December 2, 2014 - LAST CLASS 91 minutes104 minutes
Make-up Time & Checking Grades: Since this is our last full class all students had time to make up any work they may have missed. All projects were handed back and students could submit anything they missed or re-submit a project that they hadn't finished for full credit.  All students were asked to log into the HAC and check their grades for this class. The few students who could not log in to check their grades were reminded, one more time, that they have to talk to their parents about getting their email address registered in the system. Office Yoga Break:  Students are always reminded to not spend too much time sitting in front of computers.  Breaks should be taken at least every 30-40 minutes.  For our break today we practiced a simple yoga stretch for your ankles and then everyone had a chance to get up and move around the room some. Turn Publisher and Word Projects into Webpages:  Students were shown how to turn each of their projects into single file webpages.  These individual webpages will be linked to a homepage to create a simple website using MS Expression.  Closure to Computer Class: Students were reminded that computers are constantly changing and that they have to learn to adjust to new programs, new hardware and new ways of using technology all the time. We are all constantly learning to adapt to new technology.  Students were also reminded that this was their only required computer class here at Council Rock and that should they wish to learn more about computer technology they should look carefully at the High School Program Planning Guide for the many elective classes that incorporate computer skills.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.6.8.M, 15.2.8.E) Technology Current Event Video:  For our last current event this year we watched a TED Presentation by Gary Kovacs, the CEO of Mozilla, about how internet users are tracked.  He demonstrated how many companies were following him and his daughter when they were online during a typical day.  During the presentation he demonstrated how a free download for Firefox called Collusion (now called Lightbeam) can be used to find out who is tracking you online.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.5.8.J, 15.9.8.L, 15.9.8.M) November 25, 2014 22 minutes*  Business Classes at the High School, WebQuest Project:  All students researched the computer class opportunities at our high school by completing an online webquest activity.  Follow this link to view the questions. Technology Current Event Video:  After finishing the full page ad project we watched an 11 minute whiteboard video about the universal principles of persuasion to introduce students to some basic marketing concepts. (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.9.8.A, 15.9.8.E) * Class time was shorter today due to the half day schedule November 21, 2014 Mr. McNulty is Absent Today:  Students are directed to do the following activities: Internet Moment:  Students were shown GeoGuessr.com today and allowed to spend 5 minutes playing the game at the beginning class.  The highest score in our class today was 8,900. Google Earth Tour Quiz:  As a follow-up to our previous tour on Google Earth students were challenged to list everywhere they had gone and what they had seen on their tour of the 3 dimensional visual imagery in Google Earth last class. This activity helped to demonstrate the effectiveness of using 3D spatial references, such as the virtual environment of Google Earth, to augment memory.    QUIZ:  Where I went on Google Earth Today  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.6.8.M) The Universal Arts of Graphic Design:  As a review of the projects our students have done in Publisher we watched a short video from PBSoffbook about what graphic arts is and what a graphic designer does.  Business Classes at the High School, WebQuest Project:  All students researched the computer class opportunities at our high school by completing an online webquest activity.  Follow this link to view the questions. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from "Stuff to Blow Your Mind" about Constructing a Memory Palace.  This was a follow-up to the Google Earth activity we started last class. November 19, 2014 104 minutes  Internet Moment: Today we explored Google Earth and discussed how a 3 dimensional virtual environment can be used to augment human memory. We started by discussing what spatial memory is and how it is used to make modern video games so engaging. Students were then introduced to the memory palace or method of loci as an effective way to use 3 dimensional visual imagery to help a person remember large amounts of information. We then went to Google Earth and began a tour of   Work on Full Page Ads:  All students had time today to work on this project and print a rough draft in black and white.  Each student had a chance to review their rough draft with the teacher before printing their final draft in full color.  Some students finished today but all students will have some time to finish and print next class.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  Almost everyone finished today.  (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.A, 15.3.8.B, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.H, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.B) Office Yoga Break:  Students are always reminded to not spend too much time sitting in front of computers.  Breaks should be taken at least every 30-40 minutes.  For our break today we practiced a simple yoga stretch for your ankles and then everyone had a chance to get up and move around the room some.  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today by watching a 4 minute speed design video by Jeff Clairmont of Drive Home Design in Canada.  Though the video was time lapsed it does demonstrate exactly the kind of detailed work that goes into good graphic design for a poster. November 17, 2014 44 minutes  Finish Full Page Ad Project:  All students had time today to work on this project and print a rough draft in black and white.  Each student had a chance to review their rough draft with the teacher before printing their final draft in full color.  Some students finished today but all students will have some time to finish and print next class.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  Almost everyone finished today.  (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.A, 15.3.8.B, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.H, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.B) Technology Current Event Video: As a followup to the Think Before You Post slide show we watched a story from Fox 47 News in Madison, Wisconsin about employers who use social media searches to investigate job applicants. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.2.5.M, 15.2.8.K, 15.8.8.M, 15.5.8.J, 15.4.5.A, 15.4.5.B) November 13, 2014 91 minutes Video Conference With Students in Greece:  We started class today by participating in a Skype interview with some English language students at the Winners Education in Greece.  The students in Greece were taking a MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) at Edx.org about the Science of Happiness.  Four of our students volunteered to talk to them and the Greek students asked them some questions about what makes them happy.  Before the interview we did a T-chart activity as a class and discussed what to do, and not do, in a formal video conference.  After the interview we talked about how the video conference went.  (PA-BCIT: 15.2.8.H, 15.3.8.K, 15.3.8.M, 15.7.8.I, 15.7.8.J, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.A, 15.4.8.B)   Office Yoga Break:  During long classes like this one students are always reminded to take breaks and get exercise. Students shouldn't spend more than 30-40 minutes in front of a computer without taking a break.  As part of our break today we practiced a simple stretch for your neck. After the break everyone had a chance to get up and walk around. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today by watching part of a U.S. State Department interview with Salman Khan, the founder of KhanAcademy.org in which he talks about what a MOOC is and the most popular college level MOOC providers.  104 minutes Internet Moment:  In recognition of Veterans Day our students went to the AARP's website and took the Veterans Day Quiz.  After the quiz we reviewed the answers and talked about the history of the holiday.  Brochure Project: Students had time to finish the copyright brochure project in MS Publisher today.   Students were also shown how to print on both sides of a sheet of paper and how to tri-fold a brochure.  Each student then had an opportunity to review a rough draft of their project with the teacher.  Students were also reminded to not use any copyrighted material from the internet to make this project. Everyone turned in this project today.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.1.5.B, 15.3.5.A, 15.3.8.B, 15.3.5.D, 15.3.8.D, 15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.G, 15.3.8.U, 15.6.8.L)  Technology Current Event Video:  Today we watched  parts of a TED presentation by Vijay Kumar of the University of Pennsylvania featuring robots that fly autonomously and cooperate.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A) November 7, 2014 44 minutes  Technology Use Survey: All students in this class participated in the annual NMS Student Technology Use Survey. After the survey students had time to review the results from previous years. All results going back to 2006 can be viewed here. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video about a design challenge from General Motors to develop an interactive window for car passengers.  The concept featured in the video was developed by graduate students at the Bezalel Academy in Israel. November 5, 2014 91 minutes   Office Yoga Break:  During long classes like this one students are always reminded to take breaks and get exercise. Students shouldn't spend more than 30-40 minutes in front of a computer without taking a break.  As part of our break today we practiced a simple office yoga stretch for your shoulders and back.  After the break everyone had a chance to get up and walk around. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from 24G.com that explained what HTML is. October 31, 2014 91 minutes Internet Moment: Today we explored NewsMap.jp which is a graphical interpretation of the top news stories on Google News that was created by Marcos Weskamp, a self described software architect. He is was also part of the team that founded Flipboard which seeks to bring the design experience of magazines to web and tablet technology. Students had a chance to explore Mr. Weskamp's website and learn a little about how software engineers work with design and computer coding. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.2.5.B, 15.2.5.C, 15.2.8.E) Hour of Code: Today our class participated in the Hour of Code. We started by viewing the source code for this webpage. Students were told that this code, a mixture of HTML and JavaScript, was the list of specific instructions that tell your web browser how to display the webpage. We then watched the tutorial video below to introduce the online coding activity. Students then went to the online Blockly Maze Tutorial to write JavaScript. Office Yoga Break:  During long classes like this one students are always reminded to take breaks and get exercise. Students shouldn't spend more than 30-40 minutes in front of a computer without taking a break. For our break today we practiced a simple office yoga stretch. Introduction to Scratch:  After all students had time to complete the Blockly Maze Tutorial the class was shown Scratch which is a free online code editor that was developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Students who enjoyed using Blockly, were told that Scratch would be the next step for them to try.  All students had about 10 minutes to experiment with Scratch and to view some featured student projects. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from How Stuff Works about Tim Berners-Lee and the invention of the World Wide Web. October 29, 2014 94 minutes Internet Moment: Today we looked at two online resources for fonts. DaFont.com offers over 25,000 fonts that are either freeware, shareware, demo versions or in the public domain. These fonts can be downloaded and installed but students were also shown how they can use the Snipping Tool to get images of the fonts they might like. Students were also shown how they could make their own font using a website like YourFonts.com. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.6.5.M, 15.4.5.A)  Font Presentation:  In this presentation the development of the two basic font families (serif & sans serif) as well as the best uses for each was discussed. Students were also shown how they read primarily through identifying sight words and why it's so hard to spell and grammar check your own work.  (serif & san serif) and the best uses for each category students proceeded to make a Font Guide in MS Publisher. The final student project should look just like the original. We also discussed the concept of WYSIWYG in graphic design on computers. Click here to enlarge the project description. We will finish this project next class.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.G, 15.4.2.K, 15.3.8.X) Break:  Students are always reminded to not spend too much time sitting in front of computers. For our break today we did a gallery walk to share project ideas. We then practiced a simple yoga stretch for your shoulder. Online Writing Survey for Greek Students:  The students in this class did a trial run of an online survey that we will use in a future class to give feedback to some students in Greece who are learning to write in English. Font Conference Video:  As a follow-up to the Font Presentation we watched a short video from College Humor about a fictitious "Font Conference": October 27, 2014 91 minutes Check Blog Comments:  We started class today by checking the comments our students sent to  Mrs. Chernaya's English Language students.  Internet Moment: We looked at a Microsoft Web Application for creating zoomable high resolution photos.   Students were also shown two other examples of zoomable photos that were created using the web application:  the NMS Mosaic Project and the Deep Zoom image of Yosemite National Park. Students had time to explore these websites. Favorite Links Project:  All students had time to finish the single file webpage in Word that we had started last class.  After everyone finished we did a gallery walk so students could share their work with each other. Click here to enlarge the project description.   (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.4.5.G) Check Grades:  Since we are near the halfway point in this class students were asked to log into the Home Access Center and check their computer class grades.  Only about 25% of the class could do this. All students were reminded that they need to be able to log on and check their grades routinely.    Students in grades 7 to 12 can register for their own HAC Account.  Parents, add your child's email address (registration page, demographic tab) and then have them click the registration link below:     Publisher Logo Project: We started with an introduction to MS Publisher 2012 today. Publisher was described as a graphic design program which is used to express your ideas visually. The field of graphic design was also explained. Students were reminded that learning basic graphic design skills will help them to communicate their ideas effectively. Students then became familiar with Publisher 2010 by making a simple logo. We saved this project and shared them with the class. Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.S, 15.4.5.G, 15.6.5.M, 15.3.8.X, 15.9.8.A, 15.9.5.L) Technology Current Event Video: To finish class today we watched a speed design video from Przemyslaw Jakub Wolosaczonek of VisualRevolt.net in London, England.  This gave students a glimpse of the process professional graphic artists do to create a logo. Students were reminded that the software that was being used in the video would be available to then at the high school. (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.2.8.C, 15.2.8.E, 15.3.8.E, 15.6.8.M) October 23, 2014 104 minutes Class Blog: Students were shown TodayInComputerClass.com and told that they can check here anytime to review what work was done in class. We also discussed what a web log or blog was, how blogs developed into microblogs like Twitter and now mobile phone based apps like Instagram. This website is the blog or web log for our class. Students were also told that their parents will be sent an email with a link to this website so they can also review what we are doing in computer class each day.  tudents were shown how to print the finished document two-sided. All students should be able to set-up their Word Documents in the MLA Format. (PA-B.C.I.T. Standards: 15.3.5.A, 15.3.8.A) Assigned Seats: All students have an assigned seat/computer in computer class. Students have a responsibility to report any problems with the machine they have been assigned. In this way we all participate in maintaining our school computers.  Students were also reminded to adjust the keyboard, mouse, chair and monitor to meet their ergonomic needs.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.5.D, 15.4.2.B, 15.4.8.F) Student Blogging Activity:  Our students prepared a one paragraph response to a blog entry of their choice from a student at the City of Moscow Secondary School with Advanced Study of Foreign Languages, Number 1302.  Mrs. Chernaya's English Language students are practicing their writing skills by blogging and our students are demonstrating appropriate internet communication skills and paragraph writing skills by commenting on their blog entries.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.G, 15.3.8.M, 15.4.5.A, 15.4.8.B) Typing Test: All students took a typing test using TypingTest.com. Each student had 10 minutes to take the 1 minute test multiple times. Their best adjusted speed was recorded and graphed in an Excel spreadsheet. The average typing speed for this class was: 35.4 WPM Click here for more information about typing speeds at Newtown Middle School. We also reviewed the graph below:  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video about a new flexible TV screen. October 21, 2014 44 minutes Internet Moment:  Students were asked to compare three popular news aggregator websites:  Google News, Bing News and Yahoo.  We looked at their home pages, their features and their overall appearance.  Though the results were split, a plurality of our students said they preferred Google News when looking for current events online.  (PA BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.6.5.L) Finish Presentation: We finished the Introduction to Computer Class presentation about basic computer knowledge.  Today we reviewed:
Technology Current Event Videos:  We finished class today with a video from 8nownews.com in Las Vegas, Nevada about the use of social media searches by colleges and universities.  We also started watching a Fox 5 DC News story about a school district in Maryland that was using a 3rd party company (Social Sentinel) to follow what their students were doing online. (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.2.5.M, 15.2.8.K, 15.8.8.M, 15.5.8.J, 15.4.5.A, 15.4.5.B) October 17, 2014 91 minutes Introduction to Basic Computer Skills Class: Basic rules and classroom procedures were explained. Students were specifically reminded that because technology is constantly changing they should get into the habit of helping each other out and demonstrating the ability to learn new computer skills through experimentation.  All students reported that they had helped an adult with computer skills but they were reminded that it's important to also get used to helping each other.  Pixlr.com Project: Students were shown how to use the online photo editor pixlr.com to edit a photograph.  Students then shared their modified photos using various district network resources and demonstrated basic skills such as drag & drop. The best use of the H:, S: & X: drives was also explained.  We also discussed professional digital photo editing with Adobe PhotoShop. (PA BCIT Standards: 15.4.8.F, 15.4.5.G)  Break: During long classes like this one students are always reminded to take breaks and get exercise. Students shouldn't spend more than 30-40 minutes in front of a computer without taking a break. Setting up Student Passwords:  All students were given some suggestions to help them develop good passwords.  Some suggested good password practices were:  Come up with a collection of passwords to rotate through instead of just one, make a pass phrase instead of a password, mix numbers, letters and symbols together.  Student passwords must be at least 8 characters long and fit the following parameters:Â
 Computer Class Survey: All students take a computer class survey. The results of this survey are used to guide the instruction for the class. You can view the survey to the right.  Click to enlarge. We then used the survey as the outline for a presentation about basic computer knowledge .  Introduction to Computer Class Presentation: This presentation was a follow up to the survey and covered basic computer concepts everyone should be familiar with such as:
We will finish this presentation next class. |
