Friday, October 7, 2011

Good Morning,
Here is your To-Do List for today:

1. Finish Steve Job article - 8-10 facts in Word file along with a citation using easybib.com. Key name at top of fact list, print, staple both pages together, turn in.

2. Finish Excel term list. Terms are located in folder by yellow bin.

3. Blog comment from Wednesday's post.

Have a great weekend!

A Look at How 4 in Congress Use Social Media

I came across this article about how 4 Congressmen use social media to communicate with their constituents. Read the article and comment on your findings.

Assembly Yesterday

Hopefully you were not only entertained by the presenter but also came away with useful information. As I sat there, I wondered if the people who are guilty of cyberbullying were able to recognize themselves. I would like for you to write your thoughts about yesterday's assembly in a comment. What are some of the tips he gave about using the Internet responsibly?

9/11

There have been events that have occurred in history that people never forget. If you ask my mom, it was the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. She could tell you many details of what she was doing on that particular day. My earliest memory of an event in history was when a man first walked on on the moon. I was 5 at the time. It was summer and we stayed up late to watch the walk on the only TV in the house. Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the attacks on New York. What do you remember?

According to this article, the on-line blog gained popularity after the 9/11 attacks. Why? Take a few minutes to read the article. After you have finished reading, search for blogs that are dedicated to the attacks on 9/11. Pick a favorite. Share in a comment the address of the blog and why you chose this particular blog. Remember to start your comment with your user id so I can give you credit for responding.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Periodically throughout the semester, I will direct you to this blog to read and post a comment. You will use your student ID to post comments. I will show you the format I would like you to use during class.

Blog postings (at least in this class) calls for formal writing. By formal I mean spelling out all the words (no "u" for "you"), complete sentences, and capital letters where appropriate.

For your first comment post, I will would like you to refer to the Blog Worksheet that you completed. Write a brief description of one of the blogs you found and link to the blog. Please share with the class why you picked this particular blog. Your blog comments will be graded using the following rubric:

4 - Answers the assignment clearly and completely. Uses examples and details to get point across. No grammatical and/or spelling errors.

3 - Answers the assignment and includes a couple of details to support post. No grammatical and/or spelling errors.

2 - Attempts to answer the assignment but does not give any examples or details. No grammatical and/or spelling errors.

1 - Posts a response but does not include any supporting details. Post has grammatical and/or spelling errors.

0 - Does not respond to the blog posting.

Friday, April 15

I was looking through an old folder looking for a professional development form from a couple of years ago. I found a PD form that I filled out to go to a one day class in 1995. Guess what the class was about.....Understanding the Internet. The description said that participants would be introduced to the Internet, email and gophers. (Gophers came before search engines.) Made me laugh. In 1995 the Internet was new and unexplored territory. Look how far it has come.

I have been doing some research about the next phone I'm going to get. I currently have a Blackberry Pearl that is about 3 years old. I think I will wait until Verizon comes out with the iPhone 5. For every positive comment I read about the iPhone, there is a negative. I'm not sure if I will like the touch screen. Decisions, decisions. Do you have a preference?

You need to have a blog posting dated today. To receive full credit, I expect more than one statement followed by a one line question. Take a little bit of time and write about something that interests you.

Have a fantastic weekend. Hopefully the sun will continue to shine. I look forward to reading your blogs.

P.S. If you haven't done so, please change your backgrounds like I asked last week. Thanks :)

Facebook

Over the weekend, I was with friends and one of them told me about a post they read on their child's account about me. This mom was doing a random look on their child's facebook page. (If you're wondering, my daughter is not friends with this student so it wasn't her account.) During group pictures, I took a cup of coffee from a student and set it aside. I didn't want the student holding the coffee in the picture. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I guess he posted something about me taking the coffee and something about "could have slapped her." Slapped me over that, seriously? That's not very nice is it? He might not care that I know what he wrote. My point is this, you never know who is going to read something that you post.

Another example, a elementary teacher in New Jersey posted that she felt like a warden watching over potential criminals in her classroom. Moms pitched a fit, teacher is suspended and has an attorney. Her arguement is that it was a posting meant to be read by only her friends on facebook. My guess is that she will lose her job over a facebook posting.

What do you think about the direction of facebook? Be honest, are you guilty of fighting with "friends?" Do you make posts that are for purely reactionary purposes? Do you stir the pot? Just wondering.....

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=3b21037b-24c0-4748-b056-a8d6c24e0d7d" target="_new" title="">Doritos: Pug</a>

Class Blogs

I have visited each of your blogs. Quite of few of you have chosen the black background with grey font color. It might be my old eyes, but I have a difficult time reading the grey links. One of the fonts used is also difficult to read. The letters seem extremely close together which makes it difficult to see where one word ends and another begins--the words almost look blurry. Choose your fonts and colors carefully.

I also want to point out the editing keys at the top of your new blog postings. The icon, ABC with a check mark, will check the spelling of your post. I recommend using it! There are quite a few errors with capitalization. All proper nouns should be capitalized. Proofread, proofread, proofread!

Finally, I think about half of you have this blog as a link on your blog. If not, please add it.

WikiLeaks

First job today is to print your Notepad file with your HTML code and the preview page from the Internet. Staple both printouts together and submit.

WikiLeaks has been in the news in recent months. Have you ever heard the name before? Perform a search and tell me about the site. What is the purpose? Who runs the site? Why has it been in the news? What are some of the latest stories they have broken?

As you read through your classmates' posts, find something original to report about WikiLeaks.

Tuesday, November 30

A boy took a teacher and a room full of classmates hostage yesterday in Wisconsin. Read the full story here. Last week we practiced our lock-down drill. We have never had to go into an actual "lock-down," but it is good to have a plan in place. Put yourself in the hostage situation in Wisconsin. What would you do in that particular situation? How would you react? What can be done to ensure this does not happen again? Did you read the comments after the article? The one I found humorous was to arm all the teachers. I can tell you this, if it comes to the point where teachers have to be armed in the classroom, I know one teacher, namely me, who will be retiring.

The end of the semester will be here before you know it. Interim reports are due this week. I will work on getting papers graded and returned to you. I will be grading blog posts on Thursday. Make sure you have responded. In order to receive a "5," you need to answer the blog completely using formal language (capital letters, correct spelling, no abbreviations, complete sentences.)

After you have finished with your blog post, your next podcast assignment is to record an informational podcast. There is a handout with complete instructions on the desk in the front of the room. Help yourself.

Assignment for Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Good Morning/Afternoon! You need to continue to modify your All About Me presentation. Add text to your slides. If you have too many objects on the slide, you may have to delete some of those objects to make room for the text. Once you have your text added, animate your presentation. The presentation should run from start to finish without any clicking.

Reminder: Classroom rules are in effect. Absolutely no texting and no iPods (or equivalent).

Distracted Drivers

I was listening to the radio on the way to school this morning, and one of the news stories was about how many accidents are caused each year by drivers that are distracted. Distractions include texting, talking on the phone, changing the music and eating. I'm guilty of doing everything but texting. Are you a distracted driver? Do you think there should be a cell phone law in Coshocton?

Our driver's ed instructor, Mr. Yurjevic, was diagnosed yesterday with APL Leukemia. This type of leukemia is very treatable. He is in the hospital and will undergo 15 days of intense chemotherapy. Mr. Yurjevic has taught many of you to drive. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. If you would like to send him a card, here is his address:

The James
Attention: Greg Yurjevic, Room 1041
300 W. Tenth Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210

Don't have a stamp? Bring a card to school, and I will make sure he gets it. It is going to be a rough couple of weeks for him. I am sure that he would appreciate hearing from his former students.

Technology Making a Difference

This article in The Coshocton Tribune tells about a high school in Cincinnati that went through some major changes. Read the article and give me your thoughts.

LeBron James' New Nike Commercial

My mom is a Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary's graduate. I have an uncle that still lives in the Akron area and both of his boys grdauated from St. V. (They were a few years older than LeBron.) My uncle had season tickets to all the basketball games. We have had many conversations over the years about LeBron. When Lebron was in contract negotiations, I was sure he would stay in Cleveland. Obviously, I was wrong. Have you watched his new Nike commercial? Time to plug in your headphones if you have them with you.....there are a few pairs of headphones in the cupboard in the back of the room. Here is the link to the commercial. Watch it and let me know what you think. What do you think was LeBron's goal with this commercial? What about Nike's goal?

Friday, October 22, 2010

Good Morning/Afternoon. Today you need to work on your nine week's assessment portfolio. I will be returning to you papers that I have graded this week. Your job is to get organized. See last week's post for more information regarding the portfolio. I will be grading the portfolios next Thursday.

You may have noticed that I put grades for the blog responses from this 9 weeks in Progress Book. Please remember that spelling and punctuation count. The most common error I found was the capitalization of "I." I should never be typed lower case. If you want to get the full 5 points for a blog posting, you should also make sure that you answer all parts of the blog posting. There were a few instances where there were no ID numbers listed. If you responded and have a grade of "0," you might want to check to see if you included your lunch number as part of your post. If you need to make up a blog post, type the word MAKE-UP with your lunch number at the beginning. Last day for blog make-ups is Wednesday, October 27, 2010.

It's important that your name is included on all make-up work.

How Will You Spend Your Dash?

A friend sent me a link to an inspirational movie. I thought I would share it with you. Click on this link. Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.

To Do List - Friday, October 15

The first item on your To Do List for today is to finish the assignment from Wednesday. Be sure that all the printouts and the directions are stapled in order and that your name is on all the pages. Next, check Progress Book to see if you have any missing assignments. Complete or print anything that is missing and put in the yellow bin. I will be passing back graded papers today during class. You need to put them in your folders. Last item is to organize the graded papers in your folder. Create a spreadsheet that lists the assignments that have been graded and returned to you. Include the grade. The organization and appearance of this spreadsheet will be part of your nine week's assessment. I suggest that you take some time with the formatting (utilize borders, shading, font changes, etc). Save the file as "Portfolio List."

Let's Talk Typos

I made a typo on my last blog post. Hate when I make a typographical error. Most of the time I attribute my typos to being in a hurry and not going back and re-reading and checking before printing or posting. Last week there was a news story about a typographical error on a cereal box. See if you can Google and find the story. What can you do to make sure your assignments are error free?

Fair Time

It's here....The Coshocton County Fair. Are you among the avid fair goers that get a weekly pass and go every day? Do you boycot? If you go, what are your favorite things to do and eat? Remember spelling and punctuation (capital letters on proper nouns!) counts toward your score on your blog post.