April 27-30, 2020 - Review & Make-up Time
Students have time this week to finish any computer class activities that they might have missed since the closure of school.
Check Your Grades: You should start by going to the eSchool Home Access (HAC) and checking to see what has been recorded there. There are only five activities that you need to have completed to demonstrate some basic skills. If you are missing any of the activities you can do them anytime this week.
Next Arts Rotation: Remember that Art class with Mrs. Gordan starts on Friday, May 1st. That will be your final 6 week rotation for the year.
Directions for the projects that are listed in the HAC:
EMAIL PRACTICE:
Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account (click here for directions). Remember, Google products always work best in the Google Chrome browser.
Look for the email with the subject line “March 30th Computer Class Directions”. It will contain these same directions.
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
CHANGING YOUR 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.
Go to: https://www.cartoonify.de/ move down the page a little bit and start making a “cartoon” version of yourself
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.
Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account and click on your current profile picture in the upper right hand corner.
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.
MAKING A WEEKLY SCHEDULE 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.
Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account (click here for directions)
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.
In the top left hand corner look for the plus sign and “NEW”, open that menu, look for and select: “Google Docs”
Name the Doc by clicking on “Untitled document” in the top left. Give it a name like: “Week of April 13th Schedule”
Go to the “File” menu and select “Page setup”
Set the page to “Landscape”
You can also change the margins around the edge of the page here
Go to the “Insert” menu and select “Table”
Draw a table with 5 columns and 12 rows
Label the columns with the days of the week
Fill in the cells with your daily schedule
Customize your schedule by adding colors, formatting text, changing fonts and adding hyperlinks.
Submit your finished schedule by sharing it with Mr. McNulty
Click the blue “Share” button in the top right corner
Add jmcnulty@crsd.org to share the Google Doc
April 23, 2020 - Last Class
Google Gadget - "Include gadget (iframe)"
Basic Computer Knowledge PowerPoint Presentation
Final Rotation: On Friday May 1st you will be starting your final 6 week rotation with Mrs. Gordon in Art. She will be posting activities in Google Classroom so plan on checking in with her there next week.
Conclusion: Unfortunately our time has been short and interrupted by the current circumstances However, I am confident that this whole distance learning experience has had a positive effect on your overall computer skills. I look forward to meeting you in person next year at Holland Middle School where we can continue to explore computer technology.
April 21, 2020
INTERNET MOMENT: To start class today take a 5 minute trip around the world by visiting EarthCam.com and viewing some online webcams. You should be aware that webcams like these are situated in public spaces, restaurants, stores and even all over our school. However, you do have a reasonable expectation of privacy inside your own home. That’s why our school district needed to ask for permission from your parents before you could participate in video conferences with teachers and other students.
TYPING PRACTICE:
Go to https://www.typingclub.com/ and click on “Get Started”
For the best results you should be seated with your laptop or keyboard on a table.
Click on the first lesson under Home Row: 
Try Lessons 1 to 6 as a warm-up activity.
Click on the “Placement Test” on the right to see how you are doing
Continue practicing for at least 15 minutes.
Go to https://www.typingtest.com/
TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO: Today we finish class with a video about a new typing technology called the tap strap:
April 17, 2020
INTERNET MOMENT: Our class website, TodayInComputerClass.com 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. Blogs are similar to an online diary and over the years they have also developed into microblogs like Twitter and now mobile phone based apps like Instagram. This website is the blog or web log for our class. 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.
TYPING PRACTICE:
Go to https://www.typingclub.com/ and click on “Get Started”
For the best results you should be seated with your laptop or keyboard on a table.
Click on the first lesson under Home Row:
Try lessons 1-6 as a warm-up activity.
Click on the “Placement Test” on the right to see how you are doing
Continue practicing for at least 15 minutes.
Next week we will have a typing test to see how fast everyone in the class types. You will also find out the average typing speeds for the entire 7th grade.
TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO: To finish up class today take a few minutes to watch this news video from CBS in Minnesota about how Apple and Google are working together to create a way to track who might have been exposed to COVID-19.
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
April 15, 2020
INTERNET MOMENT: Take some time to check out a popular news aggregator website: Google News Once there 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.
Project #4 - MAKING A WEEKLY SCHEDULE: (5 minute Video Tutorial)
For our project today 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, 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.
- Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account (click here for directions)
- 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.
- In the top left hand corner look for the plus sign and “NEW”, open that menu, look for and select: “Google Docs”
- Name the Doc by clicking on “Untitled document” in the top left. Give it a name like: “Week of April 13th Schedule”
- Go to the “File” menu and select “Page setup”
- Set the page to “Landscape”
- You can also change the margins around the edge of the page here
- Go to the “Insert” menu and select “Table”
- Draw a table with 5 columns and 12 rows
- Label the columns with the days of the week
- Fill in the cells with your daily schedule
- Customize your schedule by adding colors, formatting text, changing fonts and adding hyperlinks.
- Submit your finished schedule by sharing it with Mr. McNulty
- Click the blue “Share” button in the top right corner
- Add jmcnulty@crsd.org to share the Google Doc
TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO: Do you have any idea where the Google Doc you just made is actually stored? The files on your Google Drive are not stored on the laptop, chrome book or desktop computer that you are working on, they are actually stored at a Google Data Center someplace else in the world. Below is a short video about on of their data centers in South Carolina:
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
April 13, 2020 - Review of Week #1
COMPUTER CLASS INTRODUCTION VIDEO: To start class this week please review this short video about the class. It is a quick review of the curriculum and goals of the class. You will have to log into your school Google Account to view the videos. VIDEO: Introduction to the 7th Grade Computer Class (6 minutes)
REVIEW OF THE FIRST THREE PROJECTS: If you needed assistance with completing any of the activities from the week of March 30th to April 3rd you should review the tutorial videos below and try doing the projects. If you already completed the projects below you don't need to do anything. You will have to log into your school Google Account to view the videos.
Project #1
USING YOUR SCHOOL GMAIL ACCOUNT: Using your School Gmail Account Video (4 minutes)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.
Look for the email with the subject line “March 31st Computer Class Directions”. It will contain these same directions.
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
Project #2
ORGANIZING YOUR SCHOOL GOOGLE DRIVE: Organizing your Google Drive Video (6 minutes).Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account (click here for directions)
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.
Time to organize your Google Drive…
Watch this 4 minute video about managing files in your Google Drive
Make a new folder and name it “Elementary School”
Move all your files from elementary school into the new “Elementary School” folder
Make folders for each of your 7th grade classes (Math, Science, English, Computers . . . etc.)
Move files from these classes into the appropriate subject folders.
Finally, you can right click on your new folders and change their colors if you would like.
Project #3
SETTING YOUR SCHOOL PROFILE PICTURE: Setting your School Profile Picture (6 minutes). 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.Go to: https://www.cartoonify.de/ move down the page a little bit and start making a “cartoon” version of yourself
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.
Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account and click on your current profile picture in the upper right hand corner.
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.
You can always change your profile picture later but use the avatar that you created for this class for now.
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.
April 2, 2020
INTERNET MOMENT: We will start this class with an online branding activity. 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.
Go to: https://www.cartoonify.de/ move down the page a little bit and start making a “cartoon” version of yourself
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.
Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account and click on your current profile picture in the upper right hand corner.
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.
You can always change your profile picture later but use the avatar that you created for this class for now.
USING YOUR SCHOOL GOOGLE DRIVE:
Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account (click here for directions)
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.
Time to organize your Google Drive…
Watch this 4 minute video about managing files in your Google Drive
Make a new folder and name it “Elementary School”
Move all your files from elementary school into the new “Elementary School” folder
Make folders for each of your 7th grade classes (Math, Science, English, Computers . . . etc.)
Move files from these classes into the appropriate subject folders.
Finally, you can right click on your new folders and change their colors if you would like.
TECHNOLOGY CURRENT EVENT VIDEO:
We will finish class today with a short video from Tech Insider about specific ways to type faster.
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.
March 31, 2020
WELCOME TO YOUR 7TH GRADE COMPUTER CLASS
Today is the first day of your Computer Class rotation. 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 familiarize you with your Council Rock Google Account. Please do the following activities on a chromebook, laptop or desktop computer. Because we will be utilizing your Council Rock Google account you should use Google Chrome as your web browser for these activities. Follow this link to learn about and install different web browsers on your computer.
USING YOUR SCHOOL GMAIL ACCOUNT:
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.
Look for the email with the subject line “March 31st Computer Class Directions”. It will contain these same directions.
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
ACCESSING GOOGLE CLASSROOM:
Log into your Council Rock Gmail Account (click here for directions)
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.
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.
Look for the directions and the link to take the “2020 Technology Use Survey"
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.
CONCLUSION: In this class we always start with the easiest activities first and work our way to the more difficult. That’s it for today. The next class will be on April 2nd and I will once again email you directions and post them on this website. Have a great day, good luck with your other classes and make sure you take breaks from the computer and get some sunshine!
