Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Final project

Hello all my vacationing students (and anyone else). If you could put comments about the final project on the discussion page of the wiki (or here) that would be great. my goal is to give everyone the opportunity to produce some great work. Let me know if you have additional ideas. I will flesh the project out this weekend after I get some comments back.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

New blog

I'm testing a wordpress blog out. This is more about analyzing how things are going in class. I'm not sure what the best way to handle all this management is (I dont want to be editing all day).

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Friday: Completing Online Work

Today you will tie these elements together in a blog entry. This will require you to search effectively, find QUALITY information, and synthesize it quickly. Post this by midnight tonight (Friday). You can always edit it later. If you are unable to find effective information, get help from a buddy. Trust me, the information is there. I know you have the skills to find them if you focus on the task.

Answer the question in a substantive blog entry that includes links to valuable resources. You must try to find one quality blog on the subject to link to.

Choose one of the following tasks:

1. What are the three leading causes of death for African children? How is the Gates Foundation trying to solve these issues? Include technorati tags Africa, poverty, GatesFoundation.

2. The genocide in Darfur has prevented farmers in that region from generating a stable income. What efforts by the UN are in place to stabilize that region so crops can be planted and other areas of life can return to normalcy. Include technorati tags for Darfur, crops, United Nations.

3. How many years of schooling does the average child in the Sudan have? Are there differences between girls and boys? How does this effect their future lives? use technorati tags for Sudan, education.

4. How many orphans has the AIDS crisis produced in Africa? What efforts is the American government undertaking to stop the crisis? How will this crisis effect these children and is there any way out of the crisis? Use technorati tags for AIDS, children, GatesFoundation.

To make technorati tags click here.

On blogmeister be sure to use paragraphs, links, and any other devices you can to show that you can communicate in an effective manner. Write the entry as if a child in Africa is reading it. And remember, they might be. And without sounding silly, its not a game for them.




Please also check the final project. Its on the wiki. The structure is done, but leave comments if you have any idea on the discussion page. I will be fleshing it out over the next week. Get a head start.


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Online Gaming and Simulations

We worked yesterday on the typing test, the Dig Here! program, and the Ayiti Unicef game. Each showed us an aspect of online simulation learning. You were each to make a blogmeister entry based on that experience. I'm still working on the super-cool science site.

Today I will ask you to look at several more sites and then make a reflective entry in your blog. Remember, we are grading the depth of your blog entries now, not just that you have made one. The ONLY grade for this week is the quality of your blog.

So for today (some of the 3D work might not work in school)....
3D Farming: Can you succeed as a farmer?
3D Architecture: Can you build a successful house.
Tall Buildings: Super-cool site about tall buildings
Power Play: Can you build a better mousetrap?
Margaret River Senior High School: This is the school on the opposite side of the earth. Its amazing how similar they are to us.

Be sure to leave time to visit the questions on blogmeister.


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Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Wednesday Online Work

Today we will work on some fun online tasks as we move towards vacation.

Typing Test: Go head-to-head with your neighbor. How fast can you type?
Another cool Google Earth app. Dig here!
Science Site. This page is absolutely amazing. I SO HOPE it plays in school. You can get lost in the catapult thing for hours.

Check out the Unicef site. analyze it for usability, etc...Try out the games (Ayiti looked pretty cool). They are pretty cool, and I think a great way to learn.

Can you find other sites that are "cool". If so, add a comment or write in your blogmeister. Everyone should check blogmeister today for making an entry.

Tuesday

We are finishing the second part of our sample exam today. Some of the pages are very impressive. I think all of you did well once you sat down and tried to solve the problem. Today we will evaluate the projects and look at our classmates work. I think you will be impressed by how far we have come.

You will need to do this on the exam without any assistance. If you need to practice, start now.

I think our class is getting a lot of reading world wide which is cool. Check the clustrmap on this page and on the blogmeister. You should all have a clustrmap on your blogs. Let me know if you try to insert one (I have to upload it). Those of you who are still skeptical about EVERYTHING must recognize how the dynamics of the class change now that people realize we are being monitored world-wide.

I think this is my first movie post of the year but vacation is coming up and I wanted to update my movie picks. With a baby at home, its hard to keep up.

Movies I have seen recently: (stars out of five)
Casino Royale: Three stars (first scene was five stars)
Da Vinci Code: One star. (horrible....)
This is Spinal Tap: Five stars
The Departed: Four stars (rough movie, not for kids).
The Break-Up: Four stars (Mrs. Schneider says-5 stars)

Movies I want to see:
Pursuit of Happyness
Good Shepherd
Rocky Balboa

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Time Article

There is an interesting cover story in Time Magazine about schools in the 21st century. It covers much of the material we have talked about in our readings. It is a longer article, but I think it is valuable reading for you. If you comment in your blogmeister, be sure to leave a link to the article.

If you were running the mile for me on my track team and you walked off the track after three of the four laps and said "That's all I am going to do" and "That should be good enough for you". Or "We had to run FOUR laps?? Nobody ever told me THAT!!". Or my favorite, "I don't feel like finishing the race today, I'm going to do it at home". I don't think you would expect your team or your coach to be satisfied with your performance.

On the same note, if you turn in an assignment where you have only done three out of four "laps", please don't be shocked when I find that unacceptable. Do your best and finish every race. I have coached dozens of All-Americans and kids who literally were blind and had to be led around the track. Everyone has their own limits. I will not accept work that is less than your best effort.

Today you will work on the second part of the sample exam project. The project is posted on the wikispace. While no part of this project is especially difficult you can easily run into problems if you do not plan effectively. I urge you to write out your plan on paper so you can visualize it BEFORE you start coding. Also, look through your past work to see if there are ideas you can use (I promise that there is code you can "steal").

I hope the SHS Winter Concert went well last night. If you participated please let us know about it in your blog. My nieces fifth grade concert last night was exceptional. Monique plays clarinet and I was very impressed by the whole group. I wish I could have made both shows.

Finally, I hope Tania will post her Lewis and Clark video so we can all watch it. It is very impressive. Its worth the time to watch it.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Wednesday

Today we will grade the memo assignment. Same drill as before: fill out worksheet, post entry on blogmeister, post comment on blogmeister.

Tomorrow we will do the second part of the sample exam which will involve applying your HTML knowledge to the bottle label solution.



This is a last call for any missing work before I do progress reports. All missing work must be submitted. I will check on your screen, dont put in UDrive.

Good luck to all the musicians in the school concert tonight. I wish I could be here for it. My niece has her first band concert (5th grade) which I simply can't miss. I urge you all to come and support your classmates!

Monday, December 11, 2006

Tuesday

By midnight Tuesday you must post your memo to blogmeister. Click here for the wikispace explanation. I think the wikispace for the class is going fairly well. Its nice to have access to the work from home and there is never "I lost the paper" excuse.

Check out the clustrmap on the right. You should all add a clustrmap to your blogs. Can you find Bangledesh on the map? What about the other countries? Who is reading about us?

A few notes on your memo.....First, be brief and be specific. Second, follow the format!!, Third, demonstrate a deep understanding of the tools we have learned about. Choose the best tool for the job! If you finish early don't be afraid to add links or other cool stuff to your memo (but keep it professional! no hot pink fonts!)

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Saturday, December 09, 2006

The World is Flat

The flatclassers are checking out Tania's and Nicoles video. Lets get those other videos posted!

Does a global audience change how you make these movies?

Another post is up Click here.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Flatclass video



Click here or above to watch Tania and Nicole's video about the flatclassroom project.

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Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Exam

I hope that the totally 10 system is working for you. I think allowing students to choose the assignments that fit their needs is the way to go. Some of you resist the challenge, but I urge you to truly explore the possibilities. Although the process has been a bit messy as we experiment I am very impressed by how fast some of you have worked when some of the restrictions of a traditional classroom are lifted.

I have begun formulating the semester exam. This will be a serious exam as it carries so much weight in the grading system. Currently I envision a vocabulary exam (20%), a web page creation (50%), and an analysis (30%). I encourage you to have quality outlines as I expect they will come into play during the exam.

Do you have suggestions for the exam? Topics? Ideas? If so, leave them here.

Project 6 due Thursday.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Please!

When you take the files out of the data files-web schneider folder in the UDrive please dont save your work back there when you are done. Every class after your then copies YOUR file instead of the correct one.

Before you copy files, check the date and/or properties for who saved the file.

The UDrives should contain none of your files.

Monday

For this weeks project go to the wikispace.

If you are interested in doing a special project about games you should start here. I know nothing about this process but I do know that educational games are becoming more and more important and getting more press. Most are online and interactive. If you did a project on this you would have to do some reading (espcially the teaching guides), find relevant blogs, and then start learning the program. Making a wikispace would be great.

For those of you making movies, can you find examples of student work on the internet that use movie maker? Compare your work to their work. How can you improve? Include links on your blogmeister.

If you are more interested in the graphics manipulation then doing the tutorials in Flash and Fireworks and making a wikispace about them for other students would be a good special project.

Some of you spoke about teaching a class or giving a clinic for senior citizens, teachers, or parents on web basics (email, how to find a website, cool stuff you can do, etc...). If this was your project we would need a detailed action plan. How would this happen. This would make an excellent project for collaboration with other students or a service project for a club.

Exploring the google maps and the myriad of new applications that go along with it might be another interesting project. I showed you the bookmarking program the other day. Here is another post to check out. Maybe you would like to explore ideas for flickr instead.

A few of you will be creating wikispaces based on a project for another subject. One group is exploring how a special car parks itself and will use geometry and physics to explain it. This is a good use of a wiki where video, fireworks diagrams, and other applications can be applied.

In short, I encourage you to do something. All of these application are new to me and I can't keep up with all the ones that are coming out. If we work together and use the tools we have (blogs, wikis, etc...) we could raise our collective knowledge. Also, I realize that many of you take the "safe" choice and stick with your textbook. If you are doing it because you truly want to learn more about HTML forms, then OK. If you are doing it because you think it is easier or safer, then I urge you to reflect on how you approach learning. Take a chance. If we ALL did the safe thing school would be boring and we wouldn't learn that much.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Technorati

What are people blogging about? How could you use this as a tool in assignments for other classes? If a teacher asks you to "internet search for an article" do you think this might be a good tool to use? The spike for this word is obvious. Try other words.

Posts that contain Election per day for the last 30 days.
Technorati Chart
Get your own chart!

Friday, December 01, 2006

Survey Results

1. Evaluate your technology expertise since September 1.
I've learned a lot more than I thought I would. 56%
I've learned about what I thought I would 21%
I've learned some. 20%
Nothing so far... 3%
Total 100%
2. Have you read or edited your blogmeister from home?
Yes 44%
No 56%
Total 100%
3. What has been the best learning experience?
Bookwork 46%
Web Olympics 28%
Total 10 Exam 26%
Total 100%
4. Are you producing your best work?
Yes 80%
No 20%
Total 100%
5. Which of the following would you like to explore? Click all that apply.
Educational gaming simulations 70%
Blogging and global networking 36%
Wikis/Collaborations 18%
Graphics Manipulation 61%
6. If you look at Project One in the textbook does it look...
Much easier now 72%
Same 25%
Still can't figure it out... 3%
Total 100%
7. Do you feel comfortable creating and editing a basic webpage?
Yes 87%
No 8%
Whats a webpage? 5%
Total 100%


Not bad results, we seem to be doing OK. I will continue to offer you a variety of ways to learn. If you are one of those not doing your best, start doing your best.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Friday

Today we take the quiz, start the new project, and take the survey. There seems to be a bug in the survey---hit submit until it gets through all the windows and is obviously done.
Many of you are staying after school or using study halls to get more time with the computer. Remember, many of these assignments (but not all) can be done at home.

Thursday

Today is a half day. I also have my first graduate exam tonight. The exam is in supervision. Basically I get a packet about a teacher which includes information about their lesson, the schoool, etc...Then I watch a ten minute video of a lesson. I have four major questions to answer. Its a lot of writing. Next week I have my school improvement exam.

Please study for tomorrows test. Several of you have exams to turn in. Almost all of you have completed the Project Six.

I found some tools for using Google maps. Using this tool would greatly enhance any project that is history or map related. by using the bookmarks you can add text and links to any site on the map. For example, if you were doing a report on the Civil War you could bookmark all the battle sites, include links and photos, and a timeline. You could also view how the land has changed. Might make some of your powerpoint assignments more interesting?? Give it a shot.


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Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Evoca

Evoca is my cool site of the day. Could this radically change how we make a web site (or do our homework)??

One things I use the internet for is to find woodworking plans (this is getting blocked in school--why I don't know). I think that plan will be Claudia's Christmas present (shhh!). I think these sites are a good example of how the internet has changed recently. When people have a question now (how to install a dishwasher, how to refinish a floor, how to bake oatmeal cookies) they rarely open a book, instead they google the question. Many of these sites have a low usability factor. How would you improve them? Remember, these directions need to be printed, most people don't have a computer in their workshop.

Forms

Project Six is about forms. This part of HTML is rarely used anymore because it is fairly clunky. But I think it will be good to understand the structure, especially if you are going to into Web Design II. This is the first time you are adding an interactive element (beyond a web address) to your page. The book gives you a "dummy" address. If you add your email address instead the program will work and send you the results of the form. That might give you some ideas for your blogs.

I expect to have the Project complete by Thursday, Quiz on Friday, and we will start a new assignment on Monday. If you sit next to somebody who always says "You never told me about the quiz", please have them read this paragraph.

Today, everyone outlines. Due today. A warning: if you just look for bold words this chapter will not outline correctly. Read the chapter!

We have a half day this week for exams. A reminder that I will only be here that day until 3:30pm (I have exams that night). Please remember to inform your family. I would be happy to make other arrangements.


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Web Design

In the dark ages, back when I was in high school, the "cool" thing to have was an electric typewriter. It would display 3-4 words at a time and you could add and subtract text before it typed. I wasn't that cool, so I typed my papers on a regular typewriter with a ribbon.

When I went to Oberlin for my BA I used an Apple for my composing. I actually used the same program I use today (I use a much newer version now). There was some email, but it was only between colleges.

When I got my masters at Syracuse I had a laptop that could do basic things (no email). But it could print, use MS Word and Excel, and do statistics programs that I needed.

The rate of technology acceleration is incredible. Only ten years ago it would be common not to even own a computer. Now there can be 2-3 in a house. Anyone can publish their thoughts. ANYONE can blog or publish from ANYWHERE at ANYTIME using a mobile phone. That is how we get a free exchange of information. And information is power.

I am trying in this class to give you the opportunity to use these tools to accumulate information and thus power. If you can use these tools effectively you can have a much stronger voice in the world. These tools are changing constantly. But the obvious truth is that barriers are coming down. ANYONE can type and save and publish (how many of you were surprised how easy the wikispaces were?). It has never been easier.

So, only ten years ago email was "odd". What will the new "must have" technology be? Will you be ready for it? Now that you CAN have a voice and DO have a voice, will you use it??

Monday, November 27, 2006

Exams

Almost all of your exams are due. Barring extreme situations there will be no more extensions.

1. Print out the grading sheet in U:drive.
2. Print out projects and evidence (follow directions on sheet).
3. Print out and self assess rubric.
4. Compile exam in order. Complete grading on first sheet.
5. If your due date is later than today (only a few of you) you will work outside of classtime or when done with your project work. We start project six tomorrow.

I think this worked fairly well. The process was a bit messy, but I will make some changes for next time. I think having choices allowed many of you to explore some new things.

Project Six is about forms. We will only touch on this briefly as this language is rarely used anymore. But I think it is important to recognize the structure and purpose of forms. I am not exactly sure where we will go the last 6-7 weeks of the class. I need to coordinate with the other classes as I have all the Web Design II students. I know we have caught up to them at this point.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Exam

Those of you doing the labs should be careful you are doing the correct ones. Check the page numbers on the exam sheet. The 2 frame Andrews High lab is not one of the assignments.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Monday

You should be starting the finishing process on your exams. I have a form in the U:drive to help you organize everything.

I will be gone most of period 4 and 5 today for a meeting.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Many of you are really flying on your exam. Some have wasted time. Your grade will reflect that.

A few things I am disapointed in:

1. Some students are copying work. They know who they are. What is worse is that some of you know it is happening. What do you stand for? If you don't have integrity I worry about how will cope with life. Why would you allow this?
2. If I need to go old school I will. My expectation is you work the entire period. Don't test me on this. If you disagree go home and say "Mr. Schneider made me do my work today, can you believe it??".
3. I have been shocked by the amount of swearing in the halls and classroom. I have taught in some very tough schools and I have never seen anything close to this. It gives a horrible impression.
4. I expect excellent work from all of you, not adequate work. I need to see start seeing better work from my elite students.

Enough about that. Give me the your best work everyday. No excuses. If you have a problem with that have your parents call me at 888-4564 and we can have a conference.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Exam

All contracts must be posted to the blogmeister today. Be sure to include a table, a due date, and any subjects for videos or wikispaces.

A handful of you have not posted to your blogs. I am not sure of the issue. It is not optional.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Exam

Today we will start our web exam. While I have done projects like this before in other classes (both as student or teacher) it is new for me in this class. We will learn together. I have tried to set-up projects that bring in new knowledge to the class. Good luck.

Be sure to be documenting your daily progress on your blogmeister. That is the primary way I will grade you. All contracts will be submitted through blogmeister. All students must be prepared for an oral defense of their projects where faculty or students will ask questions of your work.


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Monday, November 13, 2006

Quiz

Today we will take the quiz on frames. Good luck.

When you finish the frames I would like you to spend time cleaning up your U:drives and W:Drives. Make sure all files are correct, folders clean, etc...Please leave project five in the U:drive for me.

If you finish that please make an attempt to comment on a blog from another state/class. If you find a good blog, please link to it in your blog and leave comments so people can find it. Encourage them to read your blogs.

This would be especially cool if you found a elementary blog. They love pen pals.

Remember, don't ever include personal information (address, phone, full name, etc..) when using the internet.

The exam is almost done. You can check it out on the seymour wiki space.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Monday

Today is a work day where I hope to plow through a lot of grading. I am a bit behind on grading some project 4's.

I would like the following to be done today:

1. Complete and turn in the blog self-assessment sheet.
2. Turn in project 5 to the U:Drive.
3. Study for tomorrow's Project 5 quiz.

Then:
Blog work
Wiki work

I am working on the exam. You can see it forming on our wikispace.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Friday

Today we will work on finishing project five, outlining, practicing the quiz, and working on our blogs. We will grade the blogs Monday since some classes are missed due to the pep rally.

Take a moment to think about Veteran's Day which we celebrate tomorrow. Veterans Day remembers all veterans who have served. I know many of our families have men and women who have served our country. I think it is important to recognize them. If there are veterans in your family be sure to thank them. You might have neighbors or family friends as well. SHS Staff members? Make the effort.

Remember, we are podcasting. See the other posts on how to add this post to your iTunes feed.


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Wednesday, November 08, 2006

HTML Frames

Today we will start our work on frames. Frames are an area that display text or graphics. Each frame displays a different web page. frames allow multiple pages to interact with each other. We will go over this in class today.

An important aspect of frames design is to sketch out your ideas. Frames can get difficult to work with if your plan isnt good. I urge you to practice drawing your pages out.

A good tutorial for frames is on this page.

For this project you will do the outline, quiz, and the project. I am starting to work on our exam for this marking period. The exam will include some of the labs for this project.

Please be sure to check your blogmeister page.


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Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Image Map Quiz

Wednesday we will take the quiz on image maps.

After the quiz please turn in project 4 folder to the U:drive. We will start project five on Thursday.

If that is all done please work on your blog entries. I will grade blogmeisters on Friday. Please check the grading rubric on my blogmeister page. If you are having trouble, let me know. I have given you several questions to start a discussion. Discuss something.

I continue to work on the issues with our translator tool and the audio broadcasts. They should all work from home, but they aren't working here for students. I'm working on getting them unblocked. We have several projects starting (SHS blog, Wiki, Podcasts, etc..). Use the blog to get a group going.
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Monday, November 06, 2006

Patience

A lot of the new Web 2.0 tools I installed over the weekend are being blocked on student accounts. Be patient, I'm trying to work on getting them unblocked.

Until then, don't click on the translating tool here at school. I don't think the audio broadcast is going to work either.

But you can go to your blog and discuss this....

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Podcasting

This blog is being podcasted. You can listen through talkr.com by using the tag on the right or put this URL into iTunes or another subscription service and entries will automatically be downloaded to your iPod.

http://www.talkr.com/app/cast_pods.app?feed_id=22097

Try it out.

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Saturday, November 04, 2006

Web 2.0

Check out this school webpage/blog. What an amazing way to use the technology. Who is ready to step up and do that for our school? Compare their site to our website in terms of our frames (technical, usability, accessability, etc...). Start thinking about how you would set up a new SHS blog.Listen to this article

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Thursday, November 02, 2006

Friday

I am taking the morning to handle some family things and I will be at the XC state open this afternoon to watch Seymour HS compete. Please try to do the following today:

1. Finish the Project 4. Help each other.
2. Make a blog entry (answer the questions) and make some comments on other blogs. Maybe look at blogs from other states or schools.

See you Monday. I will check your blog entries Friday night after the races.

And finally, lets find those three missing books. Please!

Books

We're missing a few books. Please find them. Someone took them.

Files

I missed importing the money.gif file that you need for the Apply1 assignment. Its in the U:drive now.

Judging by first period on Thursday I think we will finish most, if not all of this project by the end of class on Friday. They worked pretty fast, but almost all of them are pretty much finished.

So I will aim for quiz on Wednesday (Monday a lot of you are on field trip to NYC). Probably starting Project Five on Thursday or 2nd half of class on Wednesday.

If you have have finished please work on your blogs, fireworks or flash tutorials, or help your classmates.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Wednesday

Today we will do the following:

Turn in project three.
1. Copy whole project three folder from the W;Drive to your folder in the U:Drive--WebSchneider folders.
2. PROOFREAD your files. Make sure that they work.

Start Project Four:
1. Copy the data files from the U:Drive into your W:Drive--project 4 folder.
2. Start reading chapter.
3. Assignments: Project (surfing), Apply 1 (money), outline, Learn it Online.

Project Four is about image maps. We will not spend that much time on this for a few reasons. First, its pretty simple to do if you understand links. Second, its unlikely you will ever have to create image maps in this way, but you MIGHT need to edit them. Finally, the rest of the book requires some understanding of this concept.

Think of image maps as hotspots (like a link). You are creating clickable regions on the image that will send you to another page.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Transition

Today will again be a paperwork day as I try to assign the rest of the blogs and check everyone's grades. Remember, I am giving this time so ALL students get a chance to catch up.

Please answer the question on the blogmeister in your blog today. Be sure to add a link to the podcasting article in your blog entry.

Most of you understand that I am testing and transitioning to the new technologies. I am revamping most of what we do and asking for feedback through the blogs and surveys.

1. Be patient. Ask questions politely. I will work hard to answer them.

2. I repeat that I will not stand in front of the class and say "Please turn to page...". We will not all do the same thing at the same time. Why? Because each one of your needs is different. It would be unfair to push you all into the same box. I am trying to let you choose your path. I have given you all many things to choose from the last few days as everyone catches up. You can be working on media programs (fireworks, flash, etc..), wikis, blogs, or helping classmates.

This web article is a good summary of teaching styles. All the modern research suggests the student centered models are best. I am trying hard to develop this model. As we start doing more and more projects it will make more sense to you.

3. I am trying many new things with the technology. The technology will constantly change. I would expect you to demand that I use the newest technology.

4. These classes have very high achievers, and some fairly slow learners. I am asking for feedback after each project to judge our pacing. I will begin to incorporate more of the problem based learning. This will enable our faster learners to move much quicker. The blogs and Wikis are designed to keep track of this progress. I need the time at the end of the projects to help some of the kids who need extra help.

Be an independent learner.

This will be a bumpy ride. I will not do everything right. I will continue to try new thngs and make mistakes. The one thing I can guarantee is that come the end of January you will ALL understand how the web works in the modern world.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Monday

Don't turn in any work to the U:Drive yet. Again, some people have used the U:Drive to copy work. I'm tracking them down.

On that note we are testing two software packages that allow us to work in groups and chat about our assignments. I can view your screen and I can get on your screen and help you with things. Its a pretty cool way to collaborate. I will ask for feedback on your blogs about the experience. I know some of you aren't used to someone looking over your shoulder. Again, don't use the computer for anything or type anything you don't want me to see.

I'm going to use the next few days to collect and grade everything for marking period one. As I do that I will start adding people to the new blogging service. Please check it out at classblogmeister.com.

The Wiki work is progressing. I have given some of you assignments on either your wiki page or your blog.

One thing that might be new to some of you is that you have a copy of my grade book (as do your parents). Be warned that I can't and won't boost grades up. You will get what the computer determines.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Friday

Quiz on Project Three today.

I think you have all figured it out. I've had a few questions about rowspans that I had to look up, but most of you understand. I urge you to read the chapter (I don't want this to be a class where I read it to you or we go around the room reading a paragraph each). That would solve many issues. A good page to look at is HTM 3.12 and HTM 3.13. That page gives a good explanation of the table structure.

If you need extra practice try the table tutorial.

Some of you were having trouble with cases and places (dont forget to do this part!).
A good tutorial is at this site.

Learn it online has some good pages in the "More About" section. I urge you to check them out.

You should have completed:
1. Project
2. Apply
3. Lab2
4. Cases and Places 2 and 3
5. Outline

My guniea pigs must have completed at least the project and show evidence of applying their knowledge in their blog.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

New Technology

We have been experimenting with the wikipedias.

A few notes:
1. Seymour History.
2. Wikipedia only allows 6 new accounts from the school per day. Please start an account at home.
3. Learn about the process. The first few days weren't fun.
4. Absolutely follow proper etiquette when posting. Some of you didn't and I had to spend half of a day on it.

Tables and project notes:
1. Quiz on Friday. Be ready.
2. You all seem to get it. Yet, we are all having typos. I haven't figured out how to stop the typos. Typos are 90% of our problems. Another 8% are U:drive vs. W:Drive types of issues. And finally there are 2% of "content" issues.
3. The guinea pigs are working hard (I hope) and I will need their input for designing the next unit. They are being graded through their blog and wiki entries. You can see their blogs on classblogmeister.com . The initial thought is we will all move to that blogging. I jsut need to figure out the best way to do it.

FAIR WARNING::::Grades are closing. Turn in any missing work. It is your responsibility to make it happen.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

WIKI!!!

Those of you were working on the Wiki. It got hijacked. Read the discussion. Its interesting....

You need to read some more about the wikis and what information should be posted. Too many links were added when we only needed the one link to the regular SHS page.

There should be much more internal links to other wikis and information about SHS. Look at wikis of other high schools. Do some reading on the wikis pages. There is a lot of help there. Use the sandbox link for lots of info. Make sure you start an account, otherwise I can't track your work and give you a grade.

If you have no idea what we are talking about, finish your project.

I am testing the new blogs for the students with a few guinea pigs. I hope to have that up and running soon.

In case you haven't guessed already we are going to be moving fast and changing technologies, procedures, and tasks as we go. THIS IS JUST LIKE THE REAL WORLD!! The technology of last spring is dead!!!

However, we have some core values and beliefs that remain true:
1. Our websites will be accessible to all.
2. Our websites will be as unbiased as possible.
3. We will work hard and be honest in our work.

Monday, October 23, 2006

CECA Conference

Monday I attended the CECA conference. I enjoyed many discussions including the keynote by David Warlick which focussed on the new literacy and how we must redefine how we approach technology. He made several points that made me reflect on my teaching practice.

Education must be student driven, not teacher driven in order to survive in this flattened world where technology is changing by the month. The technology and modes of communication that were new six months ago are already dead. The fact that Google searches are going to disappear soon is amazing. I am curious to know how many of you use aggregators or know what RSS stands for or if you make your own podcasts. If you don't, you better catch up, because that is what the rest of the world is doing.

I am working hard to make this class relevant to todays technology (I think you have figured that out). I will be developing processes for you to be starting your own blogs for class and working on your own wikis.

There are many of you ready to help me try these technologies out. If you have been nailing the work so far I'd like you to try doing these alternative assignments. See me if you want to try some of these new technologies.

Technorati Tags:

Friday, October 20, 2006

Monday I am at the CECA Technology Conference. My expectation is that you will have the bulk of the reading/outlining/creating done for the chapter when I return on Tuesday. that will require very focussed work. Yes, my expectations are high.

Some notes about the survey. 96% of you are comfortable with making and editing a page. Thats pretty good news. You seem to overwhelmingly favor the Web Olympics so I will try to incorporate more group work.

1. Which project was the best project?
Textbook Work 12%
Web Olympics 74%
Learn it Online 14%

2. Are you comfortable learning the topics addressed in class?
Very comfortable 14%
Pretty comfortable 66%
Kind of comfortable17%
Not at all 3%

3. Do you feel comfortable adding links and images to your web pages?
Very comfortable 29%
Pretty comfortable 35%
Kind of comfortable 33%
Not at all 3%

4. I know the Seymour High School mission statement.
Yes 33%
No 67%

5. Do you feel comfortable creating and editing a basic web page?
Very comfortable 31%
Pretty comfortable 56%
Kind of comfortable 9%
Not at all 4%
Total

6. The Mets...
Too bad they lost. 59%
Glad they lost. 35%
Who are the Mets? 27%

Many of you are producing work which is of the FINEST quality possible. I appreciate all of your hard work. I am very impressed by the focus many of you bring to these projects.

I will be meeting with each of you individually over the next few days to go over your work. Please contact me if you need any help after school or during study halls. It is obviously MUCH easier to give you the attention you might need when there aren't 24 other students calling my name....

Project Three is about tables. It is not a difficult project, it just about learning new coding and reinforcing the coding we just learned. I urge you to read and outline the chapter first. Many of our problems result from students trying to take short cuts.

Assignments for Project Three:
1. Outline.
2. Project Three (Theater Club)
3. Learn it Online
4. Apply1 (HTM 3.58)
5. In the Lab 2 (HTM 3.59)
6. Cases and Places 2 and 3 (HTM3.62)---Use microsoft clipart online for images--link on blog.

I will be attending the state technology conference on Monday. When I return on Tuesday I will expect that most of the Project is done and you are working on the Labs and Cases. I want to move through this unit fairly quickly. We started 12 school days behind the other web classes and I estimate we are about 7-8 days behind now.

I forgot to mention yesterday how much Claudia and I enjoyed attending the NVL Cross Country championship on Wednesday. As you know, I left coaching this year when I came to Seymour and I was very impressed watching the Seymour team. They have come a long way. We had several web designers run very well (Jocelyn, Craig, etc...). And Joe Paulsen is the first 2006-07 Champion from Seymour. Congratulations. I hope to make states next week. If you have never been to a XC meet you would be very impressed. You dont often see 2500 high schoolers competing on the same day, and over 4000 spectators (they line the course for 3 miles). I also think some of you would be amazed at how FAST some of these kids run. Try running around the track in 75 seconds. Then try doing it 12 times in a row without stopping. Up and down hills. In the rain. Thats XC.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Survey

Please take the survey. Click here .

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Project Two Quiz

Quiz today on project two.

I will also use this day to have any remaining project two folders copied to the U:Drive.

Please check the Web Olympics folder in the U:Drive. Give me any suggestions. You asked for more group work so I am trying to create fun activities for you.

After I grade the quiz I will convert any missing work from Project One to zero. Please check teacherease and get any missing work in. Last call for Project One!

Monday, October 16, 2006

Turn in Project Two

Today we will turn in project two. Please follow these steps:

1. Follow the checklist from Friday to check all of your work

Assignments for Project Two:

1. Project Two (resumes)
2. Apply 1 (Family Reunion)
3. In the Lab 1 (Blood Drive)
4. In the Lab 2 (After-School)
5. Cases and Places 4 (Resume)
6. Chapter Outline

Confirm that all files are in your book chapters-project two folder.

2. Right click the Project Two folder in your W:Drive. Click copy.
3. Find your named folder in the U:Drive--Web Schneider. If you need to create a folder, do so.
4. Open your named folder and paste your project two folder inside it.
5. Confirm that all the files moved and that they all work.

If there is work that you need to complete, then do so. Otherwise study for tomorrows Project Two quiz.

I saved my idea for Web Olympics in the U:drive. If you have any ideas, let me know. Teams will be drawn from a hat.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Here is your checklist for Project Two. This is how I will grade it:

1. All files completed and in correct folder (dont save them there yet, we will do that together).
2. Obvious typos, color errors, format errors. All pages should look the same.
3. Your webreshome page should have two samples links on it. One is Marie Santos, one is your resume.
4. I will check the bookmarks links on the resume pages.
5. I will check your resume briefly to see that you completed it (i.e. that you did more than just replacing the name at the top) and that you did things like replace the Purdue picture and links with SHS. I will check that the ALT text for the picture is different on each page.
6. I will check the bookmark links on the family reunion page and the blood drive page.
7. I will briefly check the school picture page.
8. I will check that you closed HTML and closed BODY on all of your pages.
9. I will check your outline.

If you have any questions about the above, please let me know.

Next week we will clean this up, take the quiz and do a group project/assessment. I am thinking of doing a Web Olympics. If you have ideas for "sports" in this Olympics let me know. We will randomly draw for teams of 3-4 students. We will then compete head-to-head in competitions. For example, one competition might be fastest to be a computer genius in Learn it Online. Another competition, might be fastest to fix a code (kind of like the family reunion assignment). I know its a bit silly, but I think it will be fun. Again, let me know any ideas for games. There will be some peer pressure to be prepared so you score for your team. So be prepared.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

I am sure most of you saw the tragic story yesterday about the plane crash in New York City. Click here for a CNN story on the subject.

This is an amazing story. You have several elements: plane crash, NYC, a famous person, etc...

Take a moment to reflect on the story. If you were in the newsroom when this story broke what would be your headline? How would you design your page to get the information out in an unbiased manner?

Would your headline be different today? Don't write anything up. Just take amount to think about it.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Some issues we are having with project two:

1. Some of you can't get the Purdue University picture to display on the sample1 page. I don't have an explanation for it.
2. One or two of the computers won't display the greyback background. If you think this applies to you, check your work on a different computer.
3. The two errors I see most often are direction skipping and typos.

A note about Cases and Places 4. You are creating a web resume about YOU. Instead of a picture and link to Purdue University you should have a picture and link to SHS, etc..... You will add a link on the WebResHome Page once you complete this. There will be TWO SAMPLES to link to. One sample will be the one from the book, one will be your resume. I really hope that made sense.

I warned you this project wasn't easy to do because of the focus required. Keep up the good work. Help each other. If anyone can solve #1 or #2 above that would be great.

I've noticed that those who read and outlined the chapter first plowed through the work MUCH faster than those who dove right into the project without reading.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

The next few days will be quiet typing days as we plow through Project Two. Please continue to assist each other as we learn these new skills. I strongly believe your peers our your best teachers through collaborative learning.

After school time is fine for extra help, but I have bus duty and dont get back until 2:10pm. Thursday is best when I can stay until around 3pm to give any assistance.

After this unit you should feel comfortable:

  • Adding links to within a page (bookmarks), outside a page, or to images.
  • Explaining the network and how to save things.
  • Adding ALT text to images. Aligning images and sizing them correctly.
  • Adding background images.

All in all I think you are doing a great job. Your surveys indicate about half of you feel the pace of assignments is good, but many of you have to rush to keep up. That's fine, as long as you are working hard I will give you all the time that you need. Those of you who are flying through this, please be patient. I'm trying hard to find a middle ground. I ask that you use any "extra" time to help your classmates. That will only serve to reinforce your knowledge ( a win-win situation).

And I guess fifty percent of us don't know what we are talking about as the Yankees will not be winning the World Series this year......

Friday, October 06, 2006

1. What is your favorite teaching style?

Teacher Directed (lecture, oral directions, etc..) 18%
Class projects (multi-day assignments, integrated learning) 16%
Independent Learning (student/task centered, learn at own pace, etc..) 23%
Group Work (projects, collaborative learning, etc..) 43%
Total 100%

2. Are you comfortable with the instructors teaching style?
Very comfortable 9%
Pretty comfortable 43%
Kind of comfortable 37%
Not at all 12%
Total 100%

3. Did you have enough time to finish all the assignments?
I had time to spare 11%
Just right 44%
I had to work fast to finish 45%
Well, I would have finished if I stopped talking... 0 0%
Total 100%

4. Do you feel comfortable analyzing your new websites for bias, usability, and accessability?
Very comfortable 5%
Pretty comfortable 63%
Kind of comfortable 26%
Not at all 6%
Total 100%

5. The Yankees will win the World Series
Of course 48%
No way 35%
Who are the Yankees? 17%
Total 100%

6. Do you feel comfortable creating and editing a basic web page?
Very comfortable 28%
Pretty comfortable 52%
Kind of comfortable 13%
Not at all 6%
Total 100%

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Project Two

Assignments for Project Two:

1. Project Two (resumes)
2. Apply 1 (Family Reunion)
3. In the Lab 1 (Blood Drive)
4. In the Lab 2 (After-School)
5. Cases and Places 4 (Resume)
6. Learn it Online
7. Chapter Outline

There is an error on page HTM 2.36. You need to add a step to close the bold and italic tags. See me if a problem.

Two essential things for this unit:
1. The media files must be copied to your Project Two folder or the links will not work.
2. Read the whole thing!! Direction skipping could be a big problem if you are not careful.

Here is the survey for project one.

Possible coolest site ever. Baby names.

Today we will finish Project One. As you know, I have gone back to school this year to study education and possibly get my doctorate. As part of this process I will be videotaping some of my classes and some administrators will be in to watch me over the next few days.

I am available for extra help every day after school, but Thursday is the best day when I can stay from 2:10-3:00. If you are behind, remember that you can access the work from home or another computer in school.

Today:

1. Confirm that the movie page is completed. Have a partner proofread the code.

2. Open an MS Word document (save in class projects: moviebias).

3. Answer the following two questions after reviewing the article on gender bias and usability. Remember, organize your thoughts and check your spelling, etc...

Does your movie page show gender bias? Give three examples from your page to support your argument.

Is your webpage geared towards adults, teenagers, or kids? Give three examples from your page to support your argument.

4. Print the MS Word Document. Print the CODE for your page. Staple them together and put in your periods slot on my desk.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Wednesday Notes and Assignment



Thanks for your good wishes yesterday. I am not back to full strength, so go easy on me today.

A few notes about your folders that you turned in;
1. A major issue is saving to the correct place on the U:Drive. Make sure you save in the correct folder.
2. A second issue is closing the container tags (/HTML, /HEAD, etc..). Many of you neglected to do this.
3. The third issue is proofreading. I think if you proofread each others work almost all the errors could be prevented. This is an ESSENTIAL part of the design process; how you work with others to ensure accuracy.

All in all, you produced excellent work on this project. Almost every one of you demonstrates a high degree of understanding on this unit. I have been working ahead on the Project Two. Those of you who are "directions skippers" will have a very difficult time---so be patient AND READ THE PAGE!!!!!!!!! The coding will become more and more precise and the number of lines of code will greatly increase.

Todays assignment:

1. Open a notepad file. Save it in class projects as googlehtml

2. Using google please answer the following questions:

a. What were the five highest grossing movies of 2006 in America?
b. What were the five highest grossing movies of 2005 in America?

3. Design and Create a webpage in Notepad that answers the above questions. Your page should include:

a title
headings
lists
color
correct information
citation (can be parenthetical, noodletools style, or in paragraph---"According to movies.com....")

4. Save file

Extra credit: What is the major problem with todays blog posting?

Monday, October 02, 2006

I will be out sick on Tuesday. I have a cold and it hit me fast.

Your substitute has a project for you that involves group work and the Fireworks program. Your surveys indicated 50% of you wanted group work, so am working on providing these opportunities. Good luck with the project. I will ask for feedback when I return.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Any missing work from the introduction unit has been converted to zero in the computer. Please check teacherease.com for any errors.

Monday is quiz on Project One. After the quiz we will do any catching up. After a few practice sessions, the exam, and our unit survey we will move on to Project Two.

If you want.....

Fireworks Practice:

Start a new file. Set the size as 320x240.
Import “Claudia” from the U:Drive (WebSchneider--datafiles)
Keep her face and hat in color. Everything else in black and white.
Put her name in the bottom of the image in red.
Save file in Media.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Friday:

We will turn in our work for Project One today.

Please do the following:

1. Create a folder in your W:Drive. Label it with your full name.
2. Copy the following five files into the folder: pizza, Phi Kappa, About Me, weather, project1 outline.
3. Double check that there are five files in the folder.
4. Copy the whole folder into the appropriate folder in WebSchneider on the U:drive. For example, if you are in period one, please make sure that your folder is copied to Period One folder.
5. Exit out of all windows. Go to My Computer and double check that your files are in the U:Drive spot.

Today:
1. If you aren't done, finish.
2. If you are done, help people get done.

Monday:
Project One Quiz (Learn it Online). No notes.

In your surveys 50% of you favored group work. Most of you ARE doing collaborative learning as you do this. I see many leaders stepping forward, which is great. I hope to do more collaborative projects next week.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Fireworks Tutorial

We will begin our tutorial work on graphic design. We will be using the Macromedia Fireworks program.

The first tutorial can be found by clicking here.

A few notes about the tutorial.

1. Don't download anything. The files are in the data files folder in WebSchneider on the U:drive
2. Don't save back to the U:Drive. Save it in your Media folder.
3. Open Fireworks MX, not Fireworks 8

Good luck.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Creating and Editing Web Pages: Class Project (do this after the textbook assignments are done).

This page will give you the chance to easily personalize your site using resources available on the Internet.

1. Create a page called weather.html and save it in the class projects folder on your W: drive.

2. Build the usual structure of a web page in Notepad. Put the word Weather between the title tags.

3. To personalize your page visit weatherforyou.com. This site will give you the code that you need to show personalized weather on your page.

4. Follow the directions on the weather website and copy and paste the HTML provided into the right spot on your page. Save it and preview. See if it works.

When you are done save your page in your folder.

Check this site out. Click here. A Candidate for coolest site.

I'm having a slight problem with grading percentages on teacherease.com. I'm trying to fix it. The computer is giving some of you slightly lower averages than I have designed. Be patient.

Here are the results of the survey. It looks like 80% of you do not like teacher lecture, so we are on the right track there. 90% of you are comfortable with the workload, which is great. And almost all of you feel you understand the basic concepts. I will work hard to incorporate more group projects (the current chapter is basically a group project as I see you all working together).

I will continue to give you an opportunit to give feedback. Go Yankees!

1. Are you comfortable with the instructors teaching style?
Very comfortable 10%
Pretty comfortable 38%
Kind of comfortable 34%
Not at all 17%

2. What is your favorite teaching style?
Teacher lecture 20%
Class projects 10%
Independent Learning 19%
Group Work 51%

3. Did you have enough time to finish all the assignments?
I had time to spare 6%
Just right 32%
I had to work fast to finish 56%
Well, I would have finished if I stopped talking... 6%

4. I am comfortable with the workload in this class
Very comfortable 7%
Pretty comfortable 40%
Kind of comfortable 43%
Not at all 10%

5. The Yankees will win the World Series
Of course 49%
No way 40%
Who are the Yankees? 12%

6. Do you feel comfortable explaining or recognizing concepts of bias, accessability, and usability?
Very comfortable 15%
Pretty comfortable 42%
Kind of comfortable 35%
Not at all 8%

Monday, September 25, 2006

If you have turned in your missing work and taken the survey (see below) please start on Project One.

I give you several resources:
1. Textbook
2. I put a powerpoint in the U:Drive. (go to WebSchneider folder).
3. Learn it online.
4. Ask a question.

Please complete the following assignments:
1. Project One (Pizza site)
2. Lab 2 (HTM 1.40)
3. Lab 3 (HTM 1.41)
4. Learn it Online
5. Outline of chapter (major ideas and terms).

Some issues with the network:
1. Make sure your "My Documents" is in the W: drive
2. Save your work there, not on a floppy disk.
3. To view your files in html you must open the folder and click on the icon (the web address thing will not work).

Good luck. Ask if you need help. Work together.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Please take this survey about the introduction. Click here.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Exam question. This is a THINKING question. Your response should include evidence that you did the readings, including the introduction chapter for the book. Please type your response in MSWord. Save it in your introduction folder (bschneiderexam1) and print it by the end of class.

Please use standard form for your response (intro-body-conclusion). I am looking for quality (evidence that you read and understood), not quantity.


Jakob's Law of the Web User Experience states that "users spend most of their time on other websites."

This means that they form their expectations for your site based on what's commonly done on most other sites. If you deviate, your site will be harder to use and users will leave.

Question: What makes an effective web site? (Hint: frame your discussion)

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Friday will mark the second week complete for me here at SHS. I want to thank you for making me feel welcome. Its not easy learning a new routine. This is the first time in 14 years that I am not coaching and I am experiencing a bit of adrenaline withdrawal.

I will continue to challenge your assumptions about design as we go through the "nuts and bolts" work of these programming languages. It is very important that we make conscious decisions in our design. Applying our different frames during analysis will be a consistent theme. I hope you apply this analysis to all of your writing, speaking, or performing.

Without coaching and band/choir to deal with I am looking for new challenges. If people have ideas please let me know. Does Seymour have a video production club? Many towns broadcast all the games, concerts, and meetings on local TV.

So, how will we celebrate these two weeks?? With an EXAM!!!

The exam will cover bias, accessability, and usability. It will also use some basic terms from the introduction that you should be familiar with. You will have one period to finish this exam. It is not a "study for-memorize" exam. It will be a question-essay type of exam.

Today be sure to finish your usability work.

After the exam I will print out your progress reports. Any missing work will be due at that time. I may have made mistakes in entering your scores, so please correct me if needed.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

ClipArt

Click here for clipArt images.

Usability

As I grade your bias flyers please start the usability work.

1. Read the following article. Save it in your favorites. You will use it much more shortly.
Web Usability Guidelines.


2. Skim this basic article about usability and cellphones.
Cell Phone usage


3. Start a MS Word Document. Save it in class projects (bschneiderusability). Using your google skills please find definitions for the following words or concepts. Cite your source!

bandwidth
web usability
search engine


4. Using google to search for information please summarize the following issues in terms of both usability and bandwidth. (cite your sources)


Describe the web usability issues at a science station in Antartica. (try this site)
Describe the web usability issues with a PDA device or phone.
Describe the web usability issues with someone who has an older computer that does not include some modern programs like Flash.


5. Using your knowledge of technology history timeline the progression of communication technology. Start with fire (smoke signals) and move to todays internet based cellphones. Include items like radios, newspapers, etc...


6. Save file. Include all proper citations. Put name/period on and print.

Monday, September 18, 2006

We will next have a little fun with bias. This is also an exercise in communication skills and page design. Can you get your point across effectively? Do you know your audience?

Bias:
1. Class Discussion about bias (on Tuesday, probably, after you read the articles).

2. Read the following articles:
Gender Bias
Journalism Bias this is a longer article. Read the whole thing (except the studies and theories of media bias section). Click on links that interest you.
a good Summary of Bias

3. Create a one page flyer that contains bias.

Girls: Boys are silly. Why can't they act right so I can get my work done? They should treat women with respect and not be so clueless.

Boys: Girls are silly. Why can't they act right so I can get my work done? They should treat men with respect and not be so clueless.

Think about your audience. Who are you writing it for? I am looking for two things. First, do you have good ideas and understand bias? Second, can you format the flyer well so you communicate these ideas? This is your first task in design.

This flyer must include the following: Three total colors. A border A table A clip art or free-non-copyrighted image. Using copyrighted images is illegal. I can google it to check, so be careful. You could make your own image if you want. At least three quotes (from real or imaginary people) Have fun with this, stay respectful and appropriate.

4. Save in My Documents-Class Projects. (bschneiderbias). Check the Rubric for the assessment.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Web Citations

Your web citation for the accessability project should look like this:

"Introduction to Web Accessability." Web AIM. 2006. 15 Sept. 2006 http://www.webaim.org/intro/.

There might be slight variations. I strongly suggest using noodletools. Thats how I did it.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Notes on class

A few notes about the quiz....

Common sense: the classes that are quieter scored higher than those that are louder. They studied more and practiced more. If you did not receive an email about teacherease and your grades, and you would like to, please see me so we check your email address.

You do need to learn the vocabulary. If you need extra help or time, see me.

A few notes about the essay....

I do expect proper writing. I will grade you on the quality of your discussion, grammer, and your grasp of the concepts.

We must use proper citations. I am sure you work on this in your other classes. I include three links to help you here. MLA Citation Style MLA Handout and finally Noodletools (you want to use noodlebib express-then click on MLA). The noodletools website will do all of your work for you.

I remind you never to use copyrighted material without proper citations. I will google all of your work to check if you copied words or any pictures.

For now, please print out your essay. Make sure your name and period is on it. Later we will do everything electronically.

If you finish early and what to get ahead you can start reading and doing Project One in your textbook.

Today we will start with the quiz. I will give you ten minutes to practice at the beginning of class. On all of these quiz situations there is a bit of trust involved. I ask that you put your papers away and only have the quiz open on your desktop. Don't begin until I ask you to.
Once the quiz is graded:
1. Read this article. Introduction to Web Accessability.

2. Create an MS Word document. Save it in Class Projects. Label it this way; first initial, last name, project (example: bschneideraccessability)

3. Answer the following questions:

List and summarize the major categories of disabilities. Find the link on the AIM site that describe each of the four disabilities.

Go back to the article. Read it without using your mouse. How did that change the experience?

Now turn your screen off. How would that change the experience?

What is our obligation to serve those with disabilities?

4. Save file. Be sure to cite your sources correctly. You will turn this in to me once I figure out the shared folder system.

5. I will post my rubrics on the shared folder once I figure that out. You will be graded on all the usual items (content, format, grammer, etc...).

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Practice Test

For Wednesday 9/13 we will:

1. Finish and grade our outlines.
2. Go to Learn it Online
3. Do the practice test. Review
4. Do Who Want to Be a Computer Genius
5. Do Wheel of Terms

If you are having trouble, the Flashcards can really help. Review any material you continue to miss.

If you are all set and feel confident, then you can relax.

Tomorrow: Chapter Quiz (its the practice test) on Introduction. No notes. Practice at home if you are at all concerned.

Monday, September 11, 2006

This is the first post to our web design 1 webblog. You may be interested that I do need to know a fair amount of coding to format these blogs.

A few notes about me....I live in Southbury with my wife, Kasey, and my daughter Claudia. I just left Derby High School where I was working for ten years. You can read a little about my life as a music director by clicking here. I have been lucky to have been coach of many real fun and exciting track and XC teams, including seven state open team championships. I have a fairly extensive technology background, mainly delaing with handheld computers and their integration into the classroom. I have been lucky to present workshops around the state and country.

Today please try to print out your info sheet and give it to me (if the printers are hooked up). I would also like to check your introduction outlines. If you finish that please start working on "Learning it Online". Tomorrow, once my grade book is all set up, I hope to start the class projects. We will be working on bias, usability, and accessability first.