Today, we'll catch up on all the "little things" we need to finish up before we start operating systems.

We will: 1) have those that have not demonstrated mastery of the terminology, rewrite (again) the test.
             2) have those who have not presented their emerging technology reports do so
             3) we will finish up our hands on discussion of the role of the BIOS

Do NOT forget that your Culmina

We will need to hold off on the late presentations today (you will go tomorrow), and we will also have to hold off on our exploration of the BIOS.  I apologize for this, as I should have remembered that I was missing class today because of an away Basketball game (Go Lions!).

I really need you to put some thought into your culminating activity, looking at websites such as Instructables is a good start (but not the only direction you can go in).  You will need to complete this proposal and submit it by next Monday.  The proposal is not written in stone, but it helps us beging the conversation on finding a project that is both meaningful and challenging to you.

You probably should shake a few of the cobwebs off your blogs and update them (feel free to comment on the Emerging Tech discussion, what you've learned so far, your thoughts about a culminating activity, comments on any tech news stories you might have been reading, etc).

This is the tracking sheet you'll need to keep track of the information that you will be presented with today.  Please make sure you take the opportunity to blog about what you found interesting.

Every one should spend the first 7 minutes of class time preparing their materials for their Emerging Technology presentation.  This will probably take most of the period, but if there is any time left we will do re-test #4 (seriously? Some of you really need to understand that sometimes you have to buckle down and take the time to study and learn the material.  We cannot move forward as a class until everyone earns a 75% on the quiz).

I look forward to learning with you today, as some of you have some VERY amazing topics to teach us about.

For those of you still needing help with remembering mainboard components check out this website.

Today's quiz results were a bit disappointing.  I am hoping that everyone is studying tonight for tomorrow's "redo".  Remember you must master the material, so any mark below 75% will result in a rewrite (which from now on will be at lunch).

I would like to see you finish most of your Emerging Technology assignment on Tuesday.   There will be no class time given after today (so you will need to divide work w/ your partner and come up with a plan).  Everyone needs to be ready for Friday.

Today will be a busy day in class.  After you write your quiz (remember you need to score at least 15 out of 20 or you will rewrite), we will be spending the remainder of the period working on our Emerging Technologies assignment.

Hopefully, tomorrow we can start the material on hard drives that we have not finished yet.

Assuming all of you will pass the test, we should be back inside our computers by the end of the week.

Today we are going to discuss Hard Drives, SSDs, and RAID.  Please make appropriate notes during the discussion.

I am also going to introduce the Emerging Technologies assignment that we briefly looked at yesterday.  You may work in partners if you wish.  You will also need to download this reading and this rubric.

Since tomorrow is a PD Day, please do not forget to take home you notes and diagrams so that you can study for Monday's small quiz.  You need to score 70% or higher to move forward with the computer build.  You will rewrite until you do (and yes, the test does change EACH time).

As we get closer and closer to a public beta release, the hype around Windows 8 is building.  We will have a hands on look later in the course, but for now, take a look at this article on MSNBC.

I am away from class today for an appointment, but that does not mean that we stop learning and working towards becoming qualified computer technicians.

If you have not read the Hard Drive handout from a few days ago, please make sure you do now (it wouldn't hurt to read it more than once).  It would also be a good idea to highlight all the new terminology that you come across (it is also a great idea to make jot notes on any questions you would like answered tomorrow during out discussion).

For the rest of the period, I would like you to work on developing your Weebly.  I should see, by the start of tomorrow's class, a comprehensive layout, including subtopics (suggestions include something about you (remembering not to give specific details about where you live, etc), a section on your culminating activity (and maybe some ideas/websites/links you have looked at), and any other school appropriate materials you'd like to ad).  This on-line blog/journal will make up a large part of culminating activity mark at the end of the year, so I cannot encourage you enough to make sure that you are always adding content to it, and tweaking your layout/functionality a long the way.

We should be more and more these type of articles as we get closer and closer to a release date for Microsoft's newest Operating System.

As we talked about in class, I want to be able to support you in any direction that you would like to go in re: your own self-directed learning.  We will learn many fundamentals in class, but it's during the culminating activity that you can truly push yourself to explore your interests.

A good place to start for unbelievably cool ideas is Instructables.  Chocked full of absolute awesomeness!

Remember, the culminating activity is NOT about the $$ spent, but rather the challenge and the process.

Welcome back!  I hope you had an amazing summer, and you are recharged and reenergized for the tremendous learning opportunities that lay before us.

This class is split evenly between Grade 12 students (TEJ4MI) and Grade 11 students (TEJ3MI).  The students taking the course for the first time are reminded that the Grade 12s are a wonderful resource for peer review, leadership and extra help with some of the more challenging concepts we will be covering.

Today will be spent covering the classroom rules, course expectations (Course Outline) and signing up for the many accounts that we need to work in a WEB 2.0 environment.  We will also be discussing the paperless classroom initiative, and how that will impact the day to day operations during the course.