Final Day

Today is your last day in this part of the wheel.  On Monday, your fifth period class will be with Evans in E2.

As of writing this post about half of you are not getting any credit for this class, because you have not completed all of the assignments.  Hopefully, some of you can finish by the end of class today.

For those that are not finished by the end of class today, you will have until next Friday to correctly complete all of the assignments for this class to earn 5 credits.  If you have missing (unfinished, incorrectly done) work by next Friday, you will forfeit the credits for this class. 

The following students are missing assignments

Yonis      5
Elijah     8
Jose        8
Joshua    1
Connor   7
Paulina   4

Blog # 18 My Grades

In this final assignment, you will list all of your grades in this class.  Go to your schoolloop page and click on the progress report for this class.  This assignment will be complete when you have all 17 grades listed on your blog and all the grades are a "7" or higher.

REMINDER-WARNING-MUST READ

You must have all 18 assignments completed with a grade of 7 or higher to earn credits in this class.  

For example, if you have 17 grades of 10 and 1 grade of 5, then you will get 0 (zero) credits.  

Read and do what the assignment instructions tell you to do.  If you don't complete all parts of the assignments, then you will get less than 7 and have to make corrections.

If you have grades that are less than 7, then you must make corrections to those assignments and let me know on Friday.  After I regrade the assignments, you will edit this final post to reflect the updated grades. 

Regardless of your current grades, you must do this assignment today (Thursday, April 21).

Title the blog post "My Grades"

Your post will look something like this.

1.    10
2.    10
3.    10
4.    10
5.    10
6.    9
7.    10
8.    10
9.    10
10.  8
11.  10
12.  7
13.  10
14.  7
15.  10
16.  10
17.  10

Blog #17- Critical Film Review or correctly answer the logic problems

This is a blog assignment.  You can choose to do a Critical Film Review or correctly answer the 3 "Handshakes" problems.

Critical Film Review

1)  Choose a film that you have seen.

You are the one and only expert of your opinions.  Write about your specific opinions about the specific elements from the film you choose that stood out to you.  You can write about specific characters, actors, overall character development, dialogue, cinematography, story, plot, etc.

Include a picture relating to the movie (movie poster, etc.) to begin your review. 

 This critical review will be written in paragraphs and be at least 150 words.  

When referencing character’s or actor’s names make sure you spell them correctly with capital letters beginning each name.

1)  Begin your critical review with a general synopsis of the story (short summary- 2 sentences maximum) followed by your overall opinion of the film.  Do not include spoilers anywhere in your review. 

2)  Go in to detail about your opinions and the film elements that support your opinions.  Write about each element in its own paragraph. Include examples from the film to support your opinions. For example, if you liked/disliked the main character you could write a paragraph about what you liked/didn't like about the character citing examples from the film. (3 paragraphs minimum).  There are many specific characters you could focus on in your paragraphs 

3)  Conclude your review with a final paragraph summarizing your opinion and giving a final recommendation (thumbs up, thumbs down, 3 out of 4 stars, C+, etc.).  You choose how you will grade each film.

This outline will give you a 3 paragraph critical review.  You can write more than 3 paragraphs if you so desire.

"Handshakes" Problems

1)  You walk into your first college class and the professor tells you to shake hands and introduce yourself to every student in the classroom.  Every student shakes hands with all other students exactly once.  How many handshakes were there (there are a total of 10 students in class)?

2)  After everyone finishes shaking hands an eleventh student enters the classroom.  How many handshakes will there be (total) after he is done shaking hands?

3)  What would be the total if there were 20 students in the class?

The following illustration is your hint as to how to figure out these three answers.  Post your three answers on your blog.  Title the post "How Many Handshakes?"

Additional hint-  There is a pattern (formula) to this problem.  Once you figure it out, you can quickly calculate the answer no matter how many people there are.

You may collaborate with your fellow classmates, but you must be able to explain your answers.

Assignment #16 Perseverance

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.

The most certain way to succeed is 

always to try just one more time. 

 Thomas A. Edison

Have you ever heard of the noun perseverance or the verb persevere (to persevere)?

Life is not easy for any of us.  But what of 

that?  We must have perseverance and 

above all confidence in ourselves.  We must 

believe that we are gifted for something and 

that this thing must be attained.

Marie Curie

Successful people persevere when attempting to accomplish something (milk).  Graduating college, running a marathon, earning money to buy a car, losing weight, these are examples of accomplishments that require perseverance.  These (apples) things take work and dedication to accomplish.  Once you decide on a long term goal there are endless instant gratification activities that can derail your (bread) plans.  Should I study for the test or play Xbox (chips)?  Should I go to the gym and workout or lounge on the couch and watch television (juice)?  Should I save my money or spend it on random junk?

Most if not all significant accomplishments in life involve some form of delayed (mustard) gratification.  Built in to the process of succeeding is hard work and failure.  Everyone fails from time to time, sometimes repeatedly.  Someone is considered a failure if they quit (candy) and stop trying before succeeding. The question is "Are you OK with failure?  Or are you going to keep trying (persevere) until you succeed?"  As a sophomore in high school Michael Jordan was left off of the varsity basketball team (he played on the junior varsity team) before he became the greatest basketball player on the planet. That (butter) let down fueled his drive and desire to succeed.

Winners never quit and quitters never win.

Vince Lombardi

Not everyone is going to be a professional athlete (actor, singer, model, etc.), but whatever your chosen goal (bananas) you must persevere to accomplish it.  Once you realize that meaningful things often times require hard work and dedication, you will begin to prioritize your life (pasta) around your goals.

"If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail."  Benjamin Franklin

Some of you might already know what you want to do with your life.  Others of you might still be trying to figure it out.  The first steps to success are choosing a goal and creating a plan.  

Do you have any long term goals for your life?  What are your goals and have you created plans to achieve these goals.  Write about your goal(s) in life and detail the steps you need to do to achieve those goals.

Whether you're shuffling a deck of cards or holding your breath, magic is pretty simple: It comes down to training, practice, and experimentation, followed up by ridiculous pursuit and relentless perseverance.
 
David Blaine 

This is a blog assignment.  Title it "Perseverance."

Answer the questions in red.  The post must be at least 

3 paragraphs of at least 150 words.
Also randomly throughout this blog post there are additional words added (grocery list).  You must list these additional words at the end of assignment #16

David Blaine

Angela Lee Duckworth

Rodney Mullen

Assignment #15 More Typing

Go here and explore the lessons they have on typing.  Spend a few minutes with at least 5 different lessons.  You must fully complete at least 1 lesson.  Make sure you are keeping your fingers on the home keys, so you can develop good typing form.  This is a blog assignment.

Title the assignment "#15 More Typing."

Do a screen capture (apple/shift/4) of each lesson you have worked on before you exit out.

Lesson 1.  Make sure you are spending at least 2 minutes on each lesson.  The time is shown at the top.

The finished blog post will have screen captures from five (5) different lessons.

Assignment #14- Typing

This is a blog assignment titled "#14- Typing."

Go here and complete some typing tests.

1)  You will take at least one of each of the 5 timed tests (1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 4 min, and 5 min). 

Choose  lesson #26- 1 minute test
             lesson #27- 2 minute test
             lesson #28- 3 minute test
             lesson #29- 4 minute test
             lesson #30- 5 minute test

2)  You will take a screen shot (shift/apple/4-then drag a rectangle over the area you want copied) of the best result for each test.  The picture is sent to the desktop.  Right click the picture, click "get info" and rename as "I minute" or "2 minute" depending on which test it was.

3)  You will post all 5 pictures on your blog titled, "#14- Typing."   Caption each picture with the type of test it was (1 minute, 2 minute, etc.).
You will insert the 5 results pictures in your blog.  Make sure that you caption each photo with the type of test it was (1 min, 2 min, etc.).

4)  This site also has typing games that will increase your typing speed.  Try out at least 3 games. List the 3 games,  type which one is your favorite, and why.

1 minute

2 minutes

3 minutes

I tried Desert Typing Racer, Meteor Typing Blast, and Spacebar Invaders.  My favorite game was Spacebar Invaders.  Everyone try Spacebar Invaders at least once.

Assignment #13- My Top Three

This is a blog post.  Title it "My Top Three Yourcategory"

You get to choose the category (sports, video games, candy, soda, movies, television shows, foods, etc.)  You must choose one (1) specific category and list three (3) things for that category.

List your choices from 1 to 3.  Write at least 3 sentences about why you made each choice.

Include at least 1 picture for each choice.

My Top Three Sports That I Play

1.  Beach Volleyball

I have been playing beach volleyball for about 25 years.  I love it for many reasons.  It is great exercise, and I love competing.  I have played in many tournaments over the years.  When I was younger, I would play for 8 hours a day on the weekends.

2. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

I have wanted to do jiu jitsu for years.  I got both of my children started in jiu jitsu about 2 years ago.  I began training when last school year finished (late June).  I train as often as I can usually 3/4 times per week.  I will be competing in my first tournament in 2 weeks.

By © John Lamonica, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9111428

3.  Curling

The newest team sport that I participate in is Curling (the Olympic sport played on ice).  I have been curling for about 2 years.  Tonight will be the third game of my current league.  In my first league, my team won the championship!  In my second league, my team got dead last!  Overall, my teams have won the championship twice, placed second, placed third, and some lower finishes.

Assignment #12- Bucket List

A bucket list is a list of things that you want to do/accomplish before you die ("kick the bucket"). There is a 2007 movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman called "The Bucket List" about 2 terminally ill men attempting to complete all the items on their bucket lists.

For today's assignment, you are to come up with 5 things that you want to accomplish during your time here on earth.  Do not include things that you have already done.  Graduating college and having children are not on my bucket list, because I have already done those things.  List the things from 1-5 including at least 1 sentence describing why you want to do/accomplish each thing.

Minimum requirements

this is a blog assignment

numbered list of 5 things/goals/etc. that you haven't done yet.

at least 1 sentence describing why each thing was chosen
at least 1 picture to go with one of the things
at least 1 correctly done link related to one of the things

1.  Get a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu-  I have been training jiu jitsu for almost a year.  I love it.  It will take about 10 years of continuous training to earn a black belt.

2. Run a half marathon faster than 1 hour and 55 minutes-  I will never be an elite level distance runner, but I consider running 13.1 miles in less than 2 hours an accomplishment. My original goal was under 2 hours, but last year I ran a 1:57:29.

3.  Run a marathon in under 4 hours-  I ran my first marathon in February.  At 19 miles my legs started cramping, so I had to begin walking to keep my legs from fully locking up.  Those slow last 7 miles added about 30 minutes to my overall time.  I finished at 4:25.

4.  Complete a triathlon-  I know I can swim, bike and run.  The question is "can I find enough time to properly train for a triathlon?".  Hopefully, one day I will.

5.  Travel to other countries-  I have only been to Mexico at this point in my life.  I would love to travel to and around Europe one day.

Assignment # 11- Blog- "Being Charitable"

This is a blog assignment.

Name your post "Being Charitable."

Here is the hypothetical situation.  Mark Cuban mega-rich business man and owner of the Dallas Mavericks shows up at Back Bay High School with two million dollars to spend.  He offers you a job.  The pay for this job is one million dollars. The job is to choose a charity that you care about.   Mr. Cuban wants to donate the other one million dollars to that one charity.

Let's be charitable.

Your job is to research different charities to find one that means something to you.  After you find the charity that you want to support, you will write a blog entry that 1) **briefly describes the charity in one paragraph, 2) details (at least 2 paragraphs) why this charity is important to you (what about this charity is personally meaningful to you) 3) includes a link to the charity's website and 4) includes at least 2 pictures related to the charity.

There are a total of 3 paragraphs in this assignment.

**The link to the charity's website will include all the information about the charity.  This is why you will only briefly describe (a few sentences) the charity in your post.

Assignment #10- Google #7 Drawing

Today's assignment is the last of the "technology proficiency" assignments.  Log in to your Google account and go to Drive.

You are going to explore the drawing program in Google Drive.  You will spend time creating a masterpiece.

You final drawing must contain 

lines, 

shapes, 

different colors, 

and letters (your name at the very least).

Your final art must be school appropriate. 

You must spend at least 45 minutes creating this assignment.

Assignment #9- Google #6 Resume

Today you are going to be creating a resume for yourself in Google Drive.

 Use the picture below as a guide.

1)  Center your name, address and contact information.

2)  Include each of the 5 headings (Objective, Education, Experience, Relevant Skills & Courses, and Interests)  If you have not taken any college or vocational courses name the fourth heading "Relevant Skills."

3)  You don't need the horizontal lines to separate each category.

Notice that each heading is in bold and starts at the left margin.  All of the information after each heading starts at the same tab unless it is a further indented bullet point.  Correctly formatting a resume will make it look professional.  

The last thing you want is your resume to stand out for being sloppy and/or unprofessional.

Assignment #8- Google #5 Flyer

This is the fifth Google Drive Assignment

Today we are doing a one-page flyer document created with Google.  The content of this flyer will be whatever you choose (lost dog, garage sale, baby shower, etc.).

Minimum requirements

Flyer must be school appropriate.

Large centered title in the document 
  

(Lost Dog, Garage Sale, etc.)

at least 2 pictures (found in Google images)

at least 5 descriptive details about your topic.  (you can 

write in complete sentences or use bullet points)

full contact information including name, address, phone 

number and email address  (can be fake info)