Off and Runnning in the New Semester

Thanks for checking in. We are off and running in all of my classes in the 2nd semester. Here is an update on each class.

My Introduction to Programming class recently completed their beginning unit on Small Basic. We learned basic programming concepts such as variables, decision making, and looping. Students completed a final project for Small Basic by making a first person role playing game. Students worked in pairs to complete the game, publish it online, and link it to their Wikis. Check them out. (You will need your student to log you in.) We are also listening as students present their games to the class.  We have moved on to the next stage of the class where students are learning programming concepts using Visual Basic 2010 Express. We will be using this program for the majority of the semester.

My Intro to Computer class has completed its first pass through Microsoft Office 2007. We completed units in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access. We have also learned how to save documents as PDF files upload them to an online drop box and link them to their own Wiki page. (You will need your student to log you in.) We are currently do a BIG project call the Web Traveler Project. Students have $7000 and seven days to take a trip anywhere in the world. Along the way, they will have to not only thoroughly research their vacation destination, but complete documents in all of the Office programs. Ask your student where they are vacationing! After this project, we will be diving back into Office to learn more skills in Word, Excel, PPT, and Access.

My Desktop Publishing class has finished up learning all about Photoshop CS4 and Illustrator CS4. They have watched a lot of movies, learn a ton of techniques, and created some very cool designs. Check out their design Wikis to check them out. (You will need your student to log you in.) We will be beginning a unit on Logo design. We will not only study logos, but students will create personal logos for themselves and for teachers at Sparta.

Welcome to class!

Hi parents and students,

Welcome to my classes for the second semester. I am teaching three different classes this semester. Intro to Computers, Desktop Publishing, and Computer Programming. Please visit the corresponding Website to learn more about the classes and read the syllabus for each class. I am looking forward to working with your students and teaching them technology skills in my classes. If you should ever need to contact me, please feel free to email me or call me at 887-8213. Please use PowerSchool to keep track of your student's grades. It is a great tool to keep tabs on how well your student is doing in class. You can even get email updates! Check it out.

End of the Semester

Welcome back! Students in my Intro to Computers class are working hard and moving towards the end of the semester. LOTS of things are going on. We are finishing a quick unit called "The Dream Team" where students need to start their own professional sports franchise. They create a logo, business card, letterhead, envelope, and uniforms. This unit is based on my book of the same name, The Dream Team. As students finish this, they are moving to another project that fits in nicely with the counselors coming into class for scheduling. The Career Unit lets students explore a career that interests them while completing documents in Google Apps. While we are doing all this, we take a few minutes a day to show the Animoto movies that we made before break. Finally, students will be taking their final exams during the week of January 23rd. They will take the same pre-tests that they took the first week of school so we can evaluate their growth. Finals will consist of vocabulary from the six vocabulary units throughout the semester as well as SAM 2007 tests in Word, Excel, PPT, and Access. As always, your son or daughter can practice from home on the pre-test and use the training feature to improve their skills.

Between Now and Break

15 days. That is all we have before break. But, we have a lot to do before then. We have just finished up the Hero Project. Students did a great job getting up in front of the class and presenting on the hero of their choice using Prezi. Next up is a Movie Project using a cool online tool called Animoto. Then we are going to finish up with advanced units in Word and Excel.  By that time, we will be ready for a break. :)

In Search of Heroes

What makes someone a hero? If you asked ten people you might get ten different answers. I am not talking about super heroes either. Students have just started the Hero Project in class and are asking that very question. Students are choosing famous people throughout history that might be considered a hero and researching them. Students will give a presentation to the class using Prezi, create a newsletter on their hero with Word, use Access to create a time line of important events in their hero's life, and finally create a works cited page in Word using the Sources Manager.

This is a great project that not only gets students up in front of the class to present (which they hate), but has them use the Flip video cameras to tell exactly why the person they chose to research should be considered a hero.

As always, check out our class Wiki to see your student's projects. But, you may need your son or daughter to help you log in.

Web Traveler, Photoshop Fun, and Office Again

Welcome back and thanks for checking in. My Intro to Computers classes have just finished their Web Traveler Project. Students had $7000 and seven days to take the trip of a life-time. Once they chose their destination, they had to research it and complete a number of tasks using Office 2007 software tools such as an itinerary, budget, slide show of vacation pictures, and a database of Websites used. If you would like to look at your student's work, have them log into the Wiki and show you their finished work. If there is no grade listed for your student, it is late and they are working on it outside of class. Call me with concerns.

We are beginning our second tour through Office with units in Word (writing term papers), Excel (more formulas, functions, and charting), PowerPoint (animation and sound), and Access (merging data with Word).

Finally, we just finished a quick unit in Photoshop where students learned to add color to black and white photos as well as get rid of red-eye and zits. Students posted pictures of themselves on the Wiki showing the "Sin City" method of coloring certain aspects of a picture. Check it out.

Thanks!

Welcome Back!

Students, parents, and fellow staff members: Welcome back! Summer is done and we are in the second week of school. I am teaching three sections of Intro to Computers this fall so if your student is a 9th grader, chances are good that they might be sitting in my class. We are starting off the school year with a lot of pretesting. Students have taken pretests in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and vocabulary. Our goal of all this pretesting is to find out where students are currently in their computer knowledge and then compare it with final exams to find their growth in this class. That is our goal at least.

After that, we are diving into MS Office 2007 with units covering Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access. Along with that, we will be learning vocabulary units on networking terms and common acronyms and extensions.

I am hoping to update this blog every two weeks, so hanks for visiting, stop back again, and here's to a great year!