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.