A Toy Train in Space

A wonderfully create video about a boy, his dad, and his favorite toy train...enjoy!
We will learn how to make movies in this class. Think about what you would like to tell a story about!

Today you will use the skills you learned about how to create a Google document, and you will create an invitation to Spurgeon's Back to School Night.

1. Login in to your Google account from the www.google.com web page.
2. In the black Google menu bar, click on "Documents" or "Drive". You should have already upgraded from "Documents" to "Drive", but you may do so now by following the prompts.
3. Click Create, and drop down to document to create a new document in your Drive folder.
4. Name the document "Back to School Night Invitation".
5. Use the "Center Alignment Tool" to center the information for you invitation. 
6. Please add the following information:
1. Date: 9/20/12
2. Time: 6:00 - 8:00 PM
3. 6th Grade Orientation: 5:00 - 6:00 PM
4. ASB Pizza Sale: 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
5. Performances by Spurgeon's Choir and Orchestra
6. Visit with teachers
7. Treats in Ms. Kline's class
8. Family photos in Ms. Kline's class
9. Show off the new building and 2nd floor modernization
10. Add your photo
11. Add a photo of Spurgeon
7. Follow the directions from your first Google document if you need help.
8. Have Fun!

Configuring the Sound Settings Panel in Mac OSX

In the Cougar Computer Lab, every iMac is equipped with a set of headphones. In order to use these headphones, your computer must be set up, or configured, to recognize them. In Ms. Kline's lab, the headphones also have attached microphones that also must be configured.

You are also able to change the alert sounds on your computer. You will hear alert sounds for a variety of reasons, such as when you make an error or receive a file.

You will configure both in sound panel on a Mac computer as follows:

Click the apple menu and drop down to "System Preferences..."

Click the "Sound"  icon in the System Preferences window.

Click the "Sound Effects" tab to select an alert sound, choose the output device (headphones), and to set the volume of the alert sound.

Now click the "Output" and "Input" tabs to select and configure your headphones (or other audio device). You are able to change the balance (left and right) and volume of the headphones.

Proper Keyboarding Technique

Yesterday, you learned how to log in and use your online keyboarding instruction program, Keyboarding Online. You can be proud of the fact that this system is used in high schools and community colleges around the world, and you are able to use this in middle school!

Today we will review proper body position and keyboarding technique. We will learn about the science of ergonomics, the science of fitting job demands (at work or play) with job conditions, and why it is important to understand ergonomics while keyboarding.

Ergonomics, Integrated Safety Management, Berkeley Lab

Building on Ms. Kline's "Intro to Keyboarding" lesson, today we will learn about the importance of proper hand placement, and how to use the "home row" or "home keys" to improve both your speed, measured in words per minute (WPM), and accuracy while keyboarding.

Click on the "Intro to Keyboarding" image to enlarge.

You can also download the pdf to your desktop after you have clicked on the hyperlink for this file under "Resources" on the right.

Let's Start Keyboarding!

Today we will learn about the web-based keyboarding course, Keyboarding Online!

Open your browser and go to the website:
www.keyboardingonline.com

• Click the red button that says "Login Now".
• Enter the School Login and Password.
• Click the Screen Based: Keyboard Mastery button.
• Select the checkbox that states "Trust all applets from Ellsworth Publishing".
• Click "Allow" when asked to download the Java application for Keyboarding Online.
• Click "Open Existing Student File."
• Click on this class period.
• Click on your name.
• Click "Open."
• Enter your password.
• Click "Set Up" on the left, then click on each tab to see how the system is set up for grading your keyboarding lessons.
• Click "Introduction" and we will review this section as a class.
• Click on each step, we will read them out loud as a class.
• Follow the instructions in each section as required. These practice exercises will teach you how to use the Keyboarding Online program and will prepare you for the regular lessons.
• Click "Lessons Menu."
• Type only Line 1 in the Lesson 1, Line 1 window, do not type any other line at this time.
• Repeat Line 1 if you still have time left on the timer. Don't forget this part or your WPM will drop!
• The length of each timing is listed at the top of the window.
• The timer is displayed at the bottom of the screen. When you reach the end of a sentence, you will hit the return key with your right pinky finger, and retype the line until your timer runs out.
• You will only receive a score when you have reached 10 WPM.
• You are required to type each line until you receive a score, but you may repeat a line to receive a higher score.
• You will find your top three scores at the lower right hand side of the window.
• Continue with Line 2 when you have received a score for Line 1.
• Type Line 2 only in this new window. Don't forget to keep typing if your timer has not run out.
• Continue this process for every line in each lesson.
• Click "Progress Reports" and "Comprehensive" to check your progress.
• Click "Grade Reports" and "Current Grade" to see your current grade.

You will be amazed at how quickly your speed and accuracy improve!

Adding A Bookmark to a Web Browser

When you want to visit a web page, you must know the URL or "web address" of this web page.

Browser Address Bar

If you want to remember the URL of a website, the best way to do this is to make a web bookmark. A bookmark remembers the URL of the website for you so you can visit the website later. You can keep this bookmark in your "Bookmarks" menu (at the top of your screen), or you can keep a bookmark in your "Bookmarks Toolbar" which is below the "Navigation Toolbar" in the Firefox browser window.

To add a bookmark to the Firefox toolbar:

• Open Firefox
• Go to the web page to be bookmarked (Today we will bookmark "Ms. Kline Online")
• Click "Bookmarks" in the menu bar (the keyboard shortcut is "Command + D")
• Drop down to "Bookmark This Page..."
• This "Edit This Bookmark" window will open
• Name the bookmark

Firefox Edit This Bookmark Pane

• Click the drop-down menu in the "Folder:" box
• Drop down to "Bookmarks Toolbar" so that you will see it in your toolbar
• Click "Done"

You can now see your new bookmark in the toolbar menu below the Navigation toolbar!

Firefox Web Browser

Last week we learned how to use Google's Chrome web browser. Chrome is a lot of fun because you can add some great apps!

During this course, you will also use the Firefox web browser to visit websites on the Internet. Today, you will learn how to customize the Firefox browser to make it even more useful to you. You will open the "Preferences" pane to customize your browser. You will not learn everything there is to know about customizing Firefox, but you will learn a great deal to start!

First step:
Click on the "Applications" folder in your dock, and scroll up to and click on Firefox. After Firefox opens, you will see the "browser window."

To configure the Firefox browser, you will access the Preferences pane to customize your browser settings. Click "Firefox" in the menu bar at the top of your screen and drop down to "Preferences."

There are 8 sections in the Preferences pane:

General:
Use this tab to tell your browser what web page you want Firefox to open when you begin, and to manage your browser's add-on programs.

To change your home page in the Firefox browser:

• Open Firefox
• Go to www.spurgeoncougars.us
• Click "Firefox" in the menu bar
• Drop down to "Preferences"
• Click the "Main" tab in dialog box that appears (1st tab)
• Click "Use Current Page"
• Close the dialog box
• Test by opening Firefox

On your own machine at home, if you want a different home page, go to any web page instead of www.spurgeoncougars.us and follow the above directions.

Tabs:
Use this tab to manage how your browser opens different websites. Using tabbed browsing opens new websites in successive tabs along the top of the browser's viewing area.

• Select "Open new windows in a new tab instead"
• Select "Always show the tab bar"
• Select other options as you see fit

Content:
Use this tab to set up the type of content you want to allow.

• If you have a slow Internet connection, you may "deselect" (uncheck) the "load images automatically" box. The web page will now load faster because it will not need to load the images.
• Java and JavaScript are programs that run in the browser. They can be very useful programs, but sometimes you do not want them to run if you do not trust the source of these programs.
• You may also block "pop-up windows" here if you wish.

Applications:
This tab shows the "plug-in" applications you have installed in your browser.

Privacy:
Use this tab to protect your privacy while browsing.

• Check the box that says "Tell websites I do not want to be tracked."
• Under History - select the number of days you wish to remember the websites you have visited.
• Select "Accept cookies from sites" and "Accept third-party cookies" if you want to use websites that rely on cookies (stored data) to run.
• Select "Always clear my private data when I close Firefox" if you wish to clear your private data every time you quit Firefox.
• Click on "Settings" to select the type of data you want cleared for this function.
• Click on "Clear Now" to clear your private data immediately.

Security:
Use this tab to monitor your security settings.

• Select the three boxes to warn you of web forgeries, attack sites, or software installs
• Do not select the "Remember passwords for sites" if you do not want other people who use your computer to have access to your passwords.

Sync
Use this feature to sync your Firefox preferences with multiple devices. This accesses Firefox's "cloud computing," just like Chrome accesses the Google Chrome's cloud computing.

Advanced
This section is for advanced users and is beyond the scope of this course. That does not mean that you can't research it on your own and configure it as you like, though!