Final Exam

Web 2 Final Exam is below. Choose the assignment appropriate for your topic.

Be sure to save final copy properly in UDrive before the bell rings for your exam. TEST IT!!!

You are the editor of the Missouri Times. It is November 7, 2006. Your state is the only state that the Northern Democrats won. Your state has played a strong role in the slavery debate through the Missouri compromise and that information is important to your readers (and is perhaps why they voted for Douglas).
Prepare a breaking news website that reflects the results of the election.

You are the editor of the Capulet Times. You have just heard that Juliet may have died and Romeo is missing. Your newspaper is owned by the Capulet family.
Prepare a breaking news website that reflects this news.

You are the webmaster for the Madrid Times. It is July 2, 1898. You have to be as objective as possible, but you know the King of Spain reads your paper and has huge influence.
Prepare a breaking news website that reflects the events of July 1.

You are the editor for the Chicago Tribune. It is August 27, 1968 and the Democratic Convention is experiencing more and more protests. Many of your reporters sympathize with the protesters and you support the free speech of the protesters. However, many of your readers think the police are correct to “restore order”.
Prepare a breaking news website that reports the growing protests at the convention.

Final

Many of you are creating extensive pages and Flash as you prepare for the exam.

I want to be clear. I have an expectation that your work will display four full class periods plus the exam. I feel that some of you think you can play games for a few days and pass. I promise you that is not the case.

On Monday I expect to spend most of the day working on the Appeals Jury for those who have attendance issues. If there are any exam issues while I am gone please leave them on your blog and I will get to them Monday afternoon.

Exempt Seniors

By my calculations the following eleven seniors are exempt from exams:
GI, MF, DJ, CF, JL, CT, BR, ES, MD, CC, KM.

Final Exam

Here is the exam. We will discuss it in class.

After the discussion please see me at my desk if there are any errors on teacherease. I am grading projects as fast as I can.

Test

Your project evaluations are due by the end of class today. If you are doing any edits to entries please do that by the end of the period as well.

I have started to post grades on teacherease. The track meet has been rescheduled for today so I will miss more class time today. I am grading as fast as I can.

I will try to post senior exemptions by the end of the day Thursday.

I am almost done with the final exam. We will discuss it in class tomorrow.

End of The Year

You never know what a year will bring. At this time last year I was preparing my students for their honors recitals, collecting uniforms, and preparing for the summer music program.

One year later I am completing my first year at Seymour High School. It has been an interesting year. Many of you have been with me since that first day in September, some joined us in January. I want to thank you for all your hard work along the way.

I have tried hard to teach you in a modern way. I learn alongside you. I teach with you, not TO you. This is the school 2.0 we have talked about. Many of you resisted this. I know it would be more comfortable for some of you for me to read the directions out of the book. On the flip side, many of you would have gone off the deep end if I did that.

My goal was to make you independent learners. Yes, that meant sometimes I didn't answer your question. Sorry.

So, what's next? I hope you stay on top of technology. Be the "tuned in" person. That will give you a HUGE advantage in interviews for schools or jobs. If you are the person people depend on for the latest information you are invaluable to a company.

Remember that an impression is lasting. So many of you made a lasting impression on me with your work. Having people advocate for you is incredibly powerful. You want people on your team that sing your praises. A bad impression spreads like wildfire.

Don't submit work you aren't proud of. If it has your name it that should stand for something. No matter what line of work you go into, showing pride in your workmanship is essential. You don't want your plumber saying "Yeah, what do I have to do to pass?". You don't want your doctor saying "I didn't really pay attention in that class".

Most of all, work on your collaboration skills. Isolation is the enemy of improvement.

Today: Evaluations of projects, comments on blogs, and final exam suggestions.

Tech Fair Day

All work for the final project must be submitted by the end of your class period on Monday. Double check your work in the Udrive!

Please begin the evaluation. The evaluation is a test grade and is designed for you to show evidence that you understand the objectives of the class. Be sure to answer the questions correctly!

The Tech Fair is Monday from 6-8pm. I hope you will come to show off your work. Those of you presenting should be completely ready for questions, comments, etc... Set-up by 5:45pm. I will be here all afternoon.

Important

So this is what will happen:
1. I need your complete website structure (all pages, images, citations, movies, etc..) done on Friday. We must error check the index.
2. I will allow you to do any details and final touch-ups on Monday, however,---YOU CAN'T CHANGE ANY PAGE NAMES OR PATHS OR ADD OR SUBTRACT PAGES.

I will come to school on Saturday to do preliminary grading of the websites. Be sure to read the checklist that follows this entry....

Checklist

Final projects are due Friday, June 1. I hope you will all attend the SHS tech Fair on June 4 from 6-8pm to show off your work. Bring friends and family.

If you are a presenter I ask that you be here by 5:45pm.

Some items to think about as you finish:

1. Check the rubric. Have you done everything?
2. Citations!! Correct format!!
3. Does your page look like a final project for Web2 or Web1? Are you using modern design? Is it visual and interactive?
4. Please be sure there are NO typos or links errors. Double and triple check.
5. Have you shown evidence of engagement and collaboration? The next few days are an excellent opportunity for this.
6. Do you have a "future" section where you outline what EXPERTS think will be happening in your area (laws, trends, etc...).

And most important: Did you actually answer the question????

This has been a three week project. Plan accordingly to finish on time and demonstrate your best work.

Cool site

This Bobby McFerrin site is real cool. Have fun with making the music. Interactive/visual/informative. You might not have the skills to pull something like that together, but you can make your project interactive/visual/informative. The usability rating for this site is very, very high.

When you are home watch this youtube video. He is an absolute freak of nature. When he sings harmony (2 pitches at once) with himself I get a bit freaked out. He gave the absolute best concert I ever saw.

Technorati Tags: BobbyMcFerrin usability web_design k12 education Seymour

VOKI

This is a test of voki.com. I hope it works at school.



Get a Voki now!

Check out the best Flash Websites. Get some ideas?

We will start forming the index today. Please go to UDrive on network (WebSchneider-Web2-Final Projects). Create a folder with your first and last name in the appropriate subject. Save your "index" file in this folder. It doesn't matter if it is done, we just need a correctly named file to start the index and make the links.

If you made a movie in Windows Movie Maker you need to convert it using Flash. Go to Flash and use "Import to Library". Bring file in. Then open it from your library and save it as a Flash file. Then you can bring it into Dreamweaver. Of course, it might be easier to make the movie in Flash to begin with....

The New Yorker has an interesting article about Gordon Bell, the famous computer scientist, and his vision of the future. Its long, but a good read.

The blogmeister had an interesting post about the Arts and Sciences. The 2nd half of the entry is the relevant part. Are you quoting experts in your project (and citing them correctly)? I hope so....

If you haven't checked out the completed horizon project that we reviewed a few weeks ago I urge you to do so. Those students did an excellent job.

Technorati Tags: Warlick k12 hz07 GordonBell NewYorker

Charts

Somebody check this out. Let me now if it works. Flash Charts.

Update 5/25/07 OK. Steven A. got it to work fairly easily and is giving us instructions on his blog. It is a cool way to present data. Put it in your favorites and possibly use it for your project.

Technorati Tags: amcharts

Tuesday

I have received a few notes that people are watching how our weebly site develops. Work hard!

Interviews are not an optional part of the project. You do your interviews and research before you begin your design. Remember I am evaluating your work each day as you work with your classmates and your engagement in the project. The final product is only 10% of your score. Check the rubric!

Monday

The second blog question is due on 5/22. I would also like you to check the rubric. Score your project at this point. What do you need to work on the most?

I added Mr. Sirowich to the faculty list for the Zero-Impact House question. Mr. Sirowich used to be an environmental engineer and might make an excellent interview.

Timing is everything. The NY Times Magazine has several articles on "Eco-Tecture" or green building. I include the link but I also have the hard copy on my desk if some of you need to get some good research. It has some amazing information.

Mrs. Deming has answered several questions on students blogs. Be sure to check them out. If Mrs. Deming answered a question on your blog please leave a link on the blogmeister so it can be shared and you can show evidence of collaboration.

You probably want to make your movies in Flash instead of Movie Maker. Its much more powerful. I am not sure how well movie maker files will integrate into Dreamweaver.

If you are a tech fair presenter and you haven't created your weebly site please do so today. I would like you to add a blog so we can leave comments on your site. Be sure to leave links back to your blogs, the SHS Blogspot, and the class assignment.

Finally, don't get slammed because you didn't use citations properly. No, you can't just take pictures off google. I will check your sources!! Everything must be cited.

I will be out the second half of the day for the NVL track meet. I think I will be doing curriculum work on Wednesday.

Thursday

The weeks are going by real fast.....

The next few days will be crazy. Many of you have prom obligations, we have 8th grade orientation, track meets, and I have curriculum work on Wednesday. I won't see some of you for one week.

But the deadline still looms. Having other obligations is not a reason to produce shoddy work. I expect your best work.

I hope this is not blocked: weebly.com. Making a professional website is getting incredibly easy and free. Of course this impacts this class. If software is becoming online, free, and incredibly easy we may value the coding aspect of design less. The value of being a good writer and visual communicator will become more and more important. The value of being able to write in three dimensions is definitely becoming more important.

OK>>>>We have been playing with weebly all day. Our presenting group (web 2.0, video, etc..) will definitely use this. See me for questions.

Now a lot of programmers hate programs like this. It doesn't code completely correctly. There are trade-offs as the software becomes more user-friendly. Will this become the industry standard? I doubt it. Something even easier will debut before we teach this class again next September.

Don't fall behind. The world is moving VERY fast.

I did a quick flash thing from the VA tech victims and put it in UDrive. Use it if you want.

And finally, here is the link to Mrs. Deming's page about her breast cancer walk. Read this before you write up her questions. In addition she has been answering questions on students blogs (Christina, Jackie, etc..).

Technorati Tags: weebly k12 education

Speed

Where have all the phone booths gone? I bet some of you have never seen one outside of a movie.

We talk often about how fast technology is changing society. Only a few years ago what an iPod could do was shocking. Now you watch movies on it and its no big deal.

And now you can watch TV on your cell phone. What's next?

Here is a reminder about flash and what it can do and its effect on education. What type of flash component will you be adding to your website? Be sure to look at the flash templates and dreamweaver templates we have shown you. Don't make your website look like it was made in 2001.

One note about Project 9--we can't get the ActiveX to play correctly. So after you finish making the globe turn you can stop, don't worry about the state park page.

Links

A few links that were posted yesterday and might apply to your projects:

From the Blogmeister:
New Schools in the UK: Britain is committed to rebuilding all schools in their country by 2020.

From Will Richardson:
Summary of our new technology: Very similar to our "write to your grandma" assignment.

From NBC News:
2017: NBC Nightly News did a series this week on how life will be like in ten years. Great timing!

If you find links people might use please post them on your blog and comment on the people doing that assignment.

As we start the project a few reminders. First, try to follow the steps in order. Do your research first and THEN interview your expert. It will make you look much smarter. Use the interview to clarify some of your research. Because you spend the time to research first the interviewee will be much more likely to enjoy the interview. Doing research will allow you to be much more specific and thought provoking in your questions.

Second, use the time to collaborate with all other people doing your question. Together work on questions that will be probing and interesting. Lets not have fifteen people ask Mrs. Deming the same question. That's boring for her. What questions will add the most value to your website? You can only know after you do some research and you know what holes you need to fill.

Good luck!

Technorati Tags: Warlick WillRichardson future education k12

Monday

Today will be the final day in the Flash sandbox. Use the time to try something new in the tutorials (try zoom in if you haven't yet). I also want you to spend time reading Project 9 in the textbook as you will need to add Flash movies to your websites during your final project. Please take the time to view some of the examples of Flash Websites that are on the tutorial pages (there are links in the bottom right).

If you made a cool movie in Flash, save it to the UDrive so everyone can see it. I had Courtney P save her car movie there. Its pretty cool.

We will begin the final project tomorrow. You can read about it today, but be warned I have a few more items to add to the page. This will be a three week assignment and will require you to show competencies from Web1 and Web2. All of these projects will be displayed at the SHS Tech Fair on June 4.

We will split into two groups for the project. I will ask several of you to present at the Tech Fair on subjects such as Web 2.0, video, blogging, and such. The rest of you will work on one of the assigned tasks for the project.

Wednesday Assignment

In order to complete Wednesday's assignment you must complete the first two tutorials on shape and motion tween. You must complete this assignment and show the teacher by the end of the period. Work together so everyone gets it done.

Motion Tween:
Move a blue circle from the bottom left corner to the top right.

Shape Tween:
Convert a small blue circle to a large red square. Have the object move from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.

Save each file in WDrive.

If you finish the first two tutorials please try to move through the rest of the tutorials. I would like you to have a very basic idea of the available tools by the end of the week.