2019-20 7-A.6


June 10-16, 2020 - Make-up Time

Today starts the final phase of our Computer Class time. From June 10th to the 16th you have an opportunity to turn in anything that you missed.


LOG INTO THE HAC: Starting in 7th grade you have your own account in the Home Access Center (HAC). If you have never accessed your grades before you can find the directions for doing so in your Council Rock Gmail. Search for an email called "HAC Support". Follow those directions to log in. Once you are in the HAC you should find that I posted 10 participation points for each activity that you completed.


MAKE-UP ANY ACTIVITIES THAT YOU MISSED: Everything we did in class is posted below and in Canvas.  The 10 ACTIVITIES are identified with RED ARROWS.  I have also sent you an email will all the specific activities listed in it.  Take note that some activities are turned in using Google Classroom, some require you to complete a Google Form or Quiz, and some activities ask you to share your document with me.   Over the next several days I will be looking through all my files to find all your projects. Email me directly if you have any questions.


CONCLUSION:  After you have completed these activities please restart your device (always a good thing to do for your computer) and restart yourself by going outside and taking a break.



June 8, 2020

Sketchup Online
INTERNET MOMENT:  Today you should take some time to explore Sketchup Online which is a great example of a free CAD program.  Click on "Start Modeling" and select "Sign in with Google".  You can use your Council Rock Google Account.  CAD, or computer aided design & drafting, has become very common across many fields and exploring Sketchup Online can help you understand what 3D designing looks and feels like. Sketchup is a free online app that you can use at home to continue to learning more about this important skill.  If you'd like to learn more try the 10 minute tutorial video below.  (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.6.8.M, 15.8.8.K, 15.8.8.S, 15.9.8.F)




Activity 10:  Finish the Day at School Slide Show

Day at School slide show
You still have more time to finish our final computer class project.  You are using Google Slides to make a 6-9 slide show about Holland Middle School.  The audience for your finished slide show will be 6th graders at your old elementary school.  Below are the directions and a link to a 5 minute tutorial video.
  1. Make a 6-9 slide Google Slide show about Holland Middle School
  2. Your Audience for this show will be 6th Graders at your old Elementary School so make sure you will be answering the questions they have about HMS
  3. Make sure your finished slide show has:  a pre-made theme, one good picture or graphic on each slide, no more than 5 lines of text per slide.
  4. Make sure you turn in your finished slide show using Google Classroom
Follow this link to view the 5 minute tutorial video:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_POjTNs8Tt_GAefQsbBXBrQAaV-0-7NL/view?usp=sharing



TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO: As a follow-up to the Internet Moment about CAD, or computer aided design & drafting, using Sketchup Online watch this 4 minute video from SciShow about the 3D printers.  The combination of CAD and 3D printers is changing how we manufacture many of the products we use every day.









June 3, 2020


Activity 10:  Day at School Slide Show

Day at School slide show
Today we will be starting our final computer class project.  You will be using Google Slides to make a 6-9 slide show about Holland Middle School.  The audience for your finished slide show will be 6th graders at your old elementary school.  Below are the directions and a link to a 5 minute tutorial video.
  1. Make a 6-9 slide Google Slide show about Holland Middle School
  2. Your Audience for this show will be 6th Graders at your old Elementary School so make sure you will be answering the questions they have about HMS
  3. Make sure your finished slide show has:  a pre-made theme, one good picture or graphic on each slide, no more than 5 lines of text per slide.
  4. Make sure you turn in your finished slide show using Google Classroom
Follow this link to view the 5 minute tutorial video:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_POjTNs8Tt_GAefQsbBXBrQAaV-0-7NL/view?usp=sharing


TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO:  We will finish today with a video from PBS News Hour about the effects of screen time on teenage brains.






June 1, 2020

Safe Online Surfing
Today you will be doing a series of online activities specifically designed by the Federal Bureau of Investigations to help 7th graders learn more about safe internet surfing.


Activity 9:  Safe Online Surfing Test


DIRECTIONS:  You will need to log into Google Classroom for the complete directions.

  1. Follow this link to the 7th Grade Safe Online Surfing Activities: 
    https://sos.fbi.gov/en/seventh-grade.html

  2. Do the online activities 1 - 7 in order by clicking the numbers on the map.

  3. Once you have completed the activities try this  “5 Question Quiz”.  Unfortunately the Test in the website is not available as of June 1st.



TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO:   We will finish this activity with a short video from the Common Sense Media Foundation about oversharing on the internet:






May 28, 2020

Online Typing Games:  Improving your typing speed and accuracy will make you more efficient.  The quicker you complete the typing you have to do for school the more free time you will have.  Unfortunately, typing practice isn't always fun.  Today we're going to experiment with some online typing games.  Please spend at least 20 minutes experimenting with the following online typing activities.  Use this time to practice your typing.  We will finish with a typing test today.

*You can compete with other students using the last two options




Activity 8:  Typing Test




TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO:  We will finish class today with a short video from ColdFusion about recent developments in autonomous robots.



CONCLUSION:  After you have completed these activities please restart your device (always a good thing to do for your computer) and restart yourself by going outside and taking a break









May 26, 2020


IMPROVING YOUR TYPING SPEED & ACCURACY:  One of the goals of this class is to help you learn how to use technology to be more efficient.  The simple fact is that there are are hundreds of assignments that you will need to type between now and graduation from high school.  This week we will be practicing typing so you can improve your speed and accuracy.


TYPING VIDEO:  Start by watching this short video from Tech Insider about specific ways to type faster.




TYPING PRACTICE:  Today we will be using a specific typing website to practice typing.

  1. Go to https://www.typingclub.com/ and click on “Get Started”

  2. For the best results you should be seated with your laptop or keyboard on a table.

  3. Click on the first lesson under Home Row: 

    1. Try Lessons 1 to 6 as a warm-up activity.  

    2. Click on the “Placement Test” on the right to see how you are doing

    3. Continue practicing for at least 15 minutes.



Activity 7:  Typing Survey

When you have finished practicing typing today follow this link and complete the 5 question survey:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeIFGNWcPcerlXgvpuI718SkPsYkgep37osiWxrLCAh-WoHeA/viewform?usp=sf_link 



TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO:  We will finish with this 5 minute video from the Wall Street Journal about the history of keyboards and computers and some possible future keyboards.







May 20, 2020


HOW TO EMAIL A TEACHER VIDEO: We will start with a short video about how to email a teacher.   (PA-BCIT Standards 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.M, 15.3.8.O, 15.3.8.Q, 15.3.8.R, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.U, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.D, 15.4.8.G)


Activity 6:  Basic Email Etiquette

Email Project Directions
In today’s activity we will practice some basic email etiquette by communicating formally with a teacher.  You will be sending a formal thank you email to any Council Rock faculty member.  The specific directions for this project can be viewed here (or click the image to the right).  Make sure you add Mr. McNulty to the cc: line in your email so you will be marked off in the HAC for having completed this activity. (PA-BCIT Standards 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.M, 15.3.8.O, 15.3.8.Q, 15.3.8.R, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.U, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.D, 15.4.8.G)


INTERNET MOMENT:   Take a few moments to explore PlaneFinder.net which is an online resource that displays the real-time locations of commercial airliners all around the world.  This website is an example of using public domain information to create a profit making website and app. The creators of the website collect the location information about airliners directly from the

Federal Aviation Administration.  Because all the airplane locations is collected by a government agency, is therefore in the public domain.


Meeting Topics:
  • Review of the first 6 projects
  • Using technology for formal communication
  • Introduction to typing and upcoming typing practice activities
  • Question & Answer time
  • Kahoot Game


CLASS MEETING:  We have a Google Meet planned for Wednesday, May 20th at 1:30 PM.  You should log into your school Google Calendar to find the link to the meeting.



CONCLUSION: After you have completed these activities please restart your device (always a good thing to do for your computer) and restart yourself by going outside and taking a break.









May 18, 2020

INTERNET MOMENT: Take a few moments to explore Google Maps.   Once there try to do the following three activities:

  1. Search for our school by typing in the address: 
    400 East Holland Road, Holland PA  18966    .  

  2. Next see if you can find the satellite and aerial photos of the building by clicking on the button in the lower left of the screen.  

  3. Find driving, biking and walking directions from our school to your house. 

  4. Learn more about how Google Maps works by watching the 6 minute video below.

  5. We also used the street views and how the Google Maps cars work was explained.




FORMAL vs. INFORMAL COMMUNICATION:  You probably use technology for all kinds of things.  One of the most popular uses for technology is communication and you probably already do a lot of it.  Whether you’re sharing pictures with friends on your phone to talking with other players during an online video game or collaborating on school projects it all involves communicating.  Most of this communicating is what we would call informal communicating.  In today’s project we want you to start using technology to practice formal communication by creating a Block Formatted Business Letter using Google Docs.   Take some time to watch this video and then follow the directions below to complete this activity.



 

Activity 5:  Block Formatted Business Letter

For our activity today we will be practicing formal communication by writing a block formatted business letter to our principal, Mr. Hollahan.  The specific directions for this project are below but you will need to log into Google Classroom to do the project and submit it.

  1. Log into your school Google Account and go to Google Classroom

  2. Open “May 18:  Business Letter Activity”

  3. Open the Google Doc that is provided (Block Formatted Business Letter) 

  4. Add your address to the letter and change the date

  5. Write at least one paragraph consisting of at least 5 sentences

  6. Complete the project by adding your name at the bottom

  7. Submit the finished letter using Google Classroom


It is not required, but if you would like to you can print out the letter, sign it and mail it to Mr. Hollahan using our school address.  Here is a tutorial video about how to address an envelope:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I7c67KM4FA



TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO:  We will finish today with a video from the Corning Corporation about some of the potential uses for their glass products in the future. (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A)




CLASS MEETING ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 20th AT 1:30:  We will use Google Meet and the link will be sent to your Council Rock Gmail address.


Meeting Topics:
  • Review of the first 6 projects
  • Using technology for formal communication
  • Introduction to typing and upcoming typing practice activities
  • Question & Answer time
  • Kahoot Game


CONCLUSION: After you have completed these activities please restart your device (always a good thing to do for your computer) and restart yourself by going outside and taking a break.





May 13, 2020


Activity 4:  Making a Weekly Schedule 

Using Tables in Google Docs
Tutorial Video (6 minutes) For this project you will be making a weekly schedule for yourself using Google Docs.  As you might have noticed, Distance Learning has many advantages and disadvantages.  It gives you an immense amount of freedom to but with that freedom comes a lot of responsibility to manage your time to make sure you don’t fall behind your peers.  For today’s activity we will be helping you organize your time by making a simple weekly schedule using tables in Google Docs. 

  1. Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account (click here for directions) 

  2. Go to the Apps symbol in the top right corner (also known as the “waffle”) and look for “Drive”.  This should take you to your CR Google Drive.

  3. In the top left hand corner look for the plus sign and “NEW”, open that menu, look for and select: “Google Docs”

  4. Name the Doc by clicking on “Untitled document” in the top left.  Give it a name like: “Week of May 18th Schedule”

  5. Go to the “File” menu and select “Page setup”

    1. Set the page to “Landscape”

    2. You can also change the margins around the edge of the page here

  6. Go to the “Insert” menu and select “Table”

    1. Draw a table with 5 columns and 12 rows

    2. Label the columns with the days of the week

    3. Fill in the cells with your daily schedule

  7. Customize your schedule by adding colors, formatting text, changing fonts and adding hyperlinks.

  8. Submit your finished schedule by sharing it with Mr. McNulty

    1. Click the blue “Share” button in the top right corner 

    2. Add jmcnulty@crsd.org to share the Google Doc

VIDEO INTERVIEW TIPS: In the past several weeks you may have participated in several video conferences for school. Before we start our Computer Class Meeting using Google Meet today you should watch this short video about how to participate in an online job interview using skype. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.2.8.H, 15.3.8.M, 15.6.8.M, 15.4.8.A, 15.8.8.M)


CLASS MEETING TODAY AT 1:45:  We will have a class meeting using Google Meet today.  We will be reviewing the Technology Use Survey results and the four activities that you should have completed at this point.  Please take note of the following:


  • You must be logged into your School Google Account to participate

  • The link to the Google Meet should be available to you in your School Google Calendar, in Google Classroom, Canvas, and in your school Gmail.

  • Watch the video above to help you prepare before the meeting today

  • 1:45 7-A.6 Computer Class Meeting - https://meet.google.com/pug-cuct-dux 



CONCLUSION:  After you have completed these activities please restart your device (always a good thing to do for your computer) and restart yourself by going outside and taking a break.





May 11, 2020


Setting Your Profile Picture
Creating a School Profile Picture:   Setting your School Profile Picture (6 minute video).

Your online brand, also known as your digital footprint, is made up of all the things that represent you online.  For example profile pictures for your various accounts are usually always made public (you can read about this in the user agreements for various apps and online services).  For this activity we are going to create your profile picture for your Google account here at school.  Try to think of this account as your “professional” account and not your “personal” account.  Use the website below to create a “future high school student” version of yourself that can represent you.

  1. Go to:  https://www.cartoonify.de/  move down the page a little bit and start making a “cartoon” version of yourself

  2. Once finished you can click “Download” in the bottom right corner.  The file will be saved to your computer as “myAvatar.png”.  200x200 will be large enough.



Activity 3: Setting Your School Profile Picture:
Once you have used cartoonify.de to make a profile picture you should set it as your school Google account.  Follow these directions if you don’t know how to change a profile picture.  You can always change your picture again later if you would like to.  

  1. Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account and click on your current profile picture in the upper right hand corner.

  2. Click on the camera symbol on the enlarged profile picture to change your profile picture to the one you just made.  We will share all the finished avatars with the class and the whole world later.



CHANGING YOUR PROFILE PICTURE IN CANVAS:  You can also set your profile picture in your school Canvas Account.  Watch the tutorial video below for directions: 




CHECK THE HAC: Starting in 7th Grade sll students are give their own account for logging into the Home Access Center and check their grades. Students should check their Council Rock Gmail for an email from "HAC Support" to find their username and password. They can search their email for "HAC" to find it. Take some time to try accessing your grades online.



INTERNET MOMENT:   We will finish class today with a video from Common Sense Education about teenagers and how they present themselves on social media.



CONCLUSION:  After you have completed these activities please restart your device (always a good thing to do for your computer) and restart yourself by going outside and taking a break.








May 6, 2020


INTERNET MOMENT:   Take some time to check out a popular news aggregator website:  Google News   Once there take 5 minutes to check out the current event stories and try searching the news for topics that interest you, there is a search box at the top of the screen.  



Organize Your Google Drive
ORGANIZING YOUR SCHOOL GOOGLE DRIVE:  Organizing your Google Drive Video (6 minutes).

  1. Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account (click here for directions) 

  2. Go to the Apps symbol in the top right corner (also known as the “waffle”) and look for “Drive”.  This should take you to your CR Google Drive.

  3. Time to organize your Google Drive…

    1. Watch this 4 minute video about managing files in your Google Drive

    2. Make a new folder and name it “Elementary School”

    3. Move all your files from elementary school into the new “Elementary School” folder

    4. Make folders for each of your 7th grade classes (Math, Science, English, Computers . . . etc.)

    5. Move files from these classes into the appropriate subject folders.

    6. Finally, you can right click on your new folders and change their colors if you would like.



Activity 2:  Technology Use Survey

Log into Google Classroom (click here for directions) and look for the May 6 Assignment.  You will find the link to the 2020 Technology Use Survey.  Follow the link and answer the 65 questions.  All computer class students are taking the survey and in a later class we will review the results from the survey.



TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO:  We will finish class today with a short video about a “micro drone” that was at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.



CONCLUSION:  After you have completed these activities please restart your device (always a good thing to do for your computer) and restart yourself by going outside and taking a break.





May 4, 2020


WELCOME TO YOUR 7TH GRADE COMPUTER CLASS:  The overall goal of this class is to make sure every student is familiar with the technology resources that are available to them at Council Rock before they go to the high school.  Today we will start with a few easy activities to make sure you can access the directions for all our Computer Class Activities.



Activity 1:   All students should be able to access their school Gmail Account, our class website   (www.TodayInComputerClass.com), Google Classroom and Canvas.  Practice accessing all four of these resources by following the directions below.  After you have accessed all four of these resources follow this link to answer 5 questions.


Using your school email
USING YOUR SCHOOL GMAIL ACCOUNT:  Using your School Gmail Account Video (4 minutes): Computer class directions will be sent to you via email on Mondays and Wednesdays.  All students in the Council Rock School District have a school Gmail account and you should be able to log in and check your email.  Please do the following activity:

  1. Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account (click here for directions).  This will work best in the Google Chrome browser  Here is a link to download the Google Chrome browser if you don’t have it on your computer.

  2. Look for the email with the subject line “May 4:  Computer Class Directions”.  It will contain these same directions.  

  3. Reply to that email with a message like this:

    Hi Mr. McNulty,
    I’m working at home on my first computer class projects today.  At home I have a _______ computer.  My school gmail account is working fine.
    Sincerely,
    Your Name

  4. Don’t forget to send the email by clicking on the blue “Send” button



OUR CLASS WEBSITE:  All Computer Class activities are also posted on the internet at our class website, TodayInComputerClass.com  This is website is an example of a blog.   Blogs have been around since the 1990’s and the origin of the word is ”web log” which was shortened to blog. You can always check to see what we do each day as a class by visiting: TodayInComputerClass.com.  Students should also know 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.




ACCESSING GOOGLE CLASSROOM:  All Computer Class activities are also posted on Google Classroom (click here for directions).  Please follow the directions below to find this class in Google Classroom.

  1. Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account (click here for directions) 

  2. Go to the Apps symbol in the top right corner (also known as the “waffle”) and look for “Classroom”.  This should take you to your Council Rock Google Classroom.

  3. You should find a Google Class there for this computer class, open it up.  If you don’t see it there  email Mr. McNulty and ask to be added to the class.



ACCESSING CANVAS:  All Computer Class activities are also posted on Canvas which is a new learning management system that is being adopted by the Council Rock School District over the next two years.  Please follow the directions below to find this class in Canvas:

  1. Go to the Holland Middle School website and look for the link to CANVAS on the left

  2. Log in using the same username and password that you use for your Council Rock Gmail Account.

  3. Once logged in you should find Computer Class, open it up.  If you don’t see it there  email Mr. McNulty and ask to be added to the class.



ACTIVITY 1: Distance Learning Questions   
After you have accessed all four of these resources follow this link to answer 5 questions.



TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO:  For our final activity today watch the following video about the most recent demographic and technological changes that have taken place in our world: 











May 1, 2020 - Welcome to Computer Class


Welcome to your 6 week rotation in Computer Class. The goal of this class is to make sure you are...

Familiar with Council Rock technology
Able to use our technology for school projects
Familiar with how the technology all around us works



Follow this link to the Welcome Video for the course
You will have to log into your Council Rock Google Account to view the video

Computer Class for 7th Graders will start on May 4th.  All course content will be posted in CANVAS, Google Classroom and on the website: www.TodayInComputerClass.com. Course content will also be sent to your school Gmail account. You can check any of these resources to see what we’re doing each day in Computer Class.