FreshmanTechBlog1-2018-19

You did it! You are infinitely smarter now than when we first met 180+ days ago. You persevered through a rigorous trial but you still have challenges ahead. Hopefully now you can answer the question we asked at the beginning of the year (Why are you here?). For our final blog post I want you to consider each of the following and write a few sentences about each. Reflect back on your first year and share a moment or two that you remember most fondly What was your most difficult challenge and finally, share with us what your plans are for the summer It was a pleasure working with you all and I will miss you. Good luck on your finals! Mr. T

noun: life hack a strategy or technique adopted in order to manage one's time and daily activities in a more efficient way.     You're almost done. The finish line is near. For this blog post I would like you to share some simple hacks you have to get yourself ready for finals. What tips or techniques do you employ to help you prepare?  Do you read to stuffed animals? Make raps out of things you need to remember?   Share a strategy or two with your classmates and why you think it helps you.  Here's a few helpful tips: https://www.coursehero.com/college-life/life-hacks-finals-week/   Remember some of the things we learned throughout the year:    Listen to music while you study but do not listen to music with words. It will distract your mind.  Get proper sleep. Deep REM sleep helps your clear your mind and refresh your for the important work ahead.  Eat a good breakfast. Prop...

This is part 1 of a science fiction/know your rights series of blog posts. The following is a true story. For this post I want you to use your creativity and write a paragraph about what you think happens to Sarah next. It can be anything you want based upon the information you now have about Sarah. Sarah hovered over the mailbox, envelope in hand. She knew as soon as she mailed off her DNA sample, there’d be no turning back. She ran through the information she looked up on 23andMe’s website one more time: the privacy policy, the research parameters, the option to learn about potential health risks, the warning that the findings could have a dramatic impact on her life. She paused, instinctively retracting her arm from the mailbox opening. Would she live to regret this choice? What could she learn about her family, herself that she may not want to know? How safe did she really feel giving her genetic information away to be studied, shared with others, or even experimen...

There was a moment in class when I realized that students are interested in the news and particularly, news around social media companies (Shout out to Patricia Smith for knowing about Cambridge Analytica ). So I dug up some good articles on the subject so we can all be more informed citizens. Please read the following and answer the questions in the Google Form. Then write a 1-2 paragraph reflection on the topic of privacy in the Comment section of this post. Is it important to you or are you ok with companies using your data without your permission? 1) Read these two articles:  Section 1: https://www.salon.com/2014/10/30/im_terrified_of_my_new_tv_why_im_scared_to_turn_this_thing_on_and_youd_be_too/ Section 2: https://www.govtech.com/security/There-is-No-Such-Thing-as-True-Privacy-in-the-Digital-Age.html  2) Answer questions on the Google Form attached to the Classroom post. - 20 points 3) 1-2 paragraph reflection on the topic of privacy.- 20 points

Congratulations. You've passed your Digital Citizenship exam. Hopefully you are now more informed about the consequences of your online actions and the higher expectations we need to have of each other.  Please take a moment and write a paragraph of your reaction to the presentations of your classmates. What did you take away from the experience?

Giving presentations is hard. Many of us are extremely uncomfortable speaking in front of an audience. It takes practice and skill. Here are some helpful tips. Excerpts from:  https://hbr.org/2013/06/how-to-give-a-killer-presentation Frame your story We all know that humans are wired to listen to stories, and metaphors abound for the narrative structures that work best to engage people. When I think about compelling presentations, I think about taking an audience on a journey. A successful talk is a little miracle—people see the world differently afterward. Plan Your Delivery There are three main ways to deliver a talk. You can read it directly off a script or a teleprompter. You can develop a set of bullet points that map out what you’re going to say in each section rather than scripting the whole thing word for word. Or you can memorize your talk, which entails rehearsing it to the point where you internalize every word—verbatim. Develop Stage Presence ...

So now that you're ready to be a blogger. Great. Publishing your content is the easy part. Managing and preparing for the backlash or the fame that comes with posting your content on the internet is a whole other responsibility. For our next post you will be commenting on one review of someone else from our previous post. So follow this link: https://freshmantechblog3-2018-19.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-power-of-blogs.html and reply to someone else's post with your own perspective. Read their review and add your own thoughts to continue the thread started by your classmate.You can agree or disagree, but click Reply and add a paragraph of your own perspective to their post.

The great thing about blogs is that they can be about anything and it is a fresh perspective from outside the mainstream. Do you love to travel? Start a travel blog and it becomes your unique view on the topic. For this post I want you to pretend this is your blog. Write a post about a recent experience you had with something you have a strong opinion about. It can be negative or positive. Your post should be 6-10 sentences at a minimum. Compare and contrast what you are writing about with other things similar to your topic. For example: If you are writing about a record from a particular artist, compare it to similar artists or the artists earlier work. Same for restaurants, etc. See examples for ideas. The key is to be passionate. Ideas:  Movie review - Compare two movies you recently saw and what you like or disliked about them. Book review - see movie review... Music review Travel experience Restaurant review Fashion review Technology  Examples:...

For our final blog post of Q2 we turn to meme's. Meme's are a cultural phenomenon that evolved with the ability to add text to images and distribute them online... For this post I want you to put your creativity/humor/culture hat on and design your own meme. Your subject can be about anything but try to connect your meme to a subject your studying. For example here's a school/history meme idea... Most important, you must respect the guidelines for blogging that we setup in the beginning of the year. NO DEGRADING CONTENT. You may not make fun of, mock or slur anyone Create your meme using correct spelling, grammar and punctuation Never reveal personal information about yourself Never disrespect someone. As well, do not copy a meme.  Come up with your own original idea using one of the following two resources.  https://imgflip.com/memegenerator http://wigflip.com/automotivator/ There are a few options for sharing the meme on our blog. If there is...

Welcome back. Happy New Year. People typically like to take the opportunity to reevaluate some bad habits and try to correct them around this time of year. For our first post of the New Year lets share a few resolutions you are committing to making or discuss how it may have went for you in the past. Are you able to stay committed to a resolution you make with yourself? Or what would you like to change about yourself and what steps do you plan on taking each day?

Here’s a simple query of your personal life:  What are you reading?   What are you watching? What are you playing? For our first blog post of Q2, please answer each of these 3 questions in the comment section. Please include the question. Do not include school work.  You can have multiple answers to each question.  I'll get  itstarted:  What am I reading? Vineland, Thomas Pynchon What am I watching?  Narcos What am I playing?  Civilization V

Thanksgiving is here. It's a time to reflect on our accomplishments and give thanks to some of friends and family that have helped us along the way. You've been through a lot of changes in the last three months. So for this post please reflect on one accomplishment you are proud that you accomplished and one friend or family member that has helped you in some way that your thankful for.

The idea for the Internet was born from the launch of the Russian Sputnik satellite in 1957. The US government was worried that the then Soviet Union possessed superior technology capability and could potentially strike the US with a nuclear missile. So it began to prepare for the consequence. The Internet essentially began as way to communicate if part of the country was destroyed. In 1969 the technology was advanced enough to begin testing it at universities and the first successful test was completed between the UCLA and Stamford campuses in California. It wasn't until around  1991  that the Internet was introduced for individual and commercial purposes. Today we see more an more users clustered around the same sites. Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon collectively consume most of our attention and that's sad because there is so much more to it. For this post I want you to visit this site:  https://www.reddit.com/r/InternetIsBeautiful/  and as part of Digi...

We discussed in class the importance of non-verbal cues and looked at the impact adolescence has on learning development (see below). We also talked about how technology can negatively impact social development because our focus is  removed from everything else. So for our blog post using the above chart, pick one element of development under  Early or  Middle Adolescence  and make an argument for or against using a phone in school. Then go online and find an article that supports or negates your position and give us a brief summary of what the article states.  For example: During Early Adolescence as my intellectual interests expand I need a phone to engage more with what I'm interested in studying. The article I found talks about how 75% of students using cell phones in class are performing worse than those without.  https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/do-smartphones-have-a-place-in-the-classroom/480231/ Do not copy my exa...

Hi ladies. Welcome to your first blog post. Please refer to the first post in the blog about procedures before proceeding. Positive:  Computers in 5 years.  Negative:  Social Media Ripping Society Apart According to the videos above that we watched in class, computers affect our lives in many ways. The first described positive ways technology will improve our lives. The second is kinda scary. For our blog post I want you to reflect on this question. Based on your experience give your opinion on what you think are the long-term effects of living in a technological world? Are these mostly negative or positive? Please write a short paragraph 5-6 sentences, describing which side you lean toward. Please include a little of your own experience and how you think technology will help or hurt you in the future.

Welcome to your Freshman Tech blog. A blog, for anyone who doesn't know, is a web page that is updated and typically contains information about a specific subject. Blogger is free with your Google account and you can create your own to share what you are passionate about with the world. Blog examples:  Frugal (adj.Costing little; inexpensive: a frugal lunch.) https://www.miss-thrifty.co.uk/ Adventure :  https://theadventureblog.blogspot.com/ Food:  https://pinchofyum.com/ A blog is a powerful tool because of the contributions of its followers. Commenting on our class blog will be part of your grade throughout the year. Please follow these Procedures:  Write your comment as you would a letter. Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. No acronyms ie: LOL or slang. -2 points for incorrect grammar.   Never reveal personal information about yourself. No last names, addresses, screen names, email names. This is a public space so anything you say can ...