A Check-In with your Mentor

While you will be meeting 4 times this year with your mentor, the partnership can be helpful on a number of levels.  You will obviously have a chance to reflect on your academic progress and set short and long terms goals with this adult.  In addition, it provides an opportunity for you to maintain a professional relationship with an adult in the community.  Today I am going to ask you to write an email to your mentor.  You want this email to be well written so that it is a positive reflection of you as a young adult.  Below are the requirements I would like you to consider as you complete this.

1. You must BCC (Blind Copy) Mr. Rubin at crubin@seq.org when you send the email.
2. You must follow the format below
3. You must take a screen shot in SchoolLoop of your current grades using the snipping tool
4. You must double check your document for spelling/grammar errors.

Dear Ms. Daniels,

(INTRO)

• Thank you so much for taking the time to come and meet with me in October and for offering to work with me this school year.  

(BODY)

• I wanted to email you and tell you how I have been doing since our first meeting.  
• include accomplishments you are proud of so far this semester
• include challenges you have had and how you plan to improve in your other classes

(BODY P.2)

• By the next time we meet I plan to ... (1-3 goals you have established either on your own or with your mentor).

(CONCLUSION)

• I look forward to seeing you on Friday, November 21st.

Thank you so much for your support.

Sincerely,

Chris Rubin

Blog Post 10/28

Good Morning - today is Tuesday October 28th.  We are just 3 days away from the end of October and Halloween.  Today we are going to spend our time on the following:

1. One lesson of Edutyping - Lesson 13.1
2. Posting Microsoft Word Assignments 4 & 5 on your blog.  You may submit both assignments in one blog.  This will require the following:
1. An image of each assignment (take a screenshot of your project)
2. In your blog you will discuss 
1. The purpose of the assignment (what did you set out to do?
2. What new tools you learned and/or what tools were you able to practice from completing this assignment?  
3. Any challenges you faced? You might want/need to look at the assignment handout to pick these things out.
4. How will you be able to use the tools you learned in this assignment to help you create better work in High School?
3. After completing this assignment on your blog, be sure each of the assignments are correctly submitted as Microsoft Word documents in Schoology.  This will allow me to be able to see each of the steps you took to complete the assignment.
4. After all of that is done, you may use the time to check SchoolLoop and work on any assignments for your other classes.  A reminder that after this week we have 3 weeks of school before Thanksgiving and then 2 weeks of school and Finals.  If you're doing great in your classes, GREAT - keep it up for just a few more weeks.  If you're not doing so great in your classes, NOT GREAT - you need to turn it around starting NOW!

Hey, thanks!!  

Posting MS Word Assignment #3 - Creating Tables

Today I would like to make sure we have posted assignment #3.  As a reminder you are going to post this assignments in two locations.  On your blog you will have to submit this assignment as an image. Take a screenshot of your project.  Please take a screenshot of the main page of the document.  In your blog you will discuss what you were working on while your audience is able to see the image as an example.

On your blog, you are responsible for responding to the following:

1. What was the purpose of the assignment (what did you set out to do?)
2. What new tools did you learn or what tools were you able to practice from completing this assignment?  What were some of the challenges you faced? You might want/need to look at the assignment handout to pick these things out.
3. How will you be able to use the tools you learned in this assignment to help you create better work in High School?

In addition to posting on your blog you must also post these assignments in Schoology.  In Schoology you should post your final version as a Microsoft Word document so I am able to see each of the steps you took to complete the assignment.  Again, please simply go to Schoology and upload your original Microsoft Word document.

Once you have completed your blog, please complete lesson 11.2 in Edutyping.

Thank you!

Blog Post for Tuesday 10.21

Good Morning!  Today is Tuesday 10/21.  For today's blog I would like you to respond to the following image above.  It is what I would call a "motivational" quote. Please respond to the following questions:

1. In your own words (and different words than above) explain what this quote is saying.
2. Do you agree with this quote?  Why or why not?
3. Why is it that "later" can become "never"?  Do you know anyone that a quote like this might apply to?  Discuss their story (or even a story that involves you) and what your reaction is to what happened.
4. Finally, how would a quote like this be applicable to your success in school?

Once you have finished this blog response, please complete lesson 11.1 in Edutyping.  We will then continue with our Microsoft Word Assignment #3 - Creating Tables together.

Thanks!

Monday 10/20 - The Start to Quarter 2

Good Morning and Happy Monday.  I am pleased to announce that grades have been posted and finalized in School Loop for the 1st Quarter.  While for some of you this may be exciting and a "feel good moment" for others of you it is a reality check that demonstrates your need to be more organized, stay on top of your work and push a little harder on the academic side of things.

For today's blog, please log into school loop.  Look only at this class and respond to the following questions:

1. What was our primary focus during the 1st quarter?  Think about the different topics we covered and perhaps 3 things you learned over the course of the last 2 months.
2. What, if any, assignments are you currently missing.  Why did you miss these assignments and what can you do (moving forward) to ensure you don't miss future assignments?  If you are not missing any assignments, discuss briefly how you have been successful this year and why you think you have been able to turn in 100% of your work in this class.
3. A lot of students talk about wanting the "opportunity" to go to college but that involves 3 years of dedication and hard work on your end.  Do you feel you have complete control over your success in school?  Why or why not?  How do you believe your grades in high school are connected to your acceptance and/or even your success in college?

Thanks and I will look forward to reading your response.  A reminder that each blog response must be a paragraph which from my understanding includes a minimum of 5 complete sentences.

October 16th Block Day

Good Morning Academy 10th Graders -

Below is your Agenda for Today.  Be sure that you have the following complete when you leave class because the Quarter ends Friday and grades will be posted through the following:

• Microsoft Word Assignment #1 - Creating a Cover Page
• Microsoft Word Assignment #2 - Creating the Newsletter
• Microsoft Word Assignment #3 - Creating Tables

In addition, please make sure you have completed through Edutyping Lesson 10.1 and have completed all blogs to date including your reflecion of MS Word Assignments 1 & 2.

Thank you!  Make this a productive work period.  Note that I have also posted MS Word Assignment #4 in Schoology if you want to move ahead.  You may also use any extra time to make sure you have completed your assignments for other classes with the end of the Quarter rapidly approaching.

Thank you and have a great day!

The Beginning of Microsoft Word

Good Morning and Happy Monday!  Last week we FINALLY begin working with Microsoft Office through a series of guided activities.  I know, I know - not always the most fun activity since it doesn't offer a lot of creative opportunities (those are coming) but definitely an important way for you to develop the essential skills necessary to be a proficient user of Microsoft Word.

Today I would like to make sure we have those assignments posted.  As a reminder you are going to post these assignments in two locations.  On your blog you will have to submit them as images so you will need to take a screenshot of your project.  Please take a screenshot of the main page of the document created so that as you discuss what you were working on, your audience will be able to see some examples.  On your blog, you are responsible for responding to the following:

1. What was the purpose of the assignment (what did you set out to do?)
2. What new tools did you learn or what tools were you able to practice from completing this assignment (you might want/need to look at the assignment handout to pick these things out)
3. How will you be able to use these tools to help you create better work in High School?

In addition to posting on your blog you must also post these assignments in Schoology.  In Schoology you should post your final version as a Microsoft Word document so I am able to see each of the steps you took to complete the assignment.  Again, please simply go to Schoology and upload your original Microsoft Word document.  To date, you have two MS Word assignments you should be posting - Creating a Cover Page & Creating the Newsletter.

Thank you!
Mr. Rubin

The End of An Era ... or, well a Unit!

Good Morning, Happy Thursday and Congratulations ... we are DONE with Google Apps!  Well, the truth is you will never be done with Google Apps.  It is a powerful tool that you will definitely be using throughout your High School career here at M-A and it is possible that it might be here forever ... who knows.  I am happy to say, however, that you are now equipped with the knowledge to use many of the tools within Google Apps.  Some of these tools include:  Google Drive (docs, sheets, etc), how to use a template, how to use the many features of GMail, Google Calendar, Creating an Online Quiz/Form, How to create a Google Site and add different features, how to use Google Translate, Picasa, the Google Custom Search, and more.  With that said, to wrap up our Google Unit, I want you to blog about it.  Here is the description of what I am looking for:

• Image: Take a minimum of 5 of the assignments you have completed and used the snipping tool to take a picture of.  Import these images into Picasa and create a collage with them.  If you would like, I will actually offer extra credit for you to add a video to your blog highlighting the assignments  you completed in Google complete with images, music and subtitles.
• Blog:  Okay, so we just finished a lengthy unit studying the various tools available to you in Google Apps.  I listed most of them above.  Please write an 8-10 sentence summary of your experience with Google Apps.  Consider the following:
• Give some background about the different tools you learned using Google Apps. What did you enjoy most about our Google Apps Unit?
• Explain/describe what you feel are the best tools you learned using Google Apps and/or what you think the most powerful uses of Google Apps might be?
• Make a strong recommendation for why your reader (or really someone you know) would benefit from using these tools in Google!
• Describe anything else that you would want your reader to know about your experience with Google Apps