Monday, December 17

WEEK OF DEC. 17TH

This is the last week of school, and I am going to give you directions today on what you need to accomplish this week.  Most of this you already know, but some of it will be new (we will in fact have one more Formatting Activity and we will cover what needs to be done for that today in class).  Here are the activities you need to complete this week:

  1. Formatting Activity 15 (embedded below)
  2. Send me an email with a link to the journal page on your blog.  You should have 3 weeks of journal reflections that have images embedded on them (Nov. 26, Dec. 3rd, and Dec. 10th). 
  3. There is a crossword puzzle for this week - it is due on Thursday.
  4. Your podcast is also due Thursday - make sure you email it to me ASAP.
  5. Any missing assignments should be completed and submitted to me as per the instructions for that particular assignment.
  6. If you are completed with everything you are to work in Alice.  If you complete the most recent set of instructions I can give you additional problems to solve in Alice.

FA15 -

Lastly, in light of the recent tragedy in Connecticut I am including the link below in case you feel so compelled to help the families affected by what has happened.  Please do this on your own time (in other words at home), but helping others in small ways is a tremendous way to demonstrate giving to others during the Christmas season.

Sandy Hook help

Friday, December 14

Vocab quiz #10; blog reflection;

As per our usual procedure, we will spend time at the beginning of the class reviewing for our quiz.  Do not go to classmarker until you are instructed to do so!

After you finish your quiz you need to enter your reflection on your blog.  This should be a couple of sentences long, and it should explain what you learned this week and your thoughts about what you learned (why you did  or did not like the information).

After completing the reflection, you may work to complete the Fish Fairy World in Alice.

If you have completed the Fish Fairy World, the next world in Alice is the Princess and Dragon.  This comes in 3 parts - they are listed below:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Thursday, December 13

Keypad; Alice

YOU HAVE ONE WEEK TO COMPLETE YOUR PODCAST!!  MAKE SURE TO SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH A LINK TO YOUR BLOG SO I CAN LISTEN TO YOUR PODCAST ON YOUR BLOG.  THIS IS DUE NEXT THURSDAY (DEC. 20).

To begin with today you need to type, using the keypad numbers, the green handout in Excel.  Remember how we did this before - go all the way down column A, then do column B, then column C, and so on.

Once you complete the keypad work you need to complete any missing assignments you have not yet turned in.  If you are done with all assignments up to this point you may work in Alice and complete the Fish Fairy world (the link is below)

Fish Fairy World

If you finish the Fish Fairy World, at the end of the instructions there is a page that says "Exercises" at the top - complete the steps listed on this page (there are 4).


Wednesday, December 12

Flash animation (2 videos); Finish FA10; podcast reminder

*ALL VOCAB WORDS SHOULD BE DEFINED BY TONIGHT ON YOUR WIKISPACES PAGE!  IF YOU NEED TO COME IN DURING LUNCH RECESS OR STAY AFTER SCHOOL PLEASE DO THAT TO GET IT DONE.

**DON'T FORGET TO COMPLETE YOUR PODCAST!  YOU'VE STILL GOT PLENTY OF TIME.  REMEMBER - COMPLETE THE PODCAST AT VOCAROO, EMBED IT ON YOUR BLOG, THEN SEND ME A LINK TO YOUR BLOG SO I CAN LISTEN TO IT ON YOUR BLOG.

These two videos explain what Flash animation is.  You have seen Flash (sometimes called Flash animation) in action if you've ever been on the Internet - you just didn't know you were seeing it.  The first video explains what Flash is, then the second video shows how a person can create a simple animation using Flash software.





After watching the videos we will be completing FA10.  If you complete FA10 during class and you have missing assignment, you should work to complete anything that is missing.  If you are all caught up you can begin working on the following Alice instructional unit:


Tuesday, December 11

Podcast reminder; JPG/GIF; FA10

IF YOU HAVEN'T YET COMPLETED YOUR PODCAST YOU ARE DOWN TO 8 SCHOOL DAYS TO GETTING THAT COMPLETED!  I WILL BE POSTING IT IN THE GRADEBOOK ON SKYWARD TODAY!


After watching the video above we will be working on FA10.  This formatting activity has you entering Clip Art images into a document.  Since we have already learned to insert images into a document when we did our SLC portfolio covers, this should largely be a quick review on how to insert an image into a document (with a new wrinkle or two).

In addition to inserting ClipArt images into a Word document I will also be showing you how you can insert ClipArt by downloading them from the Internet.  ClipArt images are now a generic term for graphic files; they used to be a collection of cartoon-like images that came on a separate CD when you purchased a program called WordPerfect (a word processing program popular in the late 1980's and early 1990's).


FA10 -

Monday, December 10

Vocab list #10; Alice worlds; make up day

This is our last week of vocabulary words (yeah!).  Our list this week is associated with similar words that we had last week - they all are multimedia and graphics.  We have several videos we will be watching to help us understand what these words mean - here is our first video for the week (on Java):


In Alice I want to go through the 5 different sections of the interface and talk a little about each to help you understand the functions that each section provides to the Alice worlds you create.  The sections are:

Object Tree:
Details Panel:
World View:

Events Area:
Methods (or Code) Editor:


For those with missing assignment you will spend the rest of the time working on what you have not yet completed.  Anything that is missing during the 2nd quarter should get done ASAP!  A new missing assignments list is posted on the wall.

Friday, December 7

Vocab Quiz #9; reflection; Alice

This will be a fairly normal Friday.

We will start with reviewing for the vocab quiz.

After reviewing and taking the quiz, you will need to write this week's reflection on your blog - remember you also need to include an image in your reflection blogpost.

Once you have completed the reflection you can continue to work on creating the Space World in Alice.  If you get done with the instructions for the Space World in Alice, I want you to incorporate 2 more pairs of objects into the world (that's a total of 4 objects).

After adding the other objects, you need to create a new method for each pair of objects (that means that you will create 2 new methods).  For example, if you added an astronaut and a humvee you could have the astronaut ride the humvee (this should sound familiar - it's what you've already done, so you'll need to create some other method for the other pairs of characters).  Be creative - I'm not asking you to make this make sense, just add objects and create methods.

Now, once you have created a new method for each of the new pairs of objects you have included, you need to create an event for each of these new pairs of objects.  For example, if you added an astronaut riding a Humvee you could control the Humvee with your arrow keys.

Thursday, December 6

Finish FA9; start work on Alice tutorial

*Don't forget about the vocab quiz tomorrow!*

**Your podcast is due in two weeks.  If you have not yet completed the podcast make sure you get that done soon and submitted to me.  You should be sending me a link to your blog when you have completed your podcast because you will be embedding your podcast on your blog.  Sending me a link to your blog so I can listen to your podcast is the only acceptable way for you to submit this assignment.**

Today you need to finish FA9.  If you would like to print out a set of instructions so you can cross off what you have done that is perfectly ok - just make sure to print out the printer here in this room.  The instructions ask you to submit the assignment through email.  Please make sure to include a subject line when you submit your assignment.

After completing FA9 your next objective is to work on Alice.  If you don't remember how to open Alice, go to "Applications" in the finder menu and look for "Alice" - double click on the icon to open the program.

If you did not complete the Alice tutorial last week you should do that now (in order to do that you need to just open Alice, and then click at the top where is says "Start the Tutorial" - see below).  


After completing this tutorial (or if you did this last week), then you need to work on the Space World tutorial at the following website:


Wednesday, December 5

Screenshots; Draw tools in Word

Screenshots -  this is the taking of a picture of what you have on your screen.  With the Mac computers we have here in the room, you can either take a screenshot (or what is sometimes also called a screen capture) of the entire screen (Command/Shift/3) or of what you select (Command/Shift/4).  After taking the screenshot, the image is saved to your desktop as "Screen shot 12-4-12 3.44.25 PM" (where the date and time are the actual time that it is taken), usually with a .jpg extension (one of the vocab words for next week).

On a PC it is a little different.  Most PC computers have a program that you have to open first before you can take a screen shot.  For example, on my laptop PC I have a program called "Snipping Tool" that I need to open first before I can take a screen shot.

After taking the screen shot you can then add annotations to your image.  This is a nice way to be able to edit so that if you are using your image as an instructional piece you can add arrows, text boxes, and so on to help you get your point across.




FA9 -

Tuesday, December 4

MP3 files; WAV files; keypad

*Remember to post your definitions to the wikispaces page by tonight if it is your week to do so!

**I have already had a two students complete and turn in their podcast - as I said yesterday it doesn't take much time to complete if you just sit down and do it.  One student completed it here at school; another one completed it at home and sent it to me.  This is your reminder to get yours done as soon as you can!






After watching the videos we will be working again in Excel.  Today we will be reviewing the 1, 4, and 7 from yesterday, and then also we will be learning the other keys.





Monday, December 3

Multimedia vocab list; streaming video; podcast; keypad

The new list of vocab words has been posted on the wikispaces page.  This is week #9 - MULTIMEDIA/GRAPHICS #1.  All of these words are related to either multimedia and/or graphics.  Please have your definitions posted by Tuesday night.

Here is our first look at one of the vocab words for this week (Streaming Video):


One of the vocab words for this week is PODCAST.  You will be creating a podcast using the website  called VOCAROO.  I will be showing you today how you can create a very simple podcast; you will be doing this on your own OUTSIDE OF CLASS TIME!!! You will have the rest of the semester to complete this project.  However, I highly recommend that you get this done as soon as you can...if you wait until later you will forget and/or not get it done.

The instructions for completing the podcast are as follows:
  1. You will use the Vocaroo website to create your podcast, and you will need to make sure that the computer you use has a functioning microphone (all of the computers here at school in the labs and the library have functioning microphones).  
  2. The podcast will be you reciting a famous historical speech.  You can choose any speech you want from one of the 3 following websites:
    1. Famous quotes
    2. American Rhetoric
    3. History Place Speeches
  3. The podcast ONLY needs to be 1 minute in length; therefore, depending on the speech you choose, you may not have to read the entire speech.
  4. After creating the podcast you will embed your podcast on your blog.  
  5. Once your podcast has been embedded on your blog you will need to send me an email with a link to your blog so I can listen and grade your podcast.
The last thing we are going to do today is start learning the keypad.  We will use Excel when we are learning the keypad.

Friday, November 30

Vocab quiz 8; reflection with image; ALICE

Take a few minutes at the beginning of class to review for the vocab quiz (list #8).  We will take the quiz in a few minutes.

After completing the vocab quiz you need to create another reflection on your journal page on your blog.  However, we need to make sure that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing when writing a reflection.  Here are some guidelines:

  1. What you write should be in complete sentences with correct grammar and spelling.  
  2. The reflection should explain what you learned in Computer Applications this week, what you liked about what you learned, and/or what you didn't like about what you learned, and then why you either did or did not like it.  
  3. You should only discuss Computer Applications - you are not reflecting on Geography, Math, or any other class.  
  4. You need to insert an image that is related to something we did in class - this also should be discussed in your reflection (for example you may want to include the same image you used for your movie summary, and then explain in your reflection that you learned to insert an image to a blog and that this is an image of your favorite movie). 
  5. Write your reflection in the following manner; 
WEEK OF NOV. 26
A;SLDKFJ;LJ
AS'DLKJAS;DLFKJASDF
AS;DLFKJASDFL
ASD;FLKJASDF;LJ
QWERPU
QWEPROIU

IMAGE


If you get done with all of this, you will start working with ALICE.  In order to open ALICE, go to your Finder, click on Applications, and then look for the ALICE program.  When you find it, open it and complete the 2 tutorials below in order

BEGINNING ALICE TUTORIAL

ALICE TUTORIAL 2

Thursday, November 29

Bytes vs. GB; Finish FA8; new symbol keys

To begin with we are going to discuss the difference between a byte and a gigabyte (abbreviated GB).  Let's go to this website to understand the differences between the amounts of computer memory and to help ourselves understand a little more about the power of computer memory as well.

If you still have not finished FA8 you need to get it done today!  Remember that once you complete it you are to email it to me as an attached document; also remember to include a link to your blog so that I can see that you have posted your summary to your blog with an inserted image.

After completing FA8 you are to turn to page 43 and type lines 1-7 on 18D.  After completing these 7 lines, turn to page 44 and learn to type the = (left shift + R4) by typing lines 1-3 on 19C once.  Then learn the * (left shift + R2) by typing lines 1-3 in 19D once.

If you complete all of the above you may use whatever time you have left to complete any missing work.  If you are done with everything you can go to the practice websites on the blog.

KEEP YOUR SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD THE ENTIRE HOUR!

Wednesday, November 28

Finish FA8; Cache




Using the formatting instructions that are embedded on yesterday's blogpost, you need to finish FA8.  There are several things you need to make sure you have accomplished in order to do this assignment correctly.  First, you need to make sure your summary is between 175 and 300 words; second, you need to copy your summary and paste it into a new blog post; third, you need to add an image that is related to your movie in that same blogpost; and last, you need to send me an email that has your document attached to it and that also has a link to your blog.

Before you get started, I want to show you the Word count summary feature in Word.

When you complete FA8, check the missing assignments list - do you have any missing assignments?  If so you should be working on them now (the lists on the wall were printed out this morning so this is an up-to-date list).

If you are responsible for defining words for this week's vocabulary list have you posted your definition(s)?  If not, now is the time to get that done.

If you are in 6th, 7th, or 8th hour many of you will need to complete FA7 - if you remember the Friday before Thanksgiving break we were working on FA7 and then the Internet wouldn't work so many of you were unable to finish.  You can use this time to complete FA7 - here are the instructions:

Activity 7 -

Tuesday, November 27

New Keys; Firewall video; Formatting Activity 8

**REMINDER!!**  If you haven't defined your words on the wikispaces page you need to get that done today.  Remember - this is an out-of-class activity that you need to complete.  If you need to come in during lunch recess or after school that will be fine.


1.  We will begin today by watching the above video.  The guy in the video talks pretty fast so you will want to pay close attention.  As always, if you need to review you can watch the video at home.

2.  Warmup - p. 42 18B all lines once.

The new symbols we will be learning today are the @ symbol (right shift + L3); left parentheses (left shift + R3); and right parentheses (left shift + R4).

3.  After completing the warmup, turn to page 43.  We will be typing lines 1-9 on 18D to practice these keys.  Remember to keep your speed skin on your keyboard.

4.  The following formatting activity will have you working with Microsoft Word's word count feature.  Additionally, as I showed you yesterday in class, you will be uploading an image onto your blog.  This image will need to be related to the movie that you are going to write about for your formatting activity.  

FA 8 -


Monday, November 26

Welcome back!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break, ate lots of food, and are re-energized for 4 weeks of school!

With that in mind, we only have 4 weeks of school to accomplish quite a bit.  We will be learning a new program (called Alice) that will help you to understand what a computer programmer goes through (this program is more modern than Logo and I think you will find it more interesting to use), we have 3 vocab quizzes in the next 4 weeks (Vocab quiz #8 is this Friday), we will learn to key using the keypad, you are going to create a podcast and embed it on your blog, and we still have several formatting activities to complete.

The first thing I want to get done this week is the learning of the symbol keys, so we will start today in Microsoft Word.  Turn to page 41 and type the paragraph on 17E once to get warmed up.  

Then we will be moving over to page 42 to learn the # (right shift + L2), the & (left shift + R1), and the + (left shift + R4).

After learning these keys we are going to watch the video below that will help you understand one of the vocab words for this week - embed.





After learning these keys I am going to show you how you can embed an image into your blog.   This will be important for 2 reasons - 1) because you are going to have to include an image with your journal reflections from now on; and 2) because you are going to complete a formatting activity that will require you to embed an image on your blog.

Before you can embed an image you first must have an image on your computer that you are going to use.  So, the first step will be to correctly save an image to your computer so we can then embed it on your blog.

Friday, November 16

FA7 and Crossword #3 due

Please hand in your crossword puzzle with your name on it as soon as you arrive.

You will have the entire hour today to complete FA7 and get it emailed to me (the instructions are on still on yesterday's blogpost).  You will be given class time today to get that done.

Once you complete FA7, if you have any missing assignments then you need to work on those and get those turned in for credit.

If you have no missing assignments then you have 2 choices - you can either:

1) work on the last handout from Logo in which you write logo procedures to create designs; or

2) go to the practice websites (you can choose which ones you want to work on) and practice.

If you are working on a practice website or on a formatting activity you will have your speed skin on your keyboard!



Thursday, November 15

Bullets & numbered lists; FA7

**REMINDER** - Crossword puzzle due tomorrow!

Today we are going to cover how to insert bulleted and numbered lists into Word.  These are useful if you have a list of items that you need in Word.  There are various ways to format both bulleted and numbered lists as well.  In fact, you can use the symbols in the last formatting activity that we did as your bullet when creating a list - and I'll show you how that can be done.  

After explaining and showing you how to do this you will have time to work on this in class.

YOU WILL WORK WITH YOUR SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD!


Activity 7 -

Wednesday, November 14

Logo procedures

Today you are going to be receiving a handout that we will use to help us learn how to create procedures in Logo.  A procedure in Logo is what I call a "mini-program" - if you were an actual programmer you would use these "mini-programs" to help you design the software that you are creating, and they most likely would be something that you use frequently (or at least more than once).

The purpose of creating the procedure is again to be more efficient.  That's really what this whole process in Logo has been - we started by creating a long list of instructions to create a square.  Next, we  eliminated the long list of instructions and reduced what we entered to a repeat statement; now we are going to reduce that down even further to a procedure so that we can do the same thing over and over and only type in one word (that one word becomes the "mini-program").

I also will be showing you how you can create a variable (hopefully you have already covered these in math) in a procedure so that you can manipulate the size of the shape you are creating without having to write a different procedure for each different sized shape.

Tuesday, November 13

New keys; Logo

We are going to start with a little review of keys already learned.  Open Microsoft Word and turn to page 40.  Types lines 1-9 once to get warmed up.

After the warm up, we will be learning the % (Right shift + L1); the < (Left shift + R2); and the > (Left shift + R3).

After learning these keys we will be continuing our work in Logo.  Today we are going to learn how to create a procedure.  A procedure, in simplest terms, is like a mini program that you create in Logo.  You will also learn how to create perfect shapes using a procedure.

Friday, November 9

Vocab quiz; SLC

We will start by reviewing for the quiz.  Once we get done with the vocab quiz you will be working on completing the Computer Applications sheet for your SLC folder.

I will be handing back several graded papers that you can choose from to include in your SLC folder.  In addition to what I hand back, you could also choose to print out a previous vocab quiz from Classmarker, or you could also choose to print out any of the Formatting activities that you have saved.

Once you get done with your SLC folder put the folder in the gray tray on the corner of my desk.

Then you can go to any of the practice websites on the website resources page on the blog.

Thursday, November 8

SLC cover

Today we are going to work on creating our SLC cover in Word.  You will learn to use WordArt and to insert images into a document.

Wednesday, November 7

Finish FA6; New symbol keys

**SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD**

Today you need to finish the Formatting Activity 6 that we started yesterday in class.  When you are done it should be printed and handed in - it is due today.

When you complete the formatting activity you need to open your book to page 40.  On page 40 you need to type 17B, lines 1-9 once (this is a review from yesterday).  Once you have completed that, turn to page 41 and do the following:

17C, lines 1-3 twice (% = right shift/L1)
17C, lines 4-5 twice (< = left shift/R2)
17C, lines 6-7 twice (> = left shift/R3)

17D, lines 1-6 once

If you complete all of this you may go to any of the practice websites listed on the Website Resources page and practice from there - WITH YOUR SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD!

Tuesday, November 6

Learning symbols; FA6

**REMINDER**
If you are responsible for defining words for this week's vocab list you need to get this done outside of class at some point today!  We still have some definitions that have not yet been posted on the wikispaces pages!

We are going to start with learning 3 symbols on the keyboard.  Many of these (but not all) require the use of the shift keys in conjunction with the number keys across the top of the keyboard.

The first symbol we are going to learn is the diagonal or slash (sometimes also referred to as the forward slash).  This symbol is on the key to the right of the period and does NOT require the use of the shift keys to type it.  Use your R4 finger to type this key.

The other 2 symbols are the $/dollar sign (L1) and the !/exclamation point (L4).

Here is what you need to type out of the book today:

P. 40, 17A, lines 1-3 (twice)
P. 40, 17B, lines 1-9 (once)

After completing the work out of the book, you are going to work on FA6.  This formatting activity is a handout, and you are going to be adding symbols into your document.  This should be a fairly easy and straight forward assignment.  To help you accomplish completing the document, all of the symbols that you are going to be inserting into your document can be found in the INSERT > SYMBOL drop down menu.  Once you open the symbol window, you will find all of the symbols that are needed either in the "normal text" category or the "symbol" category.

Monday, November 5

HTML & IP address; journal page on your blog;

I want to cover 2 different words that are on the vocab list for this week.  First, let's look at HTML.    Did you know you can actually see the HTML that is used to create each and every webpage on the Internet?  If you are using Safari, you can go to VIEW > VIEW SOURCE and you will see the HTML that is used to write the webpage you are on.  In Firefox, you will need to go to TOOLS > WEB DEVELOPER > PAGE SOURCE.  Everything you see when you do this is what is written (usually using a program like Adobe Dreamweaver) to create webpages.  You can see that the amount of HTML used is pretty extensive and would probably take someone quite a bit of time to create it.

The other vocab word for this week that I want to cover is IP address.  IP stands for Internet Protocol (remember the word Protocol - it means "rules").  Let's go to this web site:  What is my IP address?
This will explain in better detail what your IP address is.


The next thing you need to do today is send me a link to the journal page on your blog.  You will need to open your Gmail and send me an email that contains the URL to your journal page on your blog.  The address to your journal page will be as follows:

*yourblogname*.blogspot.com/p/journal.html

In the above URL, "*yourblogname*" refers to whatever web address you decided to use for your blog.  Send this URL to me as the body of your message in your email.  Make sure that you include everything in the email that you need to include - if you don't you will lose points.  You should have journals from the following weeks:

Week of Sept 17
Week of Sept 24
Week of Oct. 1
Week of Oct. 15
Week of Oct. 22
Week of Oct. 29

If you do not have one (or more) of these weeks on your Journal page on your blog you can go back to the class blog and find out what we did that week, then post your reflection on your journal page.


After completing these things you will be given the rest of the hour to work on finishing FA5 if you did not get that done on Friday.  Remember, when you get this done it needs to be printed out, signed, and then handed in.  The instructions can be found on Thursday's (Nov. 1st) blogpost.

If you are all done and you are not missing any assignments (see the board), then you can post your definitions to the wiki if you are responsible for defining a word or words this week.

If you have all of the above done, I would like you to go to Type Racer.  I would like you to compete against others to see how you do.  After doing at least 3 races against other people, you can compete against others in the class by going back to the beginning page and clicking on "Race Your Friends" and then sending them the link via email.

There will be people in many different places today on the computer - you will be expected to stay on task and be where you are supposed to be without goofing around.

YOU NEED TO WORK WITH YOUR SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD!



Friday, November 2

Crossword puzzle due; Reflection on blog; Finish FA5

**REMINDER** If you are responsible for defining words for the vocabulary list for next week you need to get that done by next Tuesday.  The words have already been posted on the wikispaces page - you just need to provide the definition.  This is homework and should NOT be completed during class time!

Please hand in your crossword puzzle as soon as you get in class - it is due!  Make sure to put your name at the top of your paper.

You also need to finish FA5 - it is due today.  Don't forget to sign the letter when you are done!

You need to enter your reflection on your blog.  After this week I will be reading the weekly posts that you have entered on your blog.  Again, they should be on your journal page, not as posts on the homepage of your blog.  To check to see if your journal has been entered on the journal page as you were instructed to do, enter the following in the URL bar:

nameofyourblog.blogspot.com/p/journal.html

(where nameofyourblog is whatever you named your blog and shows up in the URL bar when you go to your blog)

If you finish everything I have another Logo handout for you to work on.  When completing this handout you need to write the instructions for the design using a repeat statement.  You will need to use Logo when working on this handout.

Thursday, November 1

Logo Practice #2 answers; FA5

DON'T FORGET!!! - Your crossword puzzle is due tomorrow!  If you are done now you can hand it in.  


Below are the Repeat statements that you could have used in Logo to recreate each of the designs on the handout from yesterday.  Remember, there may be more than one correct way to do each of the designs, and where you start on the design (where you put your dot) makes a difference in how you write your instructions.


1.  REPEAT 7 [FD 100 BK 100 RT 90 PU FD 10 LT 90 PD] PU HOME


2.  REPEAT 4 [FD 100 BK 100 RT 90]


3.  REPEAT 4 [FD25 PU FD 25 PD FD 25 RT 90]


4.  REPEAT 2 [FD 100 RT 90 FD 25 RT 90 FD 100 LT 90 FD 10 LT 90] PU HOME


5.  RT 45 REPEAT 2 [FD 50 RT 45 FD 100 RT 135] LT 45


6.  REPEAT 5 [FD 25 RT 90 FD 100 RT 90 FD 25 RT 90 FD 100 RT 90 FD 25] PU HOME


FA5 -





Wednesday, October 31

Blank Keyboard assignment; Logo practice #2;

We will start today with practicing on the keyboard - this will be your review for the blank keyboard assignment that we are going to do first.

After completing the blank keyboard assignment we will move to working on our Logo Practice #2 sheet that we started yesterday.  As a reminder - each of the set of instructions must include a repeat statement.  As you are working with each of the different shapes, you first need to find what repeats.  Then, figure out how to write your instructions to recreate that shape.

Sometimes finding the repeating part of the design that you can make into a repeat statement is a little tricky.  You may need to think outside of the box in order to come up with instructions that allow you to draw the design.


Tuesday, October 30

Logo Repeat statements; crossword puzzle handout

Today you will get a green crossword puzzle handout - this crossword puzzle will cover vocab lists 1-6.  It is due Friday.

We will continue with working with repeat statements today.  First we will work to finish the handout from yesterday, then you will have another sheet that you will need to use Logo with to complete.

Lastly, tomorrow you will have a Blank keyboard assignment.  You will be given a sheet of paper that looks like a blank keyboard and you will need to fill in the letters, numbers, Return key, space bar, period, comma, etc.

Monday, October 29

Last 3 numbers; Logo

Today we are going to finish the last three numbers across the top of the keyboard.  They are the 3 (L2), the 6 (R1), and the 2 (L3).

So far in Logo we have learned how to move our turtle forward, back, and change directions by using the left or right commands.  In addition we have also learned the abbreviations for all four of these commands:  FD, BK, LT, RT.  We also have learned HOME, PU, PD, HT, and ST (see if you can remember what those mean!).

Today we are going to add another command to our arsenal of Logo commands, and it is the REPEAT command.  What this allows us to do in Logo is to use the same command over and over without having to type it over and over.  For example, if I wanted to move forward 200 turtle steps I could enter FD 200. But, using the REPEAT command I could enter REPEAT 2 [FD 100].  Another example:  say I wanted to turn right 90 degrees...using the REPEAT command I could enter REPEAT 3 [RT 30].  Both of these examples may seem a little unnecessary, but this should help you to understand how the REPEAT command works.  In the near future we will be creating much more intricate designs, which will require more difficult statements to write.  Because of that we'll be using the REPEAT command to help simplify writing these powerful statements - without a REPEAT command it would be much more difficult.

We'll start with Exercise 3 - in these problems you need to rewrite each series of statements using a REPEAT statement.  Then we'll move to writing statements using the REPEAT command to create a series of designs

Friday, October 26

Vocab Quiz #6; reflection; finish FA4

Today's activities will be as follows (and in this order):


  1. Review for the quiz
  2. Go to Classmarker to take Vocab Quiz #6
  3. KEEP YOUR SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD!  Enter your reflection on your blog for this week.  The week is October 22.
  4. KEEP YOUR SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD!  If you did not finish FA4 from yesterday you need to do that now and email to me.  Make sure to include everything that is needed in an email (if you forget a subject line I will take points off!).
  5. KEEP YOUR SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD!  Turn to page 32 in your book; open Microsoft Word and type lines 1-6 twice on page 32, 14D.  You will be learning the 3 (L2), the 6 (R1), and the 2 (L3).  
  6. KEEP YOUR SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD! If you are done with steps 1-4, go to the Free Online Typing Games website and choose 3 (out of the 10 available) of the timed writings to complete.
  7. Once you get done with those timed writings, go to the 10 Fast Fingers website and see how you do compared to others.  Do 3 of these "competitions".  KEEP YOUR SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD!
  8. If you complete all of the previous steps you may choose any of the practice websites to play games on, but KEEP YOUR SPEED SKIN ON YOUR KEYBOARD!

Thursday, October 25

Vocab videos; FA4

Where do you see HTTP? What does it mean?






After watching the above two videos you need to work on completing FA4 - the directions to complete it are located below.  When you are done you need to email me your file - make sure you include all parts of a correct email!

FA4

 


If you complete this activity today during class I want you to go to Edmodo and discuss with the other students in class the vocab words on this week's vocab list.  Use this discussion to clarify any definitions of words.  So, you may write a post asking others to help you with understanding what something on the vocab list means.  Someone else may reply by helping to explain it.  Go into as much detail as you can - keep your discussion on topic with any of the vocab words on this week's list.

Wednesday, October 24

Video; Logo handout answers; FA4


Let's take a look at the vocabulary page here on the blog - I have made some changes to how we are going to do the vocabulary definitions from this point forward (it won't affect those people who had to do definitions for this week).

Get out your Logo sheet - we will go over the exterior angles for the shapes that were on our worksheet.

After we go over the Logo sheet we will begin learning about how to set tabs in Microsoft Word.  Before we do that, though, you need to understand the difference between left justified (or left aligned), centered (or center aligned), and right justified (or right aligned).  Below are visual examples to show you the difference between the three:

this is left aligned
(or left justified)
Wednesday

this is center aligned 
(or center justification)
Wednesday

this is right aligned 
(or right justified)
Wednesday

As you can see from the above examples, left aligned means that all lines are lined up on the left side.  Right aligned is just the opposite - all lines are lined up on the right side.  Center aligned means that the information you enter is going to be split in half and half of what you enter will be on the left and half will be on the right.

We also will be working with a "dot leader" tab.  This is a type of tab that puts a series of dots in front of (or leading up to) the tab that you set.  What you don't do with this is type in a bunch of periods between the actors and the characters - instead you set up tabs to create the dots for you.  Here is an example of what a dot leader tab might look like:

Christopher Warwick...............................................................................Bob Cratchit
Lisa Fournier.......................................................................................Mrs. Cratchit
Benjamin Watson..................................................................................Uncle Scrooge


Tuesday, October 23

Shortened hours; complete work as needed

With the shortened hours today, you can work on anything you need to do to get stuff done.  If you want to finish the Logo handout from yesterday you can use this time to get it done.  If you want to post a definition to the Wiki spaces page I will allow that today.  If you need to write your information in Edmodo for last week's discussion I will also allow that (this is not normal...but, I've had several people tell me that Edmodo was not working last night so I am allowing you to do this because it was not working).

If you are done with everything I would like for you to continue working on trying to draw letters in Logo.

Monday, October 22

New seating chart! Logo shapes

After arriving at your new seat, you may want to bookmark the following websites:

Classmarker
Edmodo
Class blog
Google (Gmail)

Speaking of Edmodo...remember that you have an assignment in Edmodo that is due tonight.  The writing prompt is as follows if you have not yet entered your original response:

List one new vocab term you've learned and how, why, or in what way it will be important to you as you continue to live in a world dominated by computers.  

Also, for those of you who are responsible for defining vocab words for this week, you need to get that done by tomorrow night!  If you need to use time here at school to do that you are perfectly welcome to do so.

Get out your blue handout from Friday...we will go over it in class (it has "Exercise 1" at the top).

Today in Logo we are going to start drawing shapes.  When drawing shapes we must keep in mind a couple of mathematical ideas.  First, supplementary angles are 2 angles that when added together add up to 180 degrees.  180 degrees is also a straight line.  Knowing that information we can make turns in order to draw shapes.

Additionally, we have been typing all of our commands in short "phrases".  We can type in our information in the Commander Window all at once if we want to.  For example, here are the steps to drawing a square, and you can type this all on one line (try it!):

fd 100 rt 90 fd 100 rt 90 fd 100 rt 90 fd 100 rt 90

For today's exercise we don't necessarily need to use Logo to complete the marking of angles on our paper, but you are welcome to use Logo if you feel that using it will help you complete each shape.

By the way, if you are interested in downloading this freeware on your home computer (or laptop), you can go to Brian Harvey's website and download it from there.  You will not have any problems downloading from this website in terms of getting viruses or malware on your computer - it is a completely safe website to use (Brian Harvey is a Computer Science professor at U. of California-Berkeley).

Friday, October 19

Vocab Quiz #5; Reflection; Logo

As usual on vocab quiz days, you will get a few minutes to review at the beginning of class.  Do not go to Classmarker until I tell you it is ok to go there.

Once you get done with your vocab quiz, write your reflection on your blog (make sure it is on your Journal page!).  Again, include your thoughts about what we have done this week in class.

When you get done with your reflection, I have a blue Logo handout that you need to come get from me.  You only need to complete the first column!  You will need to change each RT turn to the equivalent LT turn, and change each LT turn into the equivalent RT turn.

If you complete the Logo handout, your next objective is to see if you can give instructions to create all of the letters of the alphabet.  You will want to do each letter individually; therefore, after writing the instructions to draw a letter clear your screen before you start the next letter.


Thursday, October 18

Number keys; Logo - Zero heading and marking angles

VOCAB QUIZ TOMORROW!!

To start with, type all lines once from p. 30, 13D, lines 1-8.

Next we will learn the 5 (L1) and the 7 (R1).  These will actually be two of the easier numbers to learn.

After learning these two numbers we will again be working with Logo.  There are several new concepts we need to introduce today.  First, let's review - when your turtle is pointed up on your screen we call this Zero heading (to get to this point you can type in HOME - another primitive).  You should also remember FORWARD and BACK (these primitives move the turtle), as well as LEFT and RIGHT (these primitives turn, or rotate, the turtle).  We also erased everything we typed on our screen by typing in CLEARSCREEN.

Other primitives we did not talk about yesterday but need to cover are:  HIDETURTLE, SHOWTURTLE,  PENUP, and PENDOWN.  These should be fairly easy to understand; you would want to use HIDETURTLE when you want to see your screen without the turtle, and then you would use SHOWTURTLE to get your turtle back on your screen.  PENDOWN is how Logo starts - the pen is down and your turtle is in "drawing" mode; however, if you want to move your turtle without drawing lines you can use the PENUP command.

One of the aspects of Logo that we can use are the abbreviations for these primitives.  They are as follows:  FD, BK, RT, LT, HOME (sorry - no abbreviation), CS, HT, ST, PU, and PD.

Today we are going to discuss the marking angles in Logo.  It's important to remember several key mathematical concepts.  First, a complete circle, or TOTAL TURTLE TRIP as it is referred to in Logo language, is 360 degrees.  If you stood facing a direction, turned around one complete time, you would have turned 360 degrees.

Secondly, you can turn either right or left to get to the same "point"- it doesn't matter.  For example, say we want to turn RIGHT 90; in order to find out how far the turtle would have to turn left you just subtract the 90 from 360 (why 360?  Because that is one TOTAL TURTLE TRIP!).  Therefore, to get to the same point (or more accurately, angle) you could turn LEFT 270.

Lastly, we need to understand a couple of things about polygons.  The sum of the interior angles of a triangle add up to be 180.  What are the interior angles of an equilateral triangle?  You can use simple division to figure this out.  Also, the sum of the interior angles of any quadrilateral are 360.  For each additional side to a polygon you will add 180 degrees of angles (in other words, a 5-sided figure would have 540 degrees of angles; a 6-sided figure would have 720 degrees of angles, and so on).


Wednesday, October 17

Learn 9, 4, 0; LOGO the Turtle!

VOCABULARY:
Vocabulary definitions should now be posted on the Wikispaces page!  There will be a vocab quiz this Friday over vocab list #5 (Internet #1).  

These people are leaders for next week's vocabulary list and should have already contacted their group members to give them their vocabulary words (if you have not done this yet, you need to get it done ASAP!):

3rd:  JacobR
4th:  MeghanW
6th:  JarronN
7th:  HeathH
8th:  AbbyV

NEW KEYS:
Open Word and turn to page 30 in your book.  Start by typing lines 1-6 at the top of page 30 - 13C.  Once we get done warming up we will learn 3 new numbers today - the 9 (R3), the 4 (L1), and the 0 (R4).  

LOGO!!


Logo is a computer programming language created at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and is designed to give individuals an introduction into computer programming.  What you are going to learn with Logo is how a computer programmer thinks abstractly and sequentially in order to get their program to run correctly.  We will NOT be creating a program as you know it (however, we will be using Logo to create what I call "mini-programs" that will challenge you to understand the nature of what a computer programmer goes through in designing software).  

On your computer, go to your Finder menu, click Applications, and find the program called "UCBLogo" - open it.  You will see a black screen appear on your monitor.

FORWARD, 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 open 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.

Tuesday, October 16

Numbers; Edmodo post; Reflection from last week on blog

Vocab words - URL, Netiquette

You will have another post this week in Edmodo.  As we always will do when you post in Edmodo, you need to post your original response and then post 2 replies.  Remember, you need to create discussion when you reply in Edmodo!  Many of you posted replies that did not create discussion.  Here are some poor examples from our last assignment that people posted that did not create further discussion:

"The bells are annoying"
"Being able to chew gum is great!"
"Good point!  We do use use computers more often."
"I agree with you about having more homework."
"Yeah...math is hard."

None of those replies requires a further response from the person you are replying to, thus they stop the discussion.  Remember, you want to create more discussion.  Here are some examples of good posts that people posted to create further discussion:

"What class has more homework than 6th grade?"
"If they expect a lot from us now, what do you think it will be like in 8th grade?"
"Do you like the bells or would you prefer the teacher telling you when to leave to go to the next class?"
"What is your favorite class?"
"Who is your favorite teacher and why?"

Your Edmodo discussion board assignment will be due on Monday, Oct. 22nd, and your post for this week is as follows:
List one new vocab term you've learned and how, why, or in what way it will be important to you as you continue to live in a world dominated by computers.  

Reflection for week of Oct. 8th - enter your reflection on your blog for last week - I would assume many of you would include your thoughts on the Rainforest and Brookfield zoo activities we did.

Open Microsoft Word - we will warm up before we start learning the numbers on the keyboard (these are the numbers across the top of the keyboard).  Start with warming up on page 20 in the book (use all lines to warm up).

Monday, October 15

Missing work!! Practice

It is important that you take a look at the missing assignments list in the room - we have a large amount of people who have missing assignments!  Many of those people with missing assignments will change their grade if they turn in what is missing.  I will accept any late assignments up until school starts tomorrow!  If you are missing the work in Edmodo and decide to complete parts or all of that assignment, please send me an email to let me know that you entered your responses in Edmodo.

If you have nothing missing you need type the following in Word:
page 19, 9B, lines 1-10 once
page 20, 9C, lines 1-9 once
page 20, 9D, lines 1-7 once

When you get done typing the above lines, let me know so I can come look at them.  After you get done I will have something for you to do.


Wednesday, October 10

Correct fingers assignment; Makeup day

To begin with, I want you to warm up using p. 18, all lines on Section 8E.

After a few minutes of warming up, we will complete a Correct Fingers assignment on Classmarker.  If you don't remember, the Correct Fingers assignments are where you enter the correct finger you use on each key (for example, the right index finger, or R1, is used to type the letter J).

After completing that activity, we are going to use the rest of the time to make up any work that you have missing.  There are plenty of people with missing assignments, so if your name is on the wall you should be working to complete and hand in whatever is missing.  There are plenty of possibilities in terms of missing assignments - vocab quiz, crossword puzzle, Assignments (Formatting activities, 10 Facts about me, etc.).  If you need to make up something missing and it is on Classmarker, please let me know before you start working on it.

If you do not have any missing assignments you have several choices as to what you can do.  I will allow you to complete any work that is due - for example your Edmodo posts or your crossword puzzles that are due Friday (7th and 8th hour - we do not have class on Friday so I am strongly recommending that you get your crossword puzzle done today in class and turned in).

If you have everything done you can go to the practice websites listed on the blog.  You WILL have your speed skin on your keyboard as you are working, and you will stay busy the rest of the period.  You are not to be on a website that is unrelated to what we are doing in class (for example searching images in Google or on a website that we have never talked about using in class).  Also, there will be no chatting in Gmail or posting unnecessary comments and replies in Edmodo (and other time-wasting activities) - once you have everything done you are to practice on the websites I've given you.

Tuesday, October 9

Crossword puzzle handout; learning new symbol keys

DO YOU HAVE ANY MISSING ASSIGNMENTS?  IF SO, THOSE NEED TO BE COMPLETED BY THIS FRIDAY!  FRIDAY IS THE LAST DAY OF THE 1ST QUARTER AND I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY ASSIGNMENTS AFTER FRIDAY.  AS USUAL, IF YOU NEED TO COME IN BEFORE SCHOOL, DURING REAL OR LUNCH RECESS, OR IF YOU WANT TO STAY AFTER SCHOOL PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY!

Today I will be passing out a new Crossword Puzzle (there is no vocab quiz this week...however if you are the leader for next week you should pass out your vocab words to the people in your group either today or tomorrow!).  This crossword puzzle covers vocab words from lists 1-4 (in other words, up to last week).  This will be due Friday!  Be smart and don't wait until the last minute to do it...remember Thursday we will be gone all day in Chicago and you may find it difficult to remember to do it Thursday night.

Today we are going to add 3 symbols to what we have already learned on the keyboard.  They are as follows:

' (apostrophe) = R4
- (hyphen) = R4
" (quotation marks) = Left Shift + R4

Turn to page 18 in your book and open Microsoft Word.  We will begin learning these keys today by typing each line in 8D, p. 18 twice.

After learning these keys we will practice our timed writings.  A timed writing is also sometimes called a speed test.  So, we are going to go to the Free Typing Game website and practice our 1-minute timed writings.  I will explain these a little more once we get to this part of the class.  

Friday, October 5

Software vocab quiz; 3-day weekend!

Diavi (3rd), Lauren (4th), Taylor (female - 6th), LaurenK (7th), and Dylan (8th) are the vocab leaders for the next vocab list, which will be for the week of Oct. 15th (not next week, but the week after).  Your list is the week 5 list of vocab words - Internet #1.  You MUST! get each person in your group their word(s) either next Tuesday or Wednesday so that they can have time to research a definition before they post to the wikispaces page.

Here is our plan of action for today:
  1. Review for the vocab quiz

  2. Take the vocab quiz (don't go to Classmarker until told to do so)

  3. Finish FA3 - email to me (make sure to include everything that is needed in an email

  4. Post your reflection for this week on your Journal page on your blog.  Remember to put your reflection at the top of the page.

  5. If you get done with your reflection you can go to the Website Resources page and use the practice websites.  Remember, you must stay on the websites that are listed - no "straying" to other websites you shouldn't be on.  Also, remember your speed skin should be on your keyboard at all times!

Thursday, October 4

Edmodo post; Headers and Footers; FA3

After practicing with Edmodo yesterday, you are going to have your first assignment in Edmodo.  Again, this is homework and should not be worked on here in the classroom unless you are specifically directed to do so.  If you can't get this done at home then you are welcome to come in before school, during REAL, lunch recess, or after school to complete this assignment.  It should be done by Friday, Oct. 12th (that's next Friday, and it is the end of the 1st quarter).

This is the type of assignment that you may need to work on a couple of days.  You may go to Edmodo and find that you can not reply to anyone...if that's the case you will need to return at a later time or another day in order to get all of your work done.  Remember - you are to write an original response and reply to at least 2 of your classmates (each of those responsibilities is worth 5 pts - so the entire assignment is worth 10 points).

The writing prompt is as follows:

You now have spent almost 9 weeks in 7th grade.  What do you think has been the biggest difference between being a 7th grader versus last year as a 6th grader? (due Friday, Oct. 12th)

Today we are going to cover how to use your headers and footers.  The headers and footers are areas of your document that you can use to enter information without affecting how the document is formatted.  The header is the area at the top of the page; the footer is the area at the bottom of the page.  Since you have already inserted filename and path into the header you should have a pretty good idea of what the header is, but today's lesson will help you understand a little more about what type of information can be included in the header or footer.  


Activity 3 -


Once I explain how to use the headers and footers you will be able to get started with the Formatting Activity.