be learning 2 new keys - the P (right little/4th finger) and the V (left index/1st finger).

Here are a couple of reminders:

If you have not yet defined the words that you are responsible for, your classmates are waiting for you to get that done.  Don't let them down - do your job and pull your weight!  (this should have been done by today - and it is not something you do in class)

Do you have any missing assignments?  Check the board on the west wall in the room or look on Skyward.  If you have something that needs to be done, come in to get it done.  Remember, earning 50% credit on an assignment is better than not earning any credit!


Hard drive video

Tuesday, September 20

Tuesday, Sept. 20

Today's schedule is a little different due to Connections.  Here is today's schedule:

1st hour - 8:20 - 8:54
2nd hour - 8:57 - 9:31
3rd hour - 9:34 - 10:08
4th hour - 10:11 - 10:42
6th hour - 10:45 - 11:15
Lunch - 11:18 - 11:52
7th hour - 11:55 - 12:26
8th hour - 12:29 - 1:07

For today we are going to learn the M (right middle/2nd finger) and the X (left ring/3rd finger).

In addition, we will practice our blind assignment.  This will be in preparation for a graded blind assignment next week.

If you are responsible for defining words on the vocab list for this week you MUST have your words defined and entered on your classes wiki before class starts tomorrow.  This will ALWAYS be something that is completed outside of the classroom.

Monday, September 19

Monday, Sept. 19

Today we will be reviewing all the keys we have learned so far (it's been a while since we keyed correctly!).

In addition, we will add the B (left index/1st finger) and the Y (right index/1st finger) to what we already know.

Pretty simple day - but very important!

Week of September 19

1.  After finishing our Internet Safety unit last week, I hope all of you have gained a better perspective and appreciation for all the negative things that can happen if you are not careful and smart about what you do online!  The Internet is a great tool, but you must also be wary of those who use it to harm others.  Living in Geneseo affords us a certain amount of shelter (the feeling that nothing "bad" can happen to us) - but I would recommend you keep in mind that those who abuse the Internet don't care who they attack, they just want to attack someone.  Stay safe online!

For this week, you have a discussion post to Edmodo that you need to make that is directly related to your Internet Safety project.  Please post an original response to the following writing prompt (notice how this is in yellow - all discussion prompts will be seen in yellow on the blog from now on):

What do you feel is the most important aspect of Internet safety?  Why?  Explain your answer in detail.  


Remember that you are to post an original response to this discussion question, and then you must also post at least 1 reply to 2 different classmates (that's a total of at least 2 replies - but replying more than twice is perfectly ok!).  When you reply, challenge the person you are replying to to defend what they have written.  Does their reasoning for stating what is the most important aspect of Internet Safety make sense?  If not, reply by giving examples of why your experience is different and ask them if your experience changes their mind.  Ultimately - challenge them to defend what they have written!

Your original response and 2 replies are due by Friday, Sept. 23.


(notice how that due date is in red - that will continue on the blog so you can tell when the due date of a specific assignment is)

2.  Vocabulary - If you are on the list for defining this week's vocabulary words make sure that you get your definitions done before class on Wednesday.  If you need to meet with your group, do that today and decide who is doing what.  That should take your group all of about 2 minutes (at most) to figure out.  Remember to post your definitions to the wikispaces vocabulary page for your specific hour.  We will have a Vocab quiz over Vocab list #2 (Hardware #2) on Friday, Sept. 23rd.

3.  We will be learning several new keys this week.  They will include the B (left index/1st finger), the Y (right index/1st finger), the M (right index/1st finger), the X (left ring/3rd finger), the P (right little/4th finger), and the V (left index/1st finger).  

4.  Blind Assignment - we talked about doing this two weeks ago and just ran out of room to include it in what we were doing.  We will do this for practice on Tuesday of this week, then next week we will do this for a grade.  This is the type of assignment that tells me who is using the correct fingers and who is not - those who don't use the correct fingers usually do poorly on this assignment.  Therefore, if that describes you then you may want to start using the correct fingers!

5.  Correct fingers assignment #2 - We did the first one of these a couple of weeks ago.  This is an assignment that you will do and be asked which finger is used on which key.  We will probably do this on Wednesday of this week - and it will be graded.

6.  We will also have a technique grade this week.

7.  Formatting activity #1 - towards the end of the week we will be doing our first formatting activity.  We will have quite a few of these throughout the semester.  These are activities that will help you learn more about how to use Microsoft Word and Excel (most of them are for Word - only 1 or 2 are for Excel).  These will be in-class activities that will guide you through a series of steps to learn a particular skill, or set of skills, in Word or Excel. This will be due on Friday, Sept. 23.

8.  Have you posted to the What I learned.... page on your class wiki?  Remember, the class with the most posts wins a reward at the end of the quarter!

9.  Have you posted to the FAQ page if you have a question?

Friday, September 16

Friday, September 16

1.  The first priority today will be to take the vocab quiz.  I will give you a couple of minutes to quickly review at the beginning of the hour - then we'll take the quiz.

One note about our quizzes - there is extra credit built into them!  If you remember this week there were 11 words - but the quiz will only be worth 10 points.  So, if you get all of the questions correct then you will get 11 out of 10 points - or one extra credit point.

All of the vocab quizzes will be taken on Classmarker, so you will need to go to that website and log in - but not until Mr. Pardoe gives you the ok!!  It is critical that you remember to click on the Finish now button twice when you have completed the quiz.  If you fail to click on the button twice after completing the quiz your score will not be registered, and the only way to correct this situation is to take the quiz again.

2.  Once you have completed the quiz you may move to work with your partner.  However, realize that other people may still be working on their quiz, so please give them the courtesy of being quiet so they can concentrate on finishing.

In order to publish your movie on Xtranormal, once you have finished making all changes to the movie click on "Publish".  Once your movie has been published to the Xtranormal website, you should see a screen that looks similar to this:


In order for me to be able to watch your movie you'll need to copy the URL.  Here is where the URL is located:


To copy this click your mouse in the area where the website is located, then hold down your Apple key and click the A key (this will select the entire URL).  Next, copy it (hold down the Apple-key and click the C key).  Once you have copied it you can paste it into a new email message from your gmail account.

Send your email to:  dpardoe@dist228.org.  In your email put "Internet Safety Project" (without the quotes) in the subject line.  Then make sure to include both of the partners' names at the bottom of the email.

This all needs to be done by the end of class TODAY!

3.  If you have a missing assignment and you are all done with your Internet Safety Project now would be the perfect time to get it done and handed in.  Remember, getting partial credit is better than getting no credit!


4.  Also, there is a new discussion post that you need to make by next Friday, Sept. 23.  It is as follows:  What do you feel is the most important aspect of Internet Safety?  Why?  Explain your answer in detail.

5.  If you are done with everything you can go to the Website Resources page on the blog and practice your keying.  Only do lessons on the websites - and you should only be working on those keys that we have learned.

6.  Lastly, if you are scheduled to help define the vocab list for next week there is nothing wrong with getting a head start today.  I would suggest you quickly meet with the rest of your group members and determine who is going to define what.  Then you can post your definitions anytime after class today.

Thursday, September 15

Thursday, September 15

Today you will have the full hour, once again, to continue to work on your Internet Safety project on Xtranormal.  There are several points to keep in mind at this juncture:

  1. The most important thing you need to do is get all of your information typed into your movie.  Don't worry about including character motions, camera angles, etc. because you are not being graded on how many of those you include in the movie.  The information, on the other hand, IS what you are getting graded on - so concentrate on completing that part first.
  2. Once you have included all of your information in the manner you want it to appear in your movie, I would suggest that you go back through your text boxes and spell check.  Remember, the website characters are going to say exactly what you have typed in.  
  3. If you are done, now is the perfect time to make your movie even that much better.  Continue to add small details that increase the quality of your movie.  Find additional details that your characters can talk about by going back and using a different website from the Internet Safety page to gather information, or do a search on your own.  
  4. It is almost impossible to have too much information.  If you imagine your audience being a group of 2nd or 3rd graders, then create your movie so that your audience is able to understand what you are saying.  In other words, the more information you have (or the more examples you give) the easier it would be for them to remember what Internet Safety involves.
  5. The Internet Safety project is due at the end of your class period tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 16th).  Plan accordingly!
Our first vocab quiz is also tomorrow!  Prepare by reviewing all the words on the vocab list.  In fact, if you think it would help, you could also view the definitions made by students in the other classes.  To review the vocab words you can go to the vocabulary page, find your wiki by clicking on your class hour, and then review the words for this week.  The quizzes will normally involve mostly multiple choice questions, but there may be a few fill in the blank questions (where you have to type in the correct answer), and there also might be a few true/false questions.

If you haven't posted anything to the FAQ page and you have a question - please post it!  Also, if you've learned anything about computer applications in the 4 weeks we've been in Computer Apps then post what you've learned to the What I learned... page on your wiki.

Wednesday, September 14

Wednesday, September 14

Today will be focused on working on your Internet Safety project for the entire hour.  Please make sure that you are working to incorporate the 4 different areas of research into your presentation/movie.

I have had several people ask about the length of the movie.  Since there aren't any specific requirements in the rubric on how long your video has to be, the answer to the question "How long does my movie have to be?" is very fluid.  In other words, I don't care how long it is as long as you incorporate everything you have been asked to incorporate into your presentation/movie.

I would think that it would take most people a couple of minutes to get everything they need to say included in their movie - you are not only to explain the four areas that you are including in your movie, but you must provide supporting details that help everyone else to understand what you are talking about.  If you treat creating this movie/presentation as a process where you are to explain Internet Safety to someone who knows nothing about it (think a 2nd grader, for example), that might help you to create your movie in such a way that you are providing plenty of details to help them understand.

The due date for the Internet Safety project is at the end of your class on Friday, Sept. 16th.


The only class with all their words defined is 6th hour.  If you are supposed to define words this week then you need to take time in class today to get your job done.  Post your definition to the vocab page and put your first name and last initial in parentheses like this (johnnys).  Please get this done immediately!

Also, have you posted anything to the FAQ page or the What I learned... page on your wiki?  If you have any entries that are appropriate for either of these webpages you may want to get them done.

Tuesday, September 13

Tuesday, September 13

To start today we are going to start working in Word.  We will learn the W and the Right shift key today.  We will be using page 11 in the book.

After we complete our work learning new keys, you will have the rest of the hour to work on your Internet Safety project.  After seeing where we were at yesterday the project will not be due until this Friday.  However, it must be completed before you leave class on Friday for it to be considered handed in on time.

Also, there is a new discussion post that you need to make by next Friday, Sept. 23.  It is as follows:
What do you feel is the most important aspect of Internet Safety?  Why?  Explain your answer in detail.

**REMINDER**
For those who are working on the vocab for this week, your definitions need to be completed by the time class starts tomorrow!!

If you have something to add to the FAQ or the I learned in Computer Apps page on the wiki then make sure to enter your information.

Monday, September 12

Monday, September 12

Internet Safety:



Today we will continue to work on our Internet Safety project.  Right now I am thinking that this will be due on Thursday - which means that you need to have your entire video completed by the END OF CLASS on Thursday (in other words, this will not be due at midnight - please plan accordingly!).

In addition I will show you how to use Xtranormal.  This is a fairly intuitive (that's computer-speak for easy to use) website.  Nonetheless, there are a couple of things that you do need to know before you start to use it.

In case you have forgotten what the requirements are for your project, they can be found here.

Vocabulary:
The following people are responsible for the vocab definitions for this week:

3rd hour - Barakat, Charlet, Lewis, Lovett, Ramsey, VanQuakebeke
4th hour - Bravata, Frerichs, Henderson, Neff, Payne Olson, Whittington
6th hour - Cosgrave, Esparza, Mielke, Moore, Rice, Snider
7th hour - Anderson, Andrios, Hager, Miller, Williams
8th hour - Bergheger, Himmelman, Hofer, Monson, Pettifer


The vocabulary definitions should be posted before Wednesday so everyone can view the definitions and have time to review/study/learn them before Friday.  Remember when you post a definition to put your name in parentheses after the definition (first name followed by first initial of last name).  Those who don't pull their fair weight will lose points.  



Remember, it's important to post early in the week, and the definitions need to be something that everyone can understand!


If you haven't bookmarked the wiki webpage I would highly recommend you do that so you aren't constantly typing in the URL.  I think I forgot to mention this on Friday, so it would be wise to do that as soon as you can.

Computer Applications for the Week of Sept. 12

WEEK OF SEPT. 12


Internet Safety:
We again have a lot to accomplish this week.  We have several different objectives, the most notable of which is the finishing of our Internet Safety project, and learning how to use Xtranormal.


Vocabulary:
In addition to that we are also having our first set of vocabulary words this week.  This means that one group of 5-6 people will be doing research to find definitions for the 11 words on this weeks vocab list (shown below).  It also means that you will be having your first vocab quiz this Friday - please plan accordingly when it comes time to preparing for it.  It would be great if everyone could add to what is written on the wiki by including a video (school appropriate, of course!) or a link to a website that might also help everyone else to understand more about the vocab word.  Or, you could also post a link to an online image so everyone can see what it is that we are talking about - this is particularly effective for Hardware words (which, coincidentally, are this week and next week!).  


Last week I sent you 11 files - 10 Microsoft Word files (each file contains the vocab words for a specific week) and 1 Microsoft Excel file (this file contains which week you will be responsible for working collaboratively to find definitions to that week's vocabulary list of words).  The vocabulary definitions should be posted before Wednesday so everyone can view the definitions and have time to review/study/learn them before Friday.  Remember when you post a definition to put your name in parentheses after the definition (first name followed by first initial of last name).  Those who don't pull their fair weight will lose points.  The people responsible for definitions this week are as follows:


3rd hour - Barakat, Charlet, Lewis, Lovett, Ramsey, VanQuakebeke
4th hour - Bravata, Frerichs, Henderson, Neff, Payne Olson, Whittington
6th hour - Cosgrave, Esparza, Mielke, Moore, Rice, Snider
7th hour - Anderson, Andrios, Hager, Miller, Williams
8th hour - Bergheger, Himmelman, Hofer, Monson, Pettifer


Remember, it's important to post early in the week, and the definition needs to be something that everyone can understand!






Wiki:
And...speaking of posting (which is done on the wiki)....there are 2 additional pages on the wiki besides the vocab page.  One page is labeled "Everything I learned, I learned in Computer Apps".  This page is designed to find out exactly what you have learned in class.  I would like everyone in class to post on this page with anything new they've learned while in this class.  It may be something you hear me talk about that you didn't know before, or it may be something that we do in class.  Either way, anytime you learn something new post it to this page.  THE CLASS WITH THE MOST ENTRIES ON THIS PAGE WINS A REWARD AT THE END OF THE QUARTER, AND AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER!


The other page on the wiki is a FAQ page.  If you are not aware, FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions (believe it or not this is another one of our vocab words this year).  So, if you have something you want to ask, put it here.  One of your classmates may be able to answer your question, or if I think it's something that may be a little more advanced and they will not be able to answer then I will post an answer.  Some questions may have several answers (for example, if someone asked how to Bold in Microsoft Word there could be about 4 different answers).  Realize, however, that this should NOT take the place of asking a question in class if you don't understand something we are covering.  This is just a place to ask technology-related questions that may not be covered in class.




New Keys:
We also are going to learn 2 more keys this week - the W and the Right Shift Key.  To type the W you use your left ring/3rd finger; to type the right shift key you use the right little/4th finger.  Remember, when using the shift keys you are holding down a shift key and typing a capital letter with the opposite hand.  In other words, only use the right shift key if you are typing a capital letter with your left hand (for example, capital D, S, F or T).

Friday, September 9

Friday, September 9

TGIF!!


INTERNET SAFETY:
Today you will have all hour to work on doing research for your Internet Safety project.  Since today is the last "official" day you will have to conduct your research you need to try and get your information gathered and completed by the end of the day today.  If you finish your research today start thinking about how you want your characters in your movie to talk about the information you have gathered.


Using Xtranormal will require you to act a lot like a script writer and a director for a movie.  When we talk about using Xtranormal, you will probably want to use 2 characters - it will make the flow of presenting your information much easier.  Therefore, what do you want each character to talk about when it's their turn to talk?  Will you have each character do some of the talking about each of the 4 different areas, or will you split it up so that character #1 talks about topic A and topic B, and character #2 talks about topic C and topic D (or some other arrangement)?  


VOCABULARY:
As for the 11 files that I sent you yesterday to your gmail, 10 of those should be Microsoft Word files and have vocab words (listed as "Week 1", "Week 2", and so on) in them.  The other file, which is a spreadsheet file, should have a listing of everyone in class with a bunch of X's on the page.  The X's mark the weeks where you will be responsible for defining the words for that week.  You should notice you have several "partners" that will help you define the words for that week.


As for what you enter on the wiki, the most important thing to enter is the word's definition.  MAKE SURE YOU ARE DEFINING THE WORD SO IT IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND!  If you read the definition and you don't understand what the definition is, no one else is going to understand it either.  In addition, adding links to videos, pictures, or websites are highly encouraged as doing so will help everyone understand the vocab word better.  When you get done defining the word put your first and last name in parentheses next to the definition so you get credit for doing your job!


My suggestion is at the beginning of the week you quickly meet with the other 4-5 people and decide who is going to define which words - that way you are organized and not having multiple definitions of the same word.  


WIKISPACES:
You will use the following wiki to post definitions of words:  gmsamazon*.wikispaces.com (where the * is your class hour that you have Computer Apps - so 6th hour would enter gmsamazon6.wikispaces.com).  Once you go to the website you will be allowed to ask to join - you'll need to create a username (another one of these - UUGGHHH!!).  Use your first name and last initial for your username, create a password, and enter your email address.  Once you've done this I will receive a notification and I will allow you to join.  For those of you who think you can be sneaky - you will not be given permission to join a wikispace that belongs to another class.  If you try to join another class I will just block you from it.


The overriding concept here is that everyone shares in the responsibility of helping everyone else learn.  If it's your week to define a couple of words, then make sure that you accomplish your job - everyone else in class is expecting you to help them so they can get a good grade on the vocab quiz.  When it's their turn to define words you will expect the same - you want them to do their job so you can do well on the quiz.  Here is a teamwork quote that I think is appropriate: "Teamwork is the ability to work towards a common goal.  It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."



Thursday, September 8

Thursday, September 8

Today we have several things we need to accomplish.
  1. Learn how to share documents in Google Docs (very easy!!)
  2. Watch Internet Safety video
  3. Research with partner for Internet Safety presentation.
Originally we were going to learn the W and the Right Shift key this week as well, but I have decided to push that back to next week.  I also had talked earlier in the week about doing a blind assignment - we'll save that for a later date also in order to avoid trying to do too much this week.  

Also, don't forget that you have your 2 entries in Edmodo that must be completed by tomorrow night at midnight.  We discussed in class on Tuesday how to accomplish that - follow the guidelines we talked about in order to complete that assignment.

Sharing documents in Google Docs:
First you need to have a document already saved in Google docs.  Once you have a document saved, open it.  When the document is open, in the top-right hand corner you will see the following:

Click on the "Share" button.  Then you'll see a window that looks like this:


At the bottom of the window, where it says "Add people", you'll need to type in the email address of the person that you want to share your document with.  When you click in the bar to start typing in the email address of the person you want to share the document with, you'll see the window changes to look like below:



Here you've got several choices to make.  First, who are you sharing with?  Type in their email.  Next, Can they edit the document (make changes), or can they just view it?  Below the box where you typed in emails you'll probably want to check the box to notify the people that you are sharing the document with.  Do you want to send a copy to your email?  If so, click on that box.  And, if you want to send the document in the email you can do that also by clicking on that box.

When you have made all of your selections, click on "Share & save".  Your friend that you have shared with will receive an email immediately after you have clicked on that button, and now both of you can view and/or edit the document that you are using to collect your research!

Internet Safety video:
Protecting Your Reputation Online:









Wednesday, September 7

Wednesday, September 7

Today we start our journey to learning what Internet Safety is all about.  This is a very serious topic - people have been seriously injured (even died), seriously affected by what's happened, and lost their homes because they have not practiced Internet Safety.

Your job will be to do research in various areas of Internet Safety and then make a movie explaining what you have learned.  You will be working with a partner of your choice.  Whoever you choose you need to make sure that it is someone you can trust, and someone who will share half the responsibility of completing the work with you (in other words, you don't want to do all the work yourself!).

Your "hub" for information is here: Internet Safety Page.

You will be watching various videos as well - it would be in your best interest to take notes.  However, all of the videos are online and can be viewed multiple times.

The last part of your Internet Safety project will be to use Xtranormal to create a "movie" presentation on what you have learned.  This is what will be graded and submitted to me.  We will learn how to use Xtranormal in the coming days.

Tuesday, September 6

Tuesday, September 6

Today, we have a couple of things that we are going to accomplish:
  1. Review all keys learned
  2. Learn the U and the C keys
  3. Review discussion goals on Edmodo.  Today we will practice in class how to "challenge" a classmate and what they have posted on the discussion.  "Challenging" can take many forms, but it needs to be done in a way that you are not being rude to the person.  It is always ok to challenge what someone thinks by asking them to defend their answer (in fact this is what we want to happen!) - but make sure you challenge what is written and not the individual.  In other words you wouldn't say something like this:  "I think you are stupid for saying...".  That is a challenge to the individual.  Instead you might say something like this:  "I disagree with what you said about (enter statement here).  My experience is that (enter your experience here).  What do you think?"  You've not only challenged them to think about what they wrote, but you have created further discussion, and a better understanding of the topic at hand.  

Monday, September 5

Week of September 6

This week we are doing all of the following:
  • Edmodo - we will work as a class on posting our first discussion to Edmodo.  We also will discover how to "challenge" a classmate to defend their statement that they make to Edmodo.  Again, we want to make this a discussion board where we can discuss a topic without the limitations of a 45-minute block of time.
  • Internet Safety Presentations - we will be watching videos, reading handouts, and gathering additional information using the Internet to determine what Internet Safety is all about.  You will be working with a partner, and to bring everything together you will be creating an online video presentation that incorporates everything that you have learned about Internet Safety.  We will start working on this during this week and finish next week. 
  • We will continue our "expertise" of the keyboard.  This week we will be adding in the use of the U and the C.

Friday, September 2

Friday, September 2

  1. The first thing we will accomplish today is completing the "Correct Fingers" assignment at Classmarker. I will have to give you your username and password - so this is again another username and password that you will have to remember.   Therefore, we will use Google docs after we are done with the assignment to create a password "account".
  2. Google Docs - this is a great place you can use to save all your passwords for the various different websites that you will register for.  This is not something that you have to do, but as I will show you it is a great way to store your passwords.  What I really like is that I can access this anywhere there is an Internet connection - including using a smartphone if you have one. (the below picture is a link - when you click on it it will open in a new window)
  3. Here are several websites that you can use to create a password. These are convenient if you just want a quick solution to a password - or if you're just tired of trying to think of a clever password!
  4. Password BirdPass Plex Password Generator Strong Password Generator
  5. The rest of the day will be used practicing the keys we have learned.  Here are the websites that you can use to practice (and you can also obviously use these at home if you wish to):
  6. Free Typing GamesFree Online Typing Games - online tutor Power Typing lessons Typing Web tutor

All of these websites are located on the Website Resources page on the blog- therefore they are available for you to use at home if you need to practice.

Thursday, September 1

Thursday, September 1

  1. Review all keys learned.
  2. Learn the left shift key and the period (.).
  3. Google Docs - this is a great place you can use to save all your passwords for the various different websites that you will register for.  This is not something that you have to do, but as I will show you it is a great way to store your passwords.  What I really like is that I can access this anywhere there is an Internet connection - including using a smartphone if you have one. (the below picture is a link - when you click on it it will open in a new window)
  4. Here are several websites that you can use to create a password. These are convenient if you feel that trying to create something clever gets difficult - or if you're just tired of trying to think of a password!
  5. Password BirdPass Plex Password Generator
  6. We will create a "signature" for your gmail account today as well. If you remember, when we set up our email account I gave you several "golden rules" of emailing. One of those rules that you should follow is to always include your name at the bottom of the email. A signature allows you to do that without having to type in your name every time you send an email - very convenient!
  7. If we have time we will also learn how to create contacts in Gmail.  My guess is some of you already know how to do this - especially those that already had an email account.  It's not difficult - you just need to learn how to do it.
REMINDER!!  Correct fingers assignment tomorrow - be prepared!