Many of you may not know that I am actually a music teacher. My bachelor's and master's degrees are in music education. My educational specialist degree is in educational technology, hence I am now teaching computer classes. 
 
I watched a movie tonight that I would like to recommend you watch. It's a documentary called "Class Act". This film documents the sad reduction of arts programs all across the United States. There are interviews with many well-known people about the importance of arts in the schools, including actors and musicians who were students of Jay W. Jensen at Miami Beach High School. Schools with vibrant arts programs (including music, dance, and visual arts) are spotlighted while many educational experts explain why the arts are so vital to the emotional and academic education of our students. The film also discusses the research which shows that students who take music classes make higher SAT scores, have higher grade point averages, and have less problems with truancy. 
 
As the producer, Morgan Spurlock, put it in the introduction of the film, "An education without the arts is no education at all". 
 
I rented the DVD from Blockbuster's on-line service. Check your local movie rental store to see if it's in stock or rent it on-line today! 

Posted by: susanclark

Check out the story in the 10-22-08 Chattanooga Times-Free Press regarding our guest speaker! 
 
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/oct/22/chattanooga-walker-students-get-career-advice/?local 

Posted by: susanclark

Students just finished a video on searching the Internet. They have seen that there are MANY other ways to search besides using Google. They then completed an Internet Scavenger Hunt on Presidential Facts. 
 
Do you know about the Good Search engine? We have this one marked on all computers at school. Good Search allows you to choose a charity and they then donate 1 cent to that organization for every search performed. Our school is a registered charity and if you set your browser search engine to Good Search, you will help raise much needed money for our school. Just go to http://www.goodsearch.com and take just a few seconds to sign up now! 

Posted by: susanclark

Students have begun using Excel, the spreadsheet software program. Students are learning about cells, formulas, functions, and creating charts and graphs. The culmination of the Excel unit will be getting a free package of Skittles or M&Ms to sort by color, count, and chart in Excel. And then they get to eat their work! 

Posted by: susanclark

The 8th grade computer/careers class will host a special speaker next Tuesday, Oct. 21. TLE (pronounced T-lay) is a fashion designer http://tledesigns.com/ who resides in Chattanooga. She started her own business designing and sewing and selling her creations. She will be in the 5th period class which will be videotaped and shown to the other 8th grade classes. 
 
Students have been studying entrepreneurship, one of the new Georgia Performance Standards for Business and Computer Science classes. 

Posted by: susanclark

In an effort to keep sickness at bay this year, I am having students use hand sanitizer each day when they enter my classroom.  
 
The bottles I purchased at the beginning of the school year are about gone. 
 
Would you please consider donating a pump bottle of hand sanitizer to the computer classroom? If you can do this, please send it by your child. 
 
Thanks so much! 

Posted by: susanclark

The 7th grade classes are finishing up formatting in Microsoft Word. The past few class periods have included formatting tables and outlines in Word.  
 
Students will receive a Gaggle.net e-mail account and register for the Georgia Career Information System this week. The system provides important information to students about personal and occupational-related interests. Students create a portfolio which follows them throughout high school and can be adapted or adjusted as interests and skills change. 
 
Seventh graders will specifically investigate careers in Business Management and Administration and in Information Technology. 

Posted by: susanclark

The 6th grade classes are busy finding out more about themselves by answering questions on the Georgia Career Information System. Students have created a portfolio which includes information about personal and occupational interests. This will assist students in the future when it comes time to choose a career path in high school and/or college. 
 
Students will also be learning to use Microsoft Word this week and they will create a personal trait chart using Word Art and text boxes. 

Posted by: susanclark

The new standards for 8th grade computer class include Personal Finance and Entrepreneurship. They are reading a chapter from the Career Exploration textbook which includes both subjects. Students have answered questions and defined terms relating to finance. 
 
Students got an excellent real-life lesson on the Law of Demand with the recent gasoline shortage and price increase. Ask your child if he/she can explain what happens economically when something like this happens! 

Posted by: susanclark

Students are working in Microsoft Word, learning how to format text, center things, add color, and use proofreader's marks. They will start learning how to create and format tables and outlines this week, also. 

Posted by: susanclark

Sixth graders will be assigned a Gaggle.net e-mail address this week to use when registering for the Georgia Career Information System. GCIS allows students to keep an electronic portfolio of career-related information about themselves. This portfolio can follow the student throughout middle and high school. 

Posted by: susanclark

Students are continuing to work in the Career Pathways workbook this week. They will look up articles in the newspaper about various careers and find listings in the classified ads for jobs. They will also learn about setting short-term and long-term goals. 
Ask your child if he/she achieved his goals at the end of the week. 
 
Next, they will start learning about various career clusters. 
Students will be assigned a Gaggle.net e-mail address and then will register for the Georgia Career Information System. This will enable them to start a portfolio which can be used to store information about classes needed for various careers, college information, and personal information such as learning style or right-brain/left-brain dominance. 

Posted by: susanclark

Go to this link http://delicious.com/mrsmusic/bundle:Typing to find fun typing games and lessons. 
 
Students can use these sites to reinforce what has been learned in class. 
 
Adults can use these sites to brush up on their skills. 

Posted by: susanclark

Students are watching a video called "Exploring Careers: What's Right for You?" In it, a school guidance counselor explains the Holland Hexagon, a way of determining your personality type which will assist you in choosing an appropriate career. 
 
Students were given a Holland survey to fill out. This survey asks questions related to the 6 personality types and allows students to figure out their top 3 types. In the video, the counselor then explains what jobs might be best for each type. The six types are: Creator, Thinker, Organizer, Doer, Helper, and Persuader. 
 
Ask you child which type he or she is. The kids seemed to enjoy doing the surveys and comparing answers with each other. 
 
Wednesday through Tuesday of next week students will work more in the Career Pathways: Middle School planner. 

Posted by: susanclark

The 6th grade computer classes will have a test on Friday (A day) and next Tuesday (B day) covering the Internet vocabulary. We have been watching a video about the Internet and taking notes on it as we watched. The vocabulary list is as follows: 
*Internet  
*Original name: ARPANET 
*ways to visit the Internet 
*ISP - Internet Service provider 
*TCP/IP: transmission control protocol: internet protocol 
*server 
*web page 
*web author 
*web master 
*web site 
*domain name and domain suffixes 
*HTML 
*URL 
*browser 
*hyperlink or link 
*search engine 
*bookmarks or favorites 
*download and upload 
*bandwidth 
*FAQs 
*chat room 
*e-mail 

Posted by: susanclark