Welcome back!

Welcome back!  I hope you had a restful and enjoyable Thanksgiving break!

We have 3 weeks of school left before we are out for Christmas break, and it will go fast.  Be prepared to be busy - we still have several things to accomplish and will be working diligently to get those things done in the next 3 weeks.

This week is vocab list #9 - Multimedia/Graphics.  Today we are going to watch the video below on streaming video.  If you have vocab definitions for week 9 and have not yet posted them you have until tomorrow night to get that done.

After watching the video you are going to write in your blog what you did over Thanksgiving break.  The instructions are as follows:

1. You need to write 2 paragraphs of what you did over Thanksgiving break and post it on your blog.  This includes creating a blog post title (1 pt for the title - total of 4 pts).
2. Spelling counts, so if you need to spell check what you write click on the ABC/check icon to spell check before you post.  (1 pt)
   
3. Grammar also is part of your grade, so make sure you write in complete sentences.  It might be beneficial to think of what youve learned in Language Arts - to write a complete paragraph use 5 sentences.  If you followed this thought process you would have a introductory sentence, 3 sentences with supporting details, and then a summary sentence.  If you did that for both paragraphs your grammar should be fine. (2 pts)
4. Finally you need to insert an image that is related in some way to what you did at Thanksgiving.  As long as the image is school appropriate you have quite a bit of freedom in choosing what you want to include for your image (2 pts)
5. Email me a link to your blog.  This should not be a problem as you should have your blog link as part of your signature (if not you may want to do that now).  Make sure to include the 5 proper parts to an email (1 pt).

I highly recommend that you check your email to see if there is anything that I have sent you regarding a missing assignment.  Some of you submitted the wrong file or forgot to attach a file when you submitted one of the formatting activities and I sent you an email explaining such.  Youll need to submit whatever you didnt previously submit as soon as possible.

Also, you should check the missing assignments list on the wall - remember, we only have 3 weeks left, so it greatly helps you to turn in anything that is missing.  

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Welcome to 2014 15 school year!

Today we are going to start with learning the keyboard and how to key correctly.  You should know that you will be learning the touch typing method - that means that you will be learning to key without looking at the keyboard.  That is why we use the speed skins - they are to be on your keyboard at all times throughout the entire semester.

The biggest factor in learning to key successfully is learning, and using, the correct technique (we will cover what you need to do correctly in terms of technique today in class).  Most people want to type fast right away - I think thats human nature, but it just doesnt work that way.  Being able to type efficiently and at a fast pace takes a bunch of practice, but you have to use the correct technique.

Our concentration as we begin to learn the keyboard will be on technique - speed will come later.  It is important that you concentrate on doing things right first, and usually that means at a slow pace as you begin, rather than worry about your speed.

That being said, as we move through the semester those who concentrate hard on using the correct techniques (and dont worry about speed) now and will have a much easier time later in the semester.  Those whose technique is poor, or those who do not use the correct techniques now will struggle later in the semester when we are moving at a much faster.

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