Friday, February 25, 2011

Week of Mar 7 - Mar11 (B-Week)


These are my kitties: Cortelyou and Linden. Cortelyou is the big black and white one and Linden is the little one looking out the window. They are both named after streets in Brooklyn, where we live. Cortelyou was born in the basement of a bodega on Cortelyou Road. Linden was found as a tiny baby kitten hiding under a car in the rain on Linden Boulevard. They both hope that you will have a great time with your MS WORD unit in Computer Apps class!





Theme for the Week: ANIMALS

This week whenever you’re asked to write about something you should write about animals. You can write about pets, your favorite animals, your least favorite animals etc.

Mon. Mar. 7



Notebook Reminder: Please have your notebook, whether you have saved it on a flash drive or in the My Documents folder on your desktop.

If for some reason you have changed seats or the folder in My Documents has mysteriously gone missing (see... it would have been better to have it on a flash drive) please make a NEW notebook following the instructions for Monday, Feb. 7.

All your assignments for this class should have use an MLA heading. Don't know what that looks like? Check out this link: MLA Headings

When you have created a Word document for an assignment, please always SAVE AS in this format: FirstNameLastNameDATE. Your file name will look like: msluzzi040711.doc

To be sure you are saving as .doc and not .docx please SAVE AS as 97-2003 Word document. Email me the assignment before the end of class: sluzzi@uaagl.org

Today's assinment grade will be based on your participation in the following discussions about the unit on MS Word.
Let's explore:




  • The purpose of a weekly theme (in this case, animals). Sometimes you will need to use the theme, sometimes you won't.
  • Review the format of your notebook.
  • The MLA Heading.
  • What you will have to do when saving your assignment to email to me.

With the time you may have left, you can do one of the following:



  • Read ahead in the week's assignments to see what's coming up.
  • Work on your blog.
  • Work in Mavis Beacon
  • Play a typing game


Tue. Mar. 8
Ms Luzzi will be out today to attend to some family business. I expect a GREAT report about your behavior and work habits when I return. Your work MUST be emailed to me DURING THIS CLASS PERIOD!
I have included extensive and explicit directions to guide you through this lesson. Please do not ignore this lesson. I have given you my time and effort and I expect you to give time and effort to your work.




  • Please open MS Word, open a blank document and save it in the format we discussed yesterday. Then come back to read the rest of this blog post.
  • To begin with, go to www.gcflearnfree.org/office
  • ***BEFORE YOU CLICK THAT LINK... Please Right Click it and press either Open in a New Tab or Open in a New Window. This way, you will be able to move back and forth between my blog and the lesson website!***
  • Select Office 2007.
  • Select Word 2007
  • Notice that the list of lessons lessons is broken up into units, the first being Introduction to Word.
  • Today you will do Lesson 1, Setting up your work environment. Notice that the lesson has 3 pages, which you can navigate in a bar at the bottom of the lesson page.
  • Please follow along with the lesson by performing each task on page 2 of the lesson in your blank Word document.
  • On page 3, follow the steps of the challenge.
  • Notice that for today, there is nothing on your Word page. Please write me a summary of what you learned in lesson 1. Your summary should consist of a full high school paragraph.
  • Don't forget your MLA heading. Please include the label: Lesson 1 on the top of your page.
  • email your work to me.

With the time you may have left, you can do one of the following:




  • Read ahead in the week's assignments to see what's coming up.
  • Work on your blog.
  • Work in Mavis Beacon
  • Play a typing game


Wed. Mar. 9
Ms Luzzi will be on a field trip during afternoon periods (6&7) today. Your work MUST be emailed to me DURING THIS CLASS PERIOD!
I have included extensive and explicit directions to guide you through this lesson. Please do not ignore this lesson. I have given you my time and effort and I expect you to give time and effort to your work.





  • Please open MS Word, open a blank document and save it in the proper format. Then come back to read the rest of this blog post.
  • To begin with, go to www.gcflearnfree.org/office using Right Click and pressing either Open in a New Tab or Open in a New Window.
  • Select Office 2007.
  • Select Word 2007
  • Today you will do Lessons 2 and 3, Text Basics and Saving Documents.
  • Go to lesson 2
  • Please follow along with the lesson by performing each task of the lesson in your blank Word document.
  • When you have gone through each step, do the lesson 2 challenge.
  • ***For the lesson 2 challenge, please type a paragraph about anything having to do with Animals. This will give you some text to work with for the lesson challenge.
  • Use the SAME DOCUMENT to perform the tasks in lesson 3.
  • *** In the lesson 3 challenge, you do not need to open a new document to follow along. You may use the document you have already opened.
  • The challenge asks you to save your document a number of ways. Please send me the 97-2003 version (as usual) and the PDF version for extra credit points.
  • Don't forget your MLA heading. Please include the label: Lessons 2 and 3 on the top of your page.
  • email your work to me.

With the time you may have left, you can do one of the following:




  • Read ahead in the week's assignments to see what's coming up.
  • Work on your blog.
  • Work in Mavis Beacon
  • Play a typing game





Thur. Mar. 10

Today you will do lessons 4 and 5: Proofing Features and Working with Hyperlinks. Even if you have done the Proofing Features lesson before, please do it again, following along with all the steps on page 2. If you need to be reminded about how to proceed with these lessons or what the format should be, please look back at your work or my blog posts from the 2 previous days.
***For the lesson 4 challenge, DO NOT USE THE MISSPELLED SENTENCES PROVIDED ON PAGE 3. Make up your own.
*** For the lesson 5 challenge, after you remove the Hyperlink, please replace it so that I can see it and check that it works.

Email all your work in the usual format.

With the time you may have left, you can do one of the following:



  • Read ahead in the week's assignments to see what's coming up.
  • Work on your blog.
  • Work in Mavis Beacon
  • Play a typing game


Fri. Mar. 11
Week B: periods 6 and 7
Adventures in Blogging continue. Below are all the URLs for this semester's bloggers. If you don't see yours then you have not sent it to me. Once you send it, it will be added. Today we will be exploring the interactivity of blogging. Your blog is different from a diary because others can read it AND respond to it. A very popular blog can even become the basis for an online or real life community that comes together because of a common interest.

Today's topics:
Your comment settings. Click the picture below to expand it. Your comment settings should look like this. Please sign into you blog to make sure they do. If they don't, change them.



Commenting on a blog. Once everyone's settings are reset, go to any blog from your class period (scroll down for the list). If the person has already made a post on their blog (everyone should have at least 1) please make a comment to that post. To do this, click where it says comment... usually just under and to the right of the post.

Following a blog. If you would like to follow a person's blog and get updates when they create a new post, there is usually a button for that on the right-hand sidebar of the blog's main page. Try it with one of your classmate's blogs!

Once you've done all the other things in red, go ahead an update your blog with a fresh new post!
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ON SAFETY:

Take a look at your blog as it is right now.
If you have used your full name (first and last) or included your birthday or details about the location of our school or the location of your home, you may be giving too much away.
Protect yourself and your privacy by disguising details.
If your first and last name are in your blog's URL, please change it and email the new URL to me. You can change your URL by going to your dashboard, clicking settings and then publishing.

BY THE WAY... yesterday you learned to make a hyperlink in Word... you can do the same thing in your blog. Ask me how!

SPRING SEMESTER BLOGS:
This list of blogs is now located on a separate page called EVERYONE'S BLOGS. Locate it by looking just below the big picture of the flowers.

week of Feb 28- Mar 4 (A-Week)

Monday, February 28
Mavis Beacon

Tuesday, March 1
Mavis Beacon

Wednesday, March 2
Mavis Beacon
(Everyone should be in intermediate level by today)

Thursday, March 3
Mavis Beacon

Friday, March 4
Blogging Day!!! (Period 1)
Make your Blogger Account and set up your Blog.


  • Go to blogger.com

  • Follow the steps to create a blog.

  • Your blog title and URL address should reflect the primary theme of your blog.

  • Once your blog is created, please email me a link to your blog. To do this, just copy/paste your URL (blog address... it should look something like: http://msluzzilovescomputers.blogspot.com/) into an email and send it to me at sluzzi@uaagl.org
Once you're done creating your blogger account, click the DESIGN button in blogger to set up your blog's environment. You can add a template, change colors, and design the general look and feel of your blog.
Write your first blog post today!!! Introduce yourself and the main topic of your blog. Keep it around 3 paragraphs.


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Week of Feb 14 - Feb 18

Mon, Feb 14
Happy Valentine's Day
Mavis Beacon
Do 3 Typing Lessons.

Tues, Feb 15
Mavis Beacon
Totally Blind Typing!

Wed, Feb 16
Mavis Beacon
Reading the Reports.

Thur, Feb 17
Mavis Beacon
TYPING CONTEST!!!!!!!

Fri, Feb 18
Blogging Day!!!
Make your Blogger Account and set up your Blog.


  • Go to blogger.com

  • Follow the steps to create a blog.

  • Your blog title and URL address should reflect the primary theme of your blog.

  • Once your blog is created, please email me a link to your blog. To do this, just copy/paste your URL (blog address... it should look something like: http://msluzzilovescomputers.blogspot.com/) into an email and send it to me.
Once you're done creating your blogger account, click the DESIGN button in blogger to set up your blog's environment. You can add a template, change colors, and design the general look and feel of your blog.
Write your first blog post today!!! Introduce yourself and the main topic of your blog. Keep it around 3 paragraphs.
Happy Vacation!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Week of Feb 7- Feb 11

Monday, Feb 7
Today is my mom's birthday. Please remind me to call her!
Did you bring in your Flashdrive???
Did you come up with possible blog ideas? (Week B only)

Agenda:
Setting up your MS Word notebook.
As you recall from our conversations and from the syllabus, your notebook for this class will be an MS Word document rather than a physical book you have to carry
around with you.
  • First, open Word and create a new blank document.
  • Please click save as. Save your file into your flashdrive. If you didn't bring it, save it into the CompApps folder you made in My Documents. You should be keeping a copy in each of these anyway.*
  • Name your notebook file. You should probably include your name or initials and the word notebook in the file name.
  • Look in the menu bar for the Insert tab.
  • Look on the Insert menu for Header/ Footer/ Page Number
  • Click Page Number/ Bottom of Page/ Plain Number 2
  • Now your pages will be numbered in order automatically.
  • Notice that the Header button is now on the right-hand side of the menu bar. Click it.
  • You will get a drop down menu similar to the one you got when you chose your page number options. Choose the first option: Blank.
  • You will now have a space that says: Type text.
  • Please type your full name, my name, and your computer apps class period.
  • Click Save.
Now you have a notebook.
Please type in today's date, today's agenda, and any important notes you would like to remember.
If you're finished:
Homework!
Write (on paper or in an email) 3 posible topics or themes you would like to focus on in your own blog. Please turn this in by WEDNESDAY, February 9
(THIS IS FOR WEEK B, BUT WEEK A IS WELCOME TO SKIP AHEAD TO FRIDAY AND CHECK IT OUT)
Please bring in a flash drive by Monday, February 7 (That's TODAY!!)
No new homework today.
OR:
http://www.typingtest.com/
If all goes according to plan, we'll be starting MAVIS BEACON TEACHES TYPING tomorrow.
You may also continue to explore the blogs from Friday's lesson (And if you're week A, skip ahead to this Friday to check it out.)


An important note:
*Backing up your files. We all think it will never happen to us, but sometimes files disappear, discs become corrupted or we drop our flashdrive in our cat's water bowl. It's always best to have more than one copy of all your files!



Tuesday, Feb 8
Sadly, friends, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is under construction, so we won't be working with it until at least Thursday. In the meantime...
Agenda: Getting better acquainted with MS Office.
Open Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Take a couple minutes to look at their menus and compare them.
Notice the circular button in the upper left hand corner. This is the Office Button.
Click that button. See what's there. Do this in each program and you will notice they are all the same.
Please keep MS Word open. You may now close Excel and PowerPoint.

Go to MS Word.
Press the Office button and create a new document.
Press the Office button and click SaveAs.
Save the document on your flash drive OR in the My Documents folder on your desktop. Name it 020811-Name (the Name, of course, is yours).
You'll be using this document to complete the following:


Now you are going to do a short online lesson about using spelling and grammar check.
The lesson is three pages. Please read the whole thing.
The 3rd page is a challenge.
Click here to begin.


Keep the document you did the challenge in open.
Now try this lesson on working with type.
Do the challenge in the same document as the previous challenge.

Finally, do this lesson on text boxes.
Do the challege. Again, use the same Word document.

Once you've finished all 3 challenges, click the save button in your Word document and email the document to me as an attachment.


If you don't remember how to attach a document to an email, click here.


Done early? Try Freetypinggame.net



Wednesday, Feb 9
Maybe Mavis Beacon (but probably not in 1st period today)
ANNNDDDDDD... if it's not Mavis Beacon today, then here's what's up:
Agenda:
MORE FUN WITH WORD!
Recall the formatting we did for your notebook. We'll be exploring the use of headers and footers a little more. We'll also explore making columns and tables! FUN!

Open a new, blank Word document.
Save it as 020911-Name
Use this document when you complete EACH OF THE 3 FOLLOWING LESSONS.
When you finish, hit Save and then Email me the document as an attachment.

Click here for the lesson on headers and footers.
Click here for the lesson on columns.
Click here for the lesson on tables.

While you work, I'll be coming around to set up Mavis Beacon.

If you finish early and Mavis Beacon still isn't set up on your computer, you may play typing games from either of the 2 typing sites we've used in class.

Thursday, Feb 10
Mavis Beacon

Friday, Feb 11
Happy Friday, my little flowers!

Sooo... What's a blog?
A blog can be many things. Let's look at a couple of examples and then try to define it for ourselves:
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/
http://recordsibuy.blogspot.com/
http://www.unwinnable.com/
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees
http://www.newdressaday.com/
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/
http://orangette.blogspot.com/

Here are 7 blogs. There are thousands... maybe millions of blogs out there on every kind of topic you can imagine. Let's just take 15 minutes to look at these few, though... See if you can come up with a definition for what a blog really is.

Please open up a new MS Word document.
Click SAVE AS.
Save the document as YOURNAMEblogs into the MY DOCUMENTS folder.
Then, choose one of the seven blogs listed above to focus on and answer the following questions in complete sentences. You may cut&paste the questions into your document if you want to.



  1. Which blog are you writing about?

  2. What about that blog made you choose it?

  3. What is the blog about?

  4. Do there seem to be more that one author writing in this blog or only one?

  5. Who do you think is the intended audience for this blog?

  6. If you were asked to contribute an article to this blog what do you think you would write about?

  7. What is something you don't like or would change about this blog?

  8. What is a blog, anyway?

When you have finished answering the questions you can click SAVE. Then, please go to your gmail account and email me your responses as an attachment.

You don't have to decide today, but please start thinking about what you would like your own blog to be about.

Homework!
Write (on paper or in an email) 3 posible topics or themes you would like to focus on in your own blog. Please turn this in by WEDNESDAY, February 16

Finished Early? Here's a few things you can do:


  • Return to the blog you chose to write about earlier. Look for LINKS in the blog. They may lead to other parts of the same blog OR they may lead to other blogs or websites. FOLLOW THEM. Go from link to link... see where you end up.

  • Do a little research. See if you can find any information on the history of blogging.

  • Play typing games on http://www.typingtest.com/
Just for fun... a little Ms Luzzi artwork for your eyeballs.
Have a fun weekend!!!